Archives for May 2014

Profit surge 37% for Witco Q4

May 5, 2014 by

The Trinidad & Tobago’s based West Indian Tobacco Company (Witco) recorded profit before taxation of TT$556.3 million for the year ended December 2013, an increase of 16.8 percent over 2012 and profit after taxation of TT$411 million, an increase of 17.4 percent over the similar period.

More importantly, the final quarter’s revenue climbed by 17.8 percent to TT$341.4 million from TT$289.8 million in 2012 and profit surged 37.4 percent to $125.9 million from TT$91.6 million in 2012. Earnings per share for the last quarter amounted to $1.49 and $4.88 for the full year. The last quarter earnings place Witco on track to deliver profit for 2014 in the order of $6 per share. The improvement for the past year came against the back ground where the Carreras, the Jamaican the sister company that Witco is the main supplier of finished cigarettes, suffered a reduction in sales during the year.

Gross profit margin, an indication of how profitable a company can be, is at a level that most companies can only dream of at with an eye-popping 290 percent for the December quarter up from 248 percent in 2012 and 287 percent for the full year and 251.5 percent for 2012.

Cost was well contained for the year with distribution expenses falling from $20 million to $18 million. Administrative expenses fell to $94.6 million from $96.5 million and other operating expenses inched up by $1.5 million to $32.8 million while cost of sales fell moderately to $243.8 million by $3 million.

Witco approved a final dividend of $1.61 per share which brings the total dividend to $4.54 per share for out of the 2013 profit.

At the end of the year shareholders equity stood at TT$281 million with provision of $36 million for dividend and cash of $212 million. There was no interest bearing debt on the books.

Witco stock sells at $118 or 19.7 times estimated 2014 profit and is priced at 24 times 2013 profit.

Related posts | WITCO profit up 20 percent | Carreras is back

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: ,

Activity picked up, will it last?

May 2, 2014 by

The market saw a pick-up in trading, with 19 securities being active, of which 6 advanced, 3 declined and 10 traded firm with 1,112,248 stocks trading, valued at $15,182,744.
The Composite Index lost 0.40 points to close at 1,180.79, the All T&T Index rose by 0.24 points to close at 2,018.14 and the Cross Listed Index fell 0.14 points to close at 45.02.
TTSE sum 2-5-14Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA Mcal trading 100 shares, to close at $66.45, up a cent, Guardian Holdings traded 3,000 units, as the price rose a cent, to $13.51, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 218,853 shares traded for $109,249, gained 2 cents, to close at 50 cents, National Flour Mills with 543,441 shares changing hands for a value of $590,815, rose 2 cents to end at $1.09 and One Caribbean Media stock price rose by 6 cents, to end the day at $20.46 as 10,401 units were traded, and it closed at a new 52 weeks high and Point Lisas Industrial Port Development traded 500 units, to close with a 4 cents loss, at $3.75.
Declines| Agostini’s traded 200 shares and lost a cent to end at $17.57, Prestige Holdings with 6,280 shares, traded at $9.37, with a fall of 4 cents and Sagicor Financial Corporation added 65,237 shares valued at $440,350 and lost 27cents, to close at $6.75.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading, are Angostura Holdings which exchanged 56,200 shares, valued $3,734,490 and closed at $13, Ansa Merchant Bank with 1,074 shares, closed at $38.49, Clico Investment Fund closed at $21.58 with 1.945 units changing hands, First Citizens Bank exchanged 10,063 units at $38.50, with a value of $387426, Firstcaribbean International Bank with 37,610 shares changing hands for a value of $206,855, closed at $5.50, while Neal & Massy with 5,705 shares closed at $67, Praetorian Property Mutual Fund with 5,000 shares changing hands, closed at $3.40, Scotiabank with 3,797 shares changing hands closed at $70, Trinidad Cement with 44,917 shares closed at $2 and West Indian Tobacco contributed 97,925 shares with a value of $11,555,150 to close at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
PE ratio weekly moves| Prices for quite a few stocks changed during the week, but with moderate effect on the PE ratios. Biggest losers were, Trinidad Cement which pushed the potential gain to 615 percent and National Flour Mills that fell to $1.07 from $1.20 at the start of the week and saw the potential gains, climbing to 229 percent, up from 193 percent last week. Guardian Holdings made moderate gains and Citizens continued its recovery, by closing at $38.51 on the bid, up from $38.02 last week. One Caribbean Media and Neal and Massy both closed at new 52 weeks highs, but still has more to gain as they remain undervalued. The average PE ratio for the market is at 14, with 7 stocks trading below and 3 trading just above the average.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Very moderate market movement

