The Jamaica Stock Exchange, closed October with the prices of 5 stocks rising and 5 declining as 21 securities changed hands, ending in 1,856,647 units trading, valued at only $6,072,425, in all market segments. The market closed out the month slightly lower than it started at, measured by the market indices, but technical indicators as well as fundamentals, point to a better out turn for November.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower. With Friday being the close of the month, the stronger closing bids are likely engineered by fund managers’ interest in boosting the value of stocks in their portfolios to boost the end of month performance and is worth watching in the coming days.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 98.56 points to 71,706.29 and is down from the 72,238.36 points, September closed at. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 110.21 points to close at 78,888.89 down on the close of September at 79,483.81 and the JSE combined index declined by 95.70 points to close at 73,559.56 compared to 74,034.71 at the end of September.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Ciboney with 100,000 shares trading, rose 1 cent to 8 cents, Desnoes & Geddes traded 36,000 shares, 15 cents higher at $4.95, Grace Kennedy had 21,330 shares changing hands 76 cents higher at $58, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 4,000 shares at $4.15 as the price closed with 5 cents gain and there was dealing in 2,100 Sagicor Group shares to close 1 cent higher to $9.66.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Carreras with 10,050 ordinary shares trading closed at $34.50, Gleaner had 80,708 units trading and closed at $1.05, Proven Investments with 3,650 shares at 18 US cents, Salada Foods with 1,000 shares closed at $7.85 and Supreme Ventures 40,800 shares traded to end at $1.70
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 7,596 ordinary shares changing hands 5 cents lower at $7, followed by National Commercial Bank with 6,000 units as 30 cents were shed to end at $17 and Scotia Group ended trading with 635 units, 15 cents cheaper at $19.60.
Preference| traded units at Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share traded 11,000 units at $3.43, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 981,568 units at $3 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 9,616 units at $5.
Archives for October 2014
October down, better in November
Slight October recovery for Junior market
The Junior Market closed trading with 540,594 units, valued at $832,210 on Friday. The JSE Junior Market Index fell 0.33 points to close at 656.46, a few points higher, than the 653.79 points, September ended at. Only 5 securities traded, there were no advancing stocks while 2 declined.
At the close of the market, there were 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with a lower offer. The junior market continues to exhibit weakness with 10 securities closing with no bids to buy. There were 6 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
The stocks that traded firm in the junior market are, Access Financial with 9,700 units to close at $10.01, Caribbean Flavours 67,195 units, closed at $2.35 and Lasco Financial with 6,540 units, ended at 98 cents.
The stocks with price losses are, Blue Power traded only 100 shares but lost 24 cents to $7.76, for a new 52 weeks’ low and Lasco Distributors with 457,059 units, closed 10 cents lower at $1.15.
J$ make gains on Friday
The Jamaican dollar gained against the British Pound and the Canadian dollar and remained stable versus the US dollar on Friday, as foreign exchanged flows remained at normal levels.
On Friday, authorized dealers purchased the equivalent of US$31,518,654 versus US$32,649,087, on Thursday and sold the equivalent of US$28,175,798 compared with US$28,021,523 on Thursday. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$26,675,958 compared to US$25,714,484 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar lost 9 cents to $112.23 and US$25,607,049 was sold versus US$24,894,405 on Thursday, the selling rate was unchanged at $112.76. The Canadian dollar buying rate, fell $3.03 to $97.63 with dealers buying C$1,113,258 and selling C$606,883, at an average selling rate that dropped $1.40, to $100.58. The rate for buying the British Pound moved up 54 cents to $178.64, for the purchase of £1,850,586, while £447,466 was sold, at $180.24, a fall of 22 cents. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$928,466, while the equivalent of US$1,312,188, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, fell 15 cents to $112.85, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $91.85 and $117.70 respectively but the lowest selling rate jumped $18.15 to $110. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 74 cents to $100.66, the lowest buying rate declined 74 cents to $79.31, the highest selling rate was unchanged at $102.76. The lowest selling rate declined 90 cents to $95.55. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dipped 80 cents to $180.70. The lowest buying rate eased $1.82 to $143.55, the highest selling rate declined by $3.35 to $184.06 and the lowest selling rate dropped $1.55 to $172.95.
