The Trinidad & Tobago Stock market continues to trade cautiously with activity in 14 securities of which 4 advanced, 6 declined and 4 traded firm. A total of 157,674 shares traded, with a value of $3,285,469.
The Composite Index advanced by 1.55 points to close at 1,174.27, the All T&T Index advanced by 3.23 points to close at 2,003.39 and the Cross Listed Index fell 0.02 to 45.25.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Angostura Holdings that traded 3,000 shares to close with a gain of 70 cents, to end at $11.70, First Citizens Bank with 2,642 units to close at $37.04, up 3 cents, Neal & Massy contributed 5,858 shares with a value of $388,672 and closed at $66.35 for a one cent gain and Unilever Caribbean with 60 units to end at $58.36, as the price inched up by a cent.
Declines| Clico Investment Fund traded 10,610 shares valued at $227,056 and lost 5 cents to end at $21.40, Guardian Holdings traded 52,548 shares valued at $689,164, to close at $13.05, down 13 cents, Readymix (West Indies) traded 100 shares for the first time since it traded on January 28th this year and closed on Wednesday with $1.35 fall, to $19.65, for a new 52 weeks low, Sagicor Financial with 2,777 units at $7, closed down by 2 cents, Scotiabank 6,973 units valued at $488,041 closed with a 1 cent decline to at $69.99 and Trinidad Cement closed with 5,000 shares at $2.19, for a 1 cent loss.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Ansa Mcal which added 1,001 shares to close at $66.45, National Enterprises with a volume of 67,000 shares, valued at $1,256,250 and closed at $18.75, Grace Kennedy with only 100 shares changing hands to close at $3.50 while West Indian Tobacco traded just 5 shares and closed at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Archives for April 2014
Declines up over advances
First Citizens up 96 cents
First Citizens continues its recovery from recent lows and closed today at $37.01 while trading 32,496 shares valued at $1,197,770, two stocks closed at new 52 weeks high as National Enterprise closed at $18.75 and Republic Bank at $121.
The market opened the post Easter holiday period on a slightly positive note, with trading in 11 securities of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 4 traded firm with 112,719 units trading with a value of $4,621,940. The Composite Index advanced by 3.15 points to close at 1,172.72, the All T&T Index advanced by 6.96 points to close at 2,000.16 and the Cross Listed Index inched down by 0.09 point, to end at 45.27.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens with a gain of 96 cents in closing with the last transaction at $37.01, Guardian Holdings with 464 shares to close at $13.18 up 4 cents, National Enterprise trading 1,250 units to close at $18.75, for a 34 cents gain and Republic Bank closed up by 66 cents at $121 while it trading 1,779 shares valued at $214,555.
Declines| Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 23,265 shares valued at $11,910 and lost 3 cents to end at 50 cents, Neal & Massy traded 60 units at $66.34 for a fall of a cent and Unilever Caribbean closed with 45 shares at $58.35 for a decline of 15 cents.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Ansa McAL with 43,034 shares valued at $2,859,609 and closed at $66.45, Clico Investment Fund which added 9,287 shares valued at $199,206 to close at $21.45, Scotiabank with 414 shares changing hands for a value of $70 and West Indian Tobacco with a volume of 625 shares valued at $73,750 to close at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Rising interest rates affect GSE stocks
Economic pressures continue to hammer Ghana with the exchange rate closing at GH¢2.77 to the US dollar on Thursday April 17 versus GH¢2.16 to the US dollar, a 36 percent fall in value over the 18 slippage against the United States dollar, at the end of March.
The falling local currency will spike inflation and lead to investors demanding more compensation in higher interest rates on local money, as a result, the 3 months Treasury Bill rate for the April 11 auction rose to 24.06 percent up from 23.69 percent at the end of March and 18.5 percent at the end of December last year. 
Rising interest rates, result in falling stock prices as investors switch to what they see as instruments of higher returns. This has happened in Ghana, with stock prices that rose sharply up to the week ending February 21, falling ever since. This past week, the market lost 3%, based on the Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index, to close at 2,272.40 points and the Ghana Stock Exchange Financial index, lost 4% to close at 1,934.75 points. At the end of the previous week, the indices recorded a decline of 2 percent and 3 percent respectively. The market at the peak this year, recorded gains of 21 percent for the financial index of the Ghana Stock exchange, while the market’s composite index was up, just under 13 percent, by the February 21. On Thursday, the year to date gains melted to just 5.93 for the composite index and 8.29 percent for the financial index.
In the past trading week ending Thursday April 17, the Ghana Stock market decline was fuelled by an advanced, decline ratio of just one stock recording gain, versus 13 stocks that fell, a much worse situation than the previous week, of 5 stocks gaining compared to 8 declining and the week of April 4, when 8 stocks fell to 7 that increased in price.
