In Wednesday’s forex trading, authorized dealers sold US$5 million more than they bought as the equivalent of US$32,730,124 was purchased versus US$31,090,279 on Tuesday, and they sold the equivalent of US$37,322,163 compared to US$41,009,924 on Tuesday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$27,146,842 compared to US$26,611,423 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 2 cents to $112.31. US$33,461,453 was sold versus US$37,907,050 on Tuesday, the selling rate rose by 3 cents to $112.80.
The Canadian dollar dollar buying rate climbed 68 cents to $102.27 with dealers buying C$1,884,310 and selling C$1,480,642 at an average selling rate that climbed 86 cents to $103.28.
The rate for theBritish Pound rose by 27 cents to $185.29, for the purchase of £1,774,163, while £932,052, was sold, as the rate inched down 1 cent to $186.57. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$940,634, while selling was the equivalent of US$963,427.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained unchanged at $113.10, $91.85 and $117.70 respectively, the lowest selling rate for the US dollar jumped $18.15 to $110. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 60 cents to $103.40, the lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $81.38, the highest selling rate rose 58 cents to $105.49 and the lowest selling rate edged up 10 cents to $98.15. The highest buying rate for the British Pound was up by 10 cents to $187, the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $149.57. The highest selling rate declined $2.50 $190.53 and lowest selling rate was unchanged at $180.20.
Archives for August 2014
US$5m more sold than bought on Wednesday
Light trading on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange, saw 8 securities being active, of which 2 advanced, 2 declined and 4 traded firm, with 260,634 stocks changing hands valued at $2,243,649.
The Composite Index lost 0.09 points to close at 1,152.18, the All T&T Index fell by 0.18 points to close at 1,989.24 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 41.25.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, National Flour Mills with 16,461 shares trading for $20,876 and closed 7 cents higher at $1.27, for a new 52 weeks high and One Caribbean Media with 1,300 shares changing hands, gained 11 cents to end at $24.11.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, ANSA McAL with 200 shares traded, to close down 4 cents at $66.25 and Trinidad Cement lost 15 cents, while trading 196,525 shares, for a value of $587,275, to close at $2.85.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with 31,468 shares valued at $692,296 and remained at $22, First Citizens Bank with 3,500 shares, valued at $125,825 to end at $35.95, Massy Holdings contributed 10,935 shares with a value of $749,048 to close at $68.50 and West Indian Tobacco traded 145 units, to close at $118.
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 1 stock with the offer lower.
US$10m more sold than bought
In Tuesday’s forex trading, authorized dealers sold US$10 million more than they bought as the equivalent of US$31,090,279 was purchased versus US$44,554,172 on Monday, and they sold the equivalent of US$41,009,924 compared to US$34,048,888 on Monday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$26,611,423 compared to US$41,367,650 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 5 cents to $112.33. US$37,907,050 was sold versus US$32,005,777 on Monday, the selling rate rose by 5 cents to $112.77.
The Canadian dollar dollar buying rate climbed $1.40 to $101.59 with dealers buying C$1,639,537 and selling C$1,419,947 at an average selling rate that fell 13 cents to $102.43.
The rate for theBritish Pound rose by $1.08 to $185.02, for the purchase of £1,601,962, while £887,872, was sold, as the rate inched upl 4 cents to $186.58. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$357,481, while selling was the equivalent of US$344,295.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar rose 10 cents to $113.10, the lowest buying, the highest selling and the lowest selling rates remained unchanged $91.85 and $117.70 and $91.85 respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 50 cents to $104, the lowest buying rate fell by 21 cents to $81.38, the highest selling rate fell 27 cents to $104.91 and the lowest selling rate fell 25 cents at $98.05.The highest buying rate for the British Pound was down by 30 cents to $186.90, the lowest buying rate fell 15 cents to $149.57. The highest selling rate was unchanged at $193.03 and lowest selling rate gained 20 cents to $180.20.
JSE market inching forward
In Monday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 6 stocks rose and 8 declined as 23 securities changed hands, resulting in 3,225,751 units trading, valued at $9,515,641.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index climbed by 418.38 points to 72,464.07 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 467.81 points to close at 79,736.18.
Gains| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with gains, at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement with 253,076 shares, to close with a gain of 25 cents at $2.80, Desnoes & Geddes with 5,000 units changing hands, gained 30 cents to $4.80, Jamaica Broilers with 97,778 units, put on 9 cents and closed at $4.70, Jamaica Producers 100 units benefited from a 1 cents gain to $17, followed by Radio Jamaica with 29,060 units with an increase of 5 cents at $1.15 and Sagicor Group with 98,976 shares, putting on 20 cents to $9.20.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price, with volume and last traded prices, are Carreras with 8,800 shares closing at $34.90, Grace Kennedy with 2,009 shares at $60. National Commercial Bank 124,935 units resulted in a close of $18 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund with 13,387 units at $6.85.