7 stocks up but Republic drops 75c
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange closed with 16 securities changing hands of which 7 advanced, 4 declined and 5 traded firm, with a total of 244,650 units, valued at $9,307,775 trading.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index fell by just 0.49 points to close at 1,146.04, the All T&T Index rose 0.22 points to close at 1,962.32 rose and the Cross Listed Index fell 0.16 points to end at 43.22.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAL added 11,518 shares valued at $762,135, to gain 2 cents to $66.17, Ansa Merchant Bank closed at a new 52 weeks’ high of $39.42, up a cent while 5,260 shares changed hands, Guardian Holdings gained a cent to close at $13.51 while trading 9,271 units, One Caribbean Media ended with a 1 cents increase to $25.13 with 500 shares, Trinidad Cement put on a cent to end at $2.03 with 5,600 units, Unilever was up 4 cents to close at a new 52 weeks’ high of $64.19 while 5,808 units changed hands with a value of $372,815 and West Indian Tobacco gained 16 cents to end the day at $118.77 as 4,110 shares were traded valued at $488,144.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Massy Holdings traded 11,000 shares valued at $753,940 to close at $68.54 with a loss of 1 cent, Republic Bank with 27,285 shares being traded for $3,293,884 shed 75 cents to $120. Sagicor Financial contributed 27,078 shares, valued at $163,909 but fell 20 cents to close at $6.05, for a new 52 weeks’ low and Scotiabank traded 6,125 shares valued at $355,127 to close with 1 cent loss at $57.98 a new 52 weeks’ low.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with 98,100 shares valued at $2,168,010 remained at $22.10, Firstcaribbean International Bank 645 shares to end at $5.50, First Citizens Bank traded 1,500 shares at $36.75, National Enterprises with 30,550 shares changing hands for a value of $534,325 closed at $17.50 and National Flour Mills with 300 shares ended at $1.10.
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 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Sales up margin down at Lasco Distributors
Peter Chin – Lasco Distributors’ Managing Director
Operating cost jumped 15 percent in the quarter, to $377 million and just over 17 percent for the six months to $738 million, pushing profit down 19 percent to $112.5 million for the quarter, from $138.7 million in 2013 and down a much larger, 33 percent, to $203 million for the half year, versus $303 million in the 2013 period.
As disappointing as the second quarter numbers are, they represent a major improvement over the first quarter with a revenue increase of 4 percent, and a fall in profits of 45 percent compared to the 2013 June quarter.
Finances|The company has quite a bit of funds tied up in inventories $1.3 billion and receivables $1.7 billion, that are in excess of normal trading levels, cash funds on the other hand is up to $850 million and will be handy in helping to finance the 110,000 square foot warehousing facility, that they will be embarking on shortly, to meet what management says, is increasing demand flowing from new products to be distributed by the company.
The expected payment from their successful law suit against Pfizer is not yet booked and the amount not yet made public but should exceed $1 billion.
Lasco Manufacturing new “I Cool” drinks
Impressive sales growth at Medical Disposables
Kurk Boothe – Medical Disposables Managing Director
In 2013 after taxation of $4.4 million, $13 million was left as net profit. For the six months, profit after tax of rose 60.6 percent to $38.7 million from $24 million, after accounting for $8.4 million in taxes.
For the quarter, gross profit grew 29 percent to $70.4 million compared to $54.5 million and for the six months an increase of 28 percent to$136 million. “This improvement was due to the increased sales in all categories and consistent review of our pricing structure to maintain gross margin efficiency,” Kurk Boothe, Managing Director said in his report to shareholders. The increase in gross profit was helped by an improvement in gross profit margins, increasing during the latest quarter to 33.14 percent from 32.12 last year and to 33.65 percent for the six months versus 32.90 percent in the same period of 2013.
Sales revenue climbed 26.2 percent to $283 million in the September quarter over the $224 million in 2013. For the half year, sales grew 26 percent to $540 million from $429 million in 2013. “This result was in keeping with the company’s strategic forecast of growing market share and widening the customer base in all categories of its business operations,” Boothe stated.
IC Insider understands that sales have moved to more than $100 million per month since the latter part of the last quarter. If this is maintained then it should lift profit going forward and could push earnings to around 40 cents per share for the current financial year.
Expenses| Total operational expenses increased 49.8 percent for the quarter and the half year to September to $47.6 million compared to $31.8 million in 2013 and to $93.8 million for the six months period.
“This increase was driven mainly by staff related expenses, utilities, professional fees and information technology services. Staff related expenses, in particular, were driven by the strategic decision to realign the staff complement and compensation to sustain the current growth, development and expansion of the business, Boothe said.