Trading for the four day week, accounted for 5,783,737 shares compared to 2,571,333 the week before. Of the amount traded this past week, 4,696,499 was traded on Tuesday and only 352,288 on Thursday.
Citizens up & heading higher
First Citizens Bank closed higher for the 7 days straight, having fallen to a 2014 low of $34 in early April. At the end of trading Citizens had a bid at $36.06 which is above the closing price, to buy nearly 20,000 units with only 1.153 units on offer at $36.50.
The market continues to trade sideways with only a few stocks showing signs of continuity in price movements. Trading was in 11 securities of which 4 advanced, none declined and 7 traded firm, with 70,744 units trading, valued of $1,412,008. The Composite Index advanced 3.72 points to close at 1,169.57, the All T&T Index advanced by 7.41 points to close at 1,993.20 and the Cross Listed Index remained flat at 45.36.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens Bank that closed at $36.05 while trading 2,038 shares to close with a gain of 24 cents, National Enterprises with 14,000 shares being traded for $259,660, to close at $18.55, up 27 cents, One Caribbean Media with 22,871 shares changing hands for a value of $465,653 to close at $20.36, up 10 cents for a new 52 weeks high and Republic Bank with only 810 shares, closed 27 cents higher at a new 52 weeks high of $120.60.
Declines| There were no stock recording a decline at the end of trading.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings contributing 7,318 shares with a value of $80,498, to close at $11, ANSA McAL with 335 units, to close at $66.45, Clico Investment Fund traded 17,428 shares valued at $373,831 remained at $21.45, Grace Kennedy added 5,000 shares valued at $17,500 to close at $3.50, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 763 shares at 53 cents, with a mere 5 units to end at $66.35 and West Indian Tobacco with 176 shares, closed at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
First Citizens on recovery path up 76c
First Citizens bank lost altitude after peaking at $42.99 in early January, seems to be on the rebound having gained 56 cents on Tuesday and 76 cents on Wednesday, at the close of trading, the stock bid was at $35.82, a cent higher than the last traded price for a small volume. The rest of market continues to trade in a narrow band.
Trading occurred in 14 securities of which 3 advanced, 5 declined and 6 traded firm, with 277,122 units trading, with a value of $2,906,268.
The Composite Index advanced by 0.89 points to close at 1,165.85, the All T&T Index advanced by 2.31 points to close at 1,985.79 and the Cross Listed Index eased by 0.07 points to 45.36.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens Bank with 12,938 shares valued at $458,330 as the price increased by 76 cents to end the day at $35.82, Guardian Holdings contributed 2,105 shares and closed at $13.14 for 2 cents gain and Republic Bank exchanged 1,391 shares with a 2 cents gain, to close at $120.33, for another 52 weeks high.
Declines| Stocks loosing value at the end of trading, are ANSA Mcal that lost 4 cents, in trading 113 units to close at $66.45, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 10,000 shares, to close with a loss of a cent to 53 cents, One Caribbean Media with 24,200 shares for $492,675, as it closed at $20.26 for a 4 cents loss, Praetorian Property Mutual Fund declined by a cent to end at $3.40 while trading 25,060 shares valued at $85,254, Sagicor Financial Corporation with 160,410 shares changing hands for a value of $1,125,914, gave up 2 cents to land at $7.03.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing without a change in their prices, at the end of trading are Firstcaribbean International Bank contributing 20,000 shares with a value of $110,000 and closed at $5.50 while Guardian Media contributed 1,072 shares and closed at $19.75, Neal & Massy with 1,791 shares, closed at $66.35, Trinidad Cement with 7,401 shares changing hands closed at $2.20 and West Indian Tobacco 432 shares at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and only 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
Access CEO moved but…
In the continuing struggle over control of Access Financial Services, the Board of Directors informed the Jamaica Stock Exchange that by resolution passed on April 14, 2014, the Board removed with immediate effect from Mr. Marcus James, all powers of management of the Company’s affairs previously granted to him by the directors under the articles of the Company. Those powers will now vest in, and be exercised by, Mr Alexander Johnson, who was appointed by resolution to act as Chief Executive Officer, along with Mr. James, until further notice.
The resolutions were passed pursuant to an order granted by Justice Sykes on April 11, 2014, which varied a previous order of the Court. The report concluded that the dispute with Marcus James continues.
IC Insider understands that the dispute goes well beyond the issue of capital expenditure, which has been bandied about in the media and involves the critical matter of trust between the two major partners in the venture.