May 2, 2014 by

There was very moderate activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at the close of the trading week as the prices of 10 stocks rose and 8 declined as only 25 securities traded in a very slow market session resulting in 1,571,377 shares trading valued at a mere $8,273,649.
JSE sum 2-5-14Main Market| Six companies in the main and US dollar markets advanced and 6 declined as the indices moved down moderately with the JSE Market Index inching down by 6.80 points to 74,592.23 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index shedding just 7.60 points to close at 82,115.83.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Kingston Wharves with 9,534 shares to close with a gain of 48 cents at $5.99, National Commercial Bank gained 10 cents to close at $18.10 with 9,100 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary share, with 8,570 units to close up 0.02 us cents at 18 US cents, Sagicor Group 18,000 units closing at $9.80 for a 30 cents gain, Salada Foods 5,000 shares to close at $8 as the price gained 50 cents and Scotia Investments with only 700 shares to end at $23.10 for a gain of 10 cents.
Firm| There were only 4 stocks in the main market to close without a change in price as Cable & Wireless with 43,699 shares closed at 40 cents, Carreras with 5,000 units closed at $33.56, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 500,000 and closed at $2 and Proven Investments 8% preference share with 381,800 units closed at $5.07.
Declines| The stocks declining in the main market are Gleaner with 2,500 shares while falling a cent to close at $1.10, Grace Kennedy lost $1.49 to end at $56.51 with 1,600 shares, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 20,538 units to close down a cent at $4.85. Pan Jamaican Investment 10,529 shares to end 55 cents lower at $49.05, Scotia Group had 110,308 units at $20.50 at the close as the price shed 12 cents and Supreme Ventures 3,800 shares to close with a 5 cents decline at $2.05.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 8.14 points to close at 751.34 as 9 stocks traded with 4 advancing and only 2 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are AMG Packaging that traded 5,560 units to close at $3.50, up by a cent, Access Financial with 72,600 units to close at $11.50 with a gain of $1.50, Caribbean Cream 3,000 units to close at 79 cents with a 4 cents increase and Caribbean Producers with 90,000 units in closing at $3, up 2 cents.
Firm Trades| The 3 stocks in the junior market traded to close at the same price as the day before are Blue Power with 3,400 shares in closing at $9.01, Lasco Financial 3,000 shares while closing at $1.20 and Medical Disposables 94,700 units, closing at $2.04.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are General Accident with 2,000 units a $1.60, down 10 cents and Lasco Manufacturing with 166,439 shares to end down by 10 cents at $1.10.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11 stocks down, 1 up on GSE

May 2, 2014 by
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Trading on the Ghana Stock exchange for the week ending May 2, continued the decline that has been evident ever since the country’s currency came under added pressure and interest rates were pushed further upwards. In the past week the market reversed the moderate gain experienced in the prior week by shedding the prices of 11 stocks and facilitating only one price gain.
GSE 2-5-14At the close of the week, the market continues to show signs of weakness while the two indices declined with the GSE Composite Index closing at 2,255.20 compared with 2,276.12 at the end of the previous week’s trading. The GSE Financial Stocks index closed at 1,913.11 compared with 1,934.75 on the April 17, leaving the index up 7 percent for the year to date.
The level of trading for the week picked strongly from the 1.5 million shares traded for the previous week, as 9.8 million shares changed hands for the holiday shortened week. Cal Bank accounted for 7,119,700 shares on Tuesday, and on Wednesday 2,186,100 shares of the total traded, while losing 14 percent of its value by week end, to end at GH¢2.50. Except for these two trades, the volume of stocks traded was very low.
Sic Insurance Company lost 5 percent to close at GH¢0.40 and Societe Generale Ghana lost 6 percent to close at GH¢0.66 were the stocks that suffered the greatest loss. At the end of the week there was still signs of weakness with only 15 stocks having bids and 29 offers compared to 18 to 29 at the end of the week before.