Declines| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with losses at the at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless with 1,328,663 shares with the price dipping 2 cents to 34 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 32,947 ordinary shares, lost a cent at $6.95, Mayberry Investments 20,769 shares traded with a loss of 8 cents to $1.60, Palace Amusement traded for the first time since early January this year, with 1,000 shares changing hands at $90, after losing $5, Scotia Group exchanged 25,210 shares with a loss of 50 cents to end at $19.50 and Scotia Investments traded 20,000 shares and shed 28 cents at $21.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 858,992 units at $3.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 2.01 points to close at 643.85 as 6 stocks traded with none advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| No stock gained at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| Active stocks in the junior market to close at the same price as the day before are, Blue Power with 700 units at $9.06, Lasco Financial 7,600 shares trading at $1, Lasco Manufacturing had 70,858 units trading at 95 cents and Paramount Trading 5,000 shares at $2.52.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are, General Accident with 40,000 shares, lost 10 cents to end at $1.35 and Lasco Distributors traded 180,891 units, 1 cents lower at $1.11.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Only 9 securities trade as OCM gains 70c
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange saw 9 securities changing hands of which 1 advanced, 3 declined and 5 traded firm as 1,104,010 stocks changed hands with a value of $9,172,331.
The Composite Index lost 0.06 points to close at 1,152.27, the All T&T Index rose by just 1.21 points to close at 1,989.42 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 0.18 points to end at41.25.
Gains| The only stock increasing in price at the close, is One Caribbean Media that gained 70 cents to end the day at $24 while trading 912 shares.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with 160,029 shares, valued at $3,520,548 and fell a cent to $22, National Enterprises contributed 23,238 shares with a value of $412,939 to close at $17.77, after dropping a cent and Sagicor Financial Corporation with 600,305 shares changing hands for a value of $3,756,889, closed with a 21 cents fall to $6.26, a new 52 weeks low.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, First Citizens trading 3,534 units to close at $35.95, Massy Holdings with 5,449 shares closed at $68.60, while Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation added 7,000 shares valued at $29,050 to close at $4.15, Prestige Holdings traded only 300 units to close at $9.40 and Trinidad Cement with a volume of 303,243 shares traded for $927,894, closed at $3, after reaching a new 52 weeks intraday high of $3.06
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and no stocks with the offer lower.
What’s up with Grace’s stock?
At the close of trading on Monday, there were two lots of Grace’s stock on offer on the Jamaican Stock Market, 9,360 units at $63 and 200,000 at $65.
Over at the Trinidad Stock Exchange, the bid on the stock was the same as the last sale price, at TT$3.55 which equates to J$63, but only for 886 units. There was an offer to sell 12,300 units at TT$3.70 or J$65.50. Could the stock be set to jump? Probably.
Grace has been in the news recently with rise of 21 percent in profit for the six months to June and the purchase of a USA trading operation, La Fe Foods with revenues of US$80 million per annum, that should add nearly $9 billion to revenues in a full year.
Grace expects much benefit to flow from this acquisition, as La Fe Foods services the Hispanic market with a large population that should allow some of Grace’s branded products to find new markets. In addition, the acquisition will allow some products with inadequate margins, to be sold to a non-related distributor, to be exported by Grace to the USA market.
J$ gains vs all as US$10m more bought than sold
In Monday’s forex trading, authorized dealers bought US$10 more than they sold as the equivalent of US$44,554,172 was purchased versus US$33,380,231 on Friday, and they sold the equivalent of US$34,048,888 compared to US$34,212,576 on Friday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$41,367,650 compared to US$27,436,923 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 7 cents to $112.28 and US$32,005,777 was sold versus US$29,448,084 on Friday, the selling rate declined by 6 cents to $112.73.
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell $1.80 to $100.19 with dealers buying C$1,118,018 and selling C$876,560, the selling rate fell 19 cents to $102.56.
The rate for theBritish Pound declined by $1.27 to $183.94, for the purchase of £1,216,091, while £444,846, was sold, as the rate fell 47 cents to $186.54. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$196,574, while selling was the equivalent of US$509,517.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar fell 10 cents to $113, the lowest buying rate and the highest selling rate remained unchanged $91.85 and $117.70 respectively, and the lowest selling rate fell $1.45 to end at $91.85. There was no change to highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar, which remained at $103.50, the other rates remained unchanged with the lowest buying rate at $81.59, the highest selling rate at $105.18 and the lowest selling rate at $98.30. The highest buying rate for the British Pound was up by 20 cents to $187.20, the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $149.73. The highest selling rate rose $2.37 to $193.03 and lowest selling rate gained 20 cents to $180.40.
Advancing stocks beat declining ones
The level of trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday was very low with 18 securities changing hands, resulting in 854,483 stock units trading, valued at $7,165,353.98. At the close of the market, the prices of 6 stocks rose and 4 declined.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index rose 380.28 points to 72,045.69 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 425.23 points to close at 79,268.37.
Gains| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with gains, at the end of trading in the main market, are Carreras with 42,500 units and closed with a gain of 60 cents at $34.90, Jamaica Broilers with 114,665 shares, closed 1 cent higher at $4.61, Scotia Group with 70,691 shares gained $1.24 to end at $20 and Seprod with 13,700 shares rose 25 cents to $10.75.