IC Insider has been informed that the issue of the quantity of shareholdings came up about two years ago when the Chairman, Brian Goldson, was sold shares by Mayberry out of their 39 percent holdings, which is covered by a shareholders agreement and stated in the company’s prospectus at the time they offered shares to the public in 2010. Subsequently, Mayberry preceded to acquire additional shares in the market, which became a matter of concern for Marcus James as the Chairman’s and Mayberry’s shares could out vote him.
The dispute at the time led to Mayberry asking James to buy them out and find a buyer for the block of shares. We have been reliably informed that Scotia Bank was approached but they were only interested in full ownership. Hence, that option fell through and no one else came up with the funds. Additionally, James was very concerned that he was being pressured to make big dividend payments rather than invest the surplus back in the business.
Apparently, the building at Half Way Tree Road was the breaking issue which led to the temporary removal of James as the CEO, who is accused by the Board of syphoning funds for a capital investment without Board approval for the benefit of himself and family.
Related post | Access & its CEO in Court
TTSE: Citizens jumps
Tuesday, 15th April 2014 | The Trinidad market traded with a slight upward bias as there was trading in 17 securities of which 5 advanced 3 declined and 9 traded firm with209,501 stocks trading with a value of $2,914,123.
The Composite Index advanced by 2.10 points to close at 1,164.95, the All T&T Index gained 3.94 points to close at 1,983.48 and the Cross Listed Index put on .03 points to end at 45.43.
Gains | Stocks increasing in price at the close are First Citizens Bank with 21,283 shares traded for $745,097 to close with a gain of 56 cents to end at $35.06. The stock has found support that has attracted buying interest and could be going higher once more. Guardian Holdings closed with a 2 cents gain to end at $13.12 as 2,000 shares traded; National Flour Mills 20,350 with a value of $24,420 to close with a 3 cents gain at $1.20; National Enterprises 400 shares to end at $18.28, up by 3 cents; One Caribbean Media with 912 units at $20.30 for 5 cents gain with another new 52 weeks high.
Declines | Agostini’s lost 5 cents to end at $17.70 with 300 shares; ANSA McAL traded 200 shares and fell a cent to close at $66.49 and Clico Investment Fund closed with 74,928 shares valued at $1,607,206 as the price declined by 5 cents to $21.45.
Firm Trades | Stocks closing without a change in their prices are Angostura Holdings 2,782 shares at $11; Grace Kennedy with 22,706 shares changing hands for a value of $79,472 to close at $3.50; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 15,165 shares valued at $8,189 to close at 54 cents; Neal & Massy 1,696 to close at $66.35; Praetorian Property Mutual Fund 4,000 units at $3.41; Sagicor Financial Corporation 13,883 shares to closed at $7.05; Scotia Investments 13,512 shares at $1.60; Trinidad Cement 14,788 shares at $2.20 and West Indian Tobacco 596 shares at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Access & its CEO in Court
The Jamaica Stock Exchange has been advised by the Company Secretary of Access Financial Services Limited in a letter dated 9th April, 2014, of an ongoing dispute with its Chief Executive Officer, Marcus James.
In the course of the dispute, litigation has been initiated by James against the Company and it is reported that pending a full hearing of an application for injunction, a Judge of the Supreme Court granted an injunction to 23rd April 2014 to restrain the Company from holding disciplinary proceedings that could result in the removal of James as Chief Executive Officer.
From the report made to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, “the dispute involves serious allegations and counter-allegations having to do with the governance of the Company and its assets.”
James is the initiator in forming the company and holds one of the largest blocks of the issued shares.
Access Financial Services Limited is listed on the Junior Market of the JSE.
Related posts | Access moved to Market Watch | Access growth continues
JSE needs revamping
There are clearly some major weaknesses at the Jamaica Stock Exchange but no one wants to fix it, not its executive management or any of the board of directors.
Those close to the JSE may feel that there are persons with a vendetta for them but nothing could be further than the truth. The problem is that in many cases, situations that make no sense are brought to their attention and no one does anything about it. Take the matter of the daily stock market report. It has been brought to the attention of the JSE that the report is erroneous as it does not summate the volume and value properly. For example, the volume associated with the main market includes the preference shares. However, those shares don’t form a part of the index and therefore should not be reported as such. Also, the market volume does not include Proven Investments shares even as it is reported on the daily report.
The information below is an extract of stock exchange report taken from Tuesday’s trading:
“Market volume amounted to 3,444,116 units valued at over $18,332,628. Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited 8.75% was the volume leader with 2,827,574 units (51.74%) followed by LIME with 1,850,500 units (33.86%) and Jamaica Broilers Ltd. with 435,184 units (7.96%).”