Filed Under: Global Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , ,

Citizens march on TTSE

May 1, 2014 by

First Citizens Bank continues its recover, by ending with another gain in the march towards the $40 mark once more, on a day with trading in 12 securities, of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 5 traded firm. Only 93,287 stocks traded, with a value of $5,597,251.
TTSE sum 1-5-14The Composite Index advanced 1.53 points to close at 1,181.19, the All T&T Index rose by 3.05 points to close at 2,017.90 and the Cross Listed Index remained flat at 45.16.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Ansa Merchant Bank trading 3,520 units, to close with a gain of 9 cents at $38.49, First Citizens Bank with 29,063 shares changing hands, for a value of $1,118,588, to close at $38.50, up 28 cents, Neal & Massy enjoyed a 50 cents gain, to end the day at $67, a new 52 weeks high, with 1,650 shares changing hands and Republic Bank with 23,853 shares being traded for $2,870,709, gained 2 cents to close at $120.35.
Declines| In trading, Agostini’s with 569 shares, closed at $17.58 and lost a cent, ANSA McAL lost a cent in trading 148 units, to close at $66.44 and Clico Investment Fund fell by 2 cents, to close at $21.56 in posting 8,395 shares valued at $181,005.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged, at the end of trading, are Guardian Holdings that contributed 14,746 shares, with a value of $199,071, to close at $13.50, Sagicor Financial Corporation 2,000 units to close at $7.02, Scotiabank traded just 198 units at $70 and Trinidad Cement with 1,250 shares changing hands, closed at $2 while West Indian Tobacco added 7,895 shares valued at $931,610 and closed at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with the offer that was lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Market directionless

May 1, 2014 by

In Thursday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the market was directionless with advancing stocks numbering just below declining ones and the IC market indicator showing investors in a tussle over the immediate future direction of the market. Prices of 6 stocks rose and 8 declined as 20 securities traded resulting in 3,602,192 shares changing hands valued at $19,621,158 in another lacklustre session.
JSE sum 1-5-14Main Market| All advancing shares in the market was in the main market and all but one stock that declined was also in this market, but the indices moved up slightly, with the JSE Market Index inching up by just 1.23 points to 74,599.03 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index edging up by only 1.38 points to close at 82,123.43.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Berger Paints trading 89,657 unitss to close with a gain of a cent at $1.68, Caribbean Cement gained 21 cents to close at $3.91 with 20,500 units changing hands, Carreras traded 443 shares to close 6 cents higher at $33.56, Ciboney with 50,000 shares by increasing by a cent to close at 12 cents for a new 52 weeks high, Grace Kennedy 7,439 shares with a gain of $1 to close at $58 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 451,214 ordinary shares to close up by 4 cents at $7.24.
Firm| There were only 5 stocks in the main market to close without a change in price as Gleaner with 228,484 shares closed at $1.10, Hardware & Lumber traded 3,300 units and closed at $11.70, Mayberry Investments with 3,060 units closed at $1.70, Scotia Group had 59,888 units changing hands to close at $20.62 and Seprod traded 685 shares in closing at $10.84.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Cable & Wireless with 1,500,888 units while losing a cent to end at 40 cents, Desnoes & Geddes with 76,472 shares to end at $4.30 as the price lost 30 cents, Jamaica Broilers with 450,872 shares to close at $4.86, down 4 cents, Jamaica Producers that traded 6,600 units to close at $18.26 while losing 4 cents, National Commercial Bank 571,665 shares as the price closed with a 10 cents lost, at $18, Sagicor Group had 50,529 units changing hands to close with a fall of 71 cents to $9.50 and Salada Foods 2,400 shares to close 45 cents lower, to end at $7.50
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.59 points to close at 743.20 as only 2 junior market stocks traded at the end of the trading session.
Gains| No stock gained at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| Lasco Manufacturing was the only stock in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the previous trading day with 27,096 units to end at $1.20.
Declines| Caribbean Producers was the only stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading as the price fell 9 cents to close at $2.91 as it traded a mere 1,000 units.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,