Firm| The stocks to close without a change in price in the main market, along with volume and last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless with 144,678 shares to close at 36 cents, Grace Kennedy with 16,595 units at $60, Sagicor Group with 72,697 shares, closed at $9 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund had only 1,113 units trading at $6.85.
Declines| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with losses at the at the end of trading in the main market, are Caribbean Cement with 68,825 shares while losing 35 cents to close at $2.55 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 118,430 shares lost 4 cents to end at $6.96 and National Commercial Bank 32,943 shares closed with a 5 cents fall, at $18.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 17,858 units at $3.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 1.51 points to close at 645.86 as 6 stocks traded with 2 advancing and 1 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market, are Caribbean Flavours with 7,000 units changing hands and gained 4 cents to end at $2.69 and Caribbean Producers 96,978 shares closed with a 1 cent increase at $2.36.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Derrimon Trading with 5,000 units going through the market at $2.15, Lasco Distributors with 3,360 shares closed at $1.12 and Lasco Manufacturing with 3,600 shares at 95 cents.
Declines| Caribbean Cream traded 23,850 shares and lost 8 cents to end at 75 cents was the only stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading,
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 stocks with offers that were lower.
3 stocks up 2 down on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Monday was moderate with 13 securities changing hands of which 3 advanced, 2 declined and 8 traded firm with 223,763 units, with a value of $1,814,887.
The Composite Index gained 0.17 points to close at 1,152.33, the All T&T Index rose 0.35 points to close at 1,988.21 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 41.43 points.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAL that declined by 1 cent to end at $66.29 while trading 205 shares, Clico Investment Fund with 47,064 shares valued at $1,035,527, gained a cent to $22.01 and National Flour Mills with 25,000 shares traded for $30,000, increasing by 4 cents to $1.20.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, First Citizens Bank trading 6,781 shares valued at $243,777 to close at $35.95, down by 5 cents and Massy Holdings trading 948 shares, fell a cent to $68.50.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings with 523 shares traded to close at $12.75, Grace Kennedy trading 114 shares at $3.55, Guardian Holdings with 200 units closed at $13.75, Jamaica Money Market Brokers had just 354 units changing hands at 45 cents, National Commercial Bank contributed 10,753 shares with a value of $11,291 to end at $1.05, Point Lisas Industrial Port Development 500 shares closed at $4.15, Sagicor Financial Corporation with 3,300 shares ended at $6.47 and Trinidad Cement with 128,021 shares changing hands for a value of $382,353, closed at $3.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and none with an offer lower.
CWJ making headway, not there yet
Revenue from core business is up 11 percent while expenses are up by a much smaller 5 percent but Cable & Wireless still ended up with a loss of $712 million in the June quarter, this year, better than the $804 million reported for the 2013 quarter. The 2013 performance is boosted by other income representing, gain on sale of fixed assets of $130 million, putting operating income at $934 million than the reported figure. The company had a $580 million improvement in operating profit in 2014 excluding the gain on sale of fixed asset.
Cost rose by $250 million in the quarter as amortization cost, administrative, marketing and selling expenses and interest cost rose, offset by lower out payments for calls to other networks and labour cost. The company increased marketing spend during the quarter to drive sales of it MVP data and talk EZ plans, during the 2014 World Cup tournament. They were the leading sponsors of the CVM TV live broadcast of the games. The largest cost increase, is finance, rising 69 percent to $962 million, due mainly to a sharp rise in the interest rate charged by the parent company, based on higher Jamaican Treasury bill rates. Up to March this year the rate was 7.7 percent effective May 11th, it moved to 10.03 percent, the rate should decline by time the next reset date comes around November 11 this year as Treasury bill rates have been on the decline since May and should get even lower than currently, when the rate resets.
The company continues its focus on attracting new cell customers as well as internet data users, while trying to maintain landline business. The results show, in the strong growth seen in the June quarter, compared with June 2013. Mobile subscriber base increased by 37 percent with revenue up 34 percent, broadband base increased by 12 percent with revenue up 39 percent, in addition total revenue for the quarter is up on the inflows of $4.7 million for the March quarter.
The next two quarters, are periods when the company places emphasis on aggressively growing the customer base, as a result increased focus on marketing spend, can be expected to continue to increase revenue. While data suggest the possibility of profit this year based on continuing growth in revenues, a lot will be dependent on the aggressiveness of customer acquisition and by extension the cost to acquire them.
Cable & Wireless has a negative book value of $25 billion or $1.46 per stock unit, having written off large portion of its assets in recent years. The business as it now exists has a positive value, as such the net value per share could be far better than the book value indicates. The real value to shareholders must be its ability to convert losses to profit and soon. Investors in the market are sensing the improvement, driving the stock price up from 16 cents at the start of the year to 35 cents presently. Importantly, selling of the stock is down from what it has been in 2013 and in the early months of this year.
Of course the company has to depend on its parent company for financial support for capital in the short term but it is close to a positive cash flow from operations.