As reported, the volume of Cable & Wireless and JMMB preference shares adds to nearly 4.7 million shares yet the report says 3.4 million traded. What sort of nonsense is this? How can the stock exchange publish such erroneous information and no one does anything about it? In fact, there was trading in 6.27 million shares on Tuesday not 3.44 million.
Then there continues to be the matter of Cable & Wireless Jamaica that did not change its name, but changed its brand name to Lime. The Stock Exchange lists the ordinary shares as Lime and the preference shares as Cable & Wireless. However, there is no limited liability company with the name Lime, so why the JSE continues this practise is beyond good reasoning. Worse yet, is to have one listing as Lime and two as Cable & Wireless in the preference segment gives the wrong impression that these are two separate companies.
The JSE hardly made money in 2014, yet it pushed First Caribbean International Bank off the Exchange. This action happened shortly after the JSE went public at an elevated price, which would suggest that they would want to retain as much income as possible, but no, they delisted the bank, thus cutting its income and depriving some local investors the ready access to trade in those shares locally.
Another matter that the JSE needs to deal with is the 15 percent rule, which was instituted in the 1990s when it was thought that the rule would prevent wild swings in prices. The rule may be useful when prices are in triple digits, but when a stocks sells for less than $20, it makes little sense. Barbados has a similar rule, but they suspend trading in the stock for 15 minutes to allow information to go out to investors and then re-open trading. The rule that states that a stock cannot move by more than 15 percent in a day is far too restrictive and prevents liquidity in the stock until the price gets equilibrium. Jamaica must move to the more enlightened Barbados regulation in this regard.
Related posts | First Caribbean may be delisted | JSE IPO oversubscribed by 41%
JSE: Sharp jump in stocks rising will it last?
Tuesday, 8th April 2014 | In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 15 stocks rose and 6 declined as 28 securities traded resulting in 6,273,690 shares trading valued at only $18,352,886. Cable & Wireless with 1,850,500 shares and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares with 2,827,574 units dominated the volume of stocks trading.
Main Market | Nine companies in the main market advanced and so did Proven US denominated ordinary shares and only 3 declined as the indices fell, with the JSE Market Index declining by 105.87 points to 76,289.54 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index falling by 118.34 points to close at 84,012.93.
Gains | Stocks recording gains at the end of trading are Cable & Wireless with 1,850,500 shares trading with a cent gain to close at 48 cents; Desnoes & Geddes closed at $5 as the price gained 55 cents with only 2,500 units changing hands; Gleaner 16,000 units to end at $1.20 for a 7 cents gain; Jamaica Broilers 435,184 shares to close 3 cents higher at $4.90; National Commercial Bank 45,340 shares in closing at $19.00 as the price put on $1; Pan Jamaican, a mere 158 units as the price ended a cent higher at $49.61; Proven Investments US dollar ordinary, 1,000 units at a new high of 18.5 US cents for a gain of 0.5 US cent; Sagicor Group 31,112 shares to close 10 cents up at $9.90; Sagicor Real Estate Fund 4,295 units as it closed up 5 cents at $6.75 and Scotia Group gained 30 cents to end at $21.50 as 52,480 shares changed hands.
Firm Trades | The stocks in the main market to close without a price change are Hardware & Lumber with 500 shares closing at $11.80; Jamaica Money Market Brokers that traded 1,000 units and closed at $ 7.20; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share with 2,827,574 units at $3.03; Jamaica Producers with only 200 units at $18.26; Mayberry Investments 10,720 shares at $1.85; 1,000 units Proven Investments 8% preference shares at $5.09 and Salada Foods with 10,000 shares at $8.
Declines | The stocks that declined at the end of trading are Carreras while losing 50 cents to end at $35.25 with 16,950 shares; Grace Kennedy with 4,500 shares as the price closed at $56.01 for a fall of 79 cents; Radio Jamaica had 4,500 units in closing at $1.28, down by 2 cents and Seprod with 150,000 shares to close at $11.05 after shedding $1.95.
Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 7.63 points to close at 751.68 with only 7 securities traded.
Gains | Caribbean Flavours traded just 2,221 units to close at $2.80, up 35 cents; Dolphin Cove traded only 804 shares to end at $8.11 for a 1 cent gain; Jamaican Teas 22,060 shares as it closed with 5 cents gain to $3.20; Lasco Distributors 108,959 units in closing at $1.50 for an increase of 10 cents and Lasco Manufacturing which ended trading with 75,000 shares as the price gained 5 cents to end at $1.30.
Firm Trades| There were no junior market stocks trading firm.
Declines | Caribbean Producers traded 312,000 units to close at $2.75, down 25 cents and Medical Disposables 287,133 units as the price faded by 10 cents to $2.
IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