Finances| Trade receivables have climbed to more than two months of sales at $240 million and inventories have moved up as well to just under three months’ supply at $182 million. Cash funds are at $86 million but borrowed funds have climbed to $106 million.
The stock is one to watch with the price of the stock on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $1.92 at a PE less than 5 times the 2015 profit. The company declared a 4 cents per share dividend, payable in November 19.
Low forex demand forced BOJ’s intervention
Jamaica’s Central Bank head quarters Downtown Kingston
IC Insider can now confirm that the country’s central bank (Bank of Jamaica) has been intervening in the market to purchase excess funds and thus prevent too much appreciation for the Jamaican dollar at a time when the rate of inflation has been rising and could erode the gains made against the US dollar, in 2014.
Authorized dealers purchased the equivalent of US$32,649,087 versus US$32,884,034, on Wednesday and sold the equivalent of US$28,021,523 compared with US$32,831,045 on Wednesday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$25,714,484 compared to US$30,229,144 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar lost 3 cents to $112.32 and US$24,894,405 was sold versus US$31,632,195 on Wednesday, the selling rate rose 3 cent to $112.76. The Canadian dollar buying rate, rose $2.38 to $100.66 with dealers buying C$3,327,907 and selling C$1,986,255, at an average selling rate that climbed $1.37, to $101.98. The rate for buying the British Pound moved down 85 cents to $178.10, for the purchase of £943,417, while £400,984 was sold, at $180.46, a fall of $1.02. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$2,456,217, while the equivalent of US$689,010, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, fell 50 cents to $113, the lowest buying, the highest selling and the lowest selling rates were unchanged at $91.85, $117.70 and $91.85 respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 53 cents to $101.40, the lowest buying rate rose 70 cents to $80.05, the highest selling rate fell 36 cents to $102.76. The lowest selling rate declined $1.05 to $96.45. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dipped 70 cents to $181.50. The lowest buying rate eased 46 cents to $145.37, the highest selling rate rose 27 cents to $187.41 and the lowest selling rate dropped $3.50 to $174.50.
Trading in only 8 main market stocks
Thursday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 3 stocks rising and 8 declining as 17 securities changed hands, ending in 3,395,725 units trading, valued at $14,458,959, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 147.24 points to 71,804.85, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 164.64 points to close at 78,999.10 and the JSE combined index gained 108.17 points, to close at 73,655.26.
Gains| Stocks gaining at the last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Mayberry Investments with 10,000 shares changing hands, gained 10 cents to $1.50 and Scotia Group trading 411,651 shares as the price gained 64 cents to $19.75.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless with 2,297,611 shares closed at 28 cents, followed by Grace Kennedy’s 244 shares at $57.24 and Sagicor Group 20,000 units at $9.65.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras had 11,692 shares trading, with 10 cents fall to $34.50, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 7,661 shares with a loss of 6 cents to $4.10 and National Commercial Bank with 243,752 units closed 65 cents higher at $17.30.
Trading in 9 junior market securities
Caribbean Flavours price fell 45 cents
At the close of the market, there were 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower. The junior market continues to exhibit weakness with 11 securities closing with no bids to buy. There were 4 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
In trading, Lasco Financial with 1,640 units, closed 2 cents at 98 cents to be the sole stock to advance in the junior market.
Declines| AMG Packaging with 300,150 shares lost 9 cents to end at a new 52 weeks’ low of $2.15, Caribbean Flavours traded 16,581 shares, lost 45 cents to end at $2.35, Caribbean Producers had 3,735 shares changing hands as it lost 10 cents to end at $2.20, Eppley 9.5% preference share traded 8,300 units, with the loss of 2 cents in ending at $6.08, Lasco Manufacturing with 26,000 shares lost 4 cents to end at 91 cents after posting slightly lower profit for the six months to September.
The stocks trading firm on Thursday are, Consolidated Bakeries in trading 20,030 units, closed at 82 cents, General Accident had 14,867 units changing hands at $1.55 and Lasco Distributors traded just 1,811 units to close at $1.25.
Only 8 securities traded in Trinidad
Only 8 securities traded on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Thursday, 1 advanced, 1 declined and 6 traded firm resulting in a total of 33,413 units changing hands, valued at $1,796,156. At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.01 points to close at 1,146.53, the All T&T Index edged up 0.02 points to close at 1,962.10 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 43.38.
Gains| Trinidad Cement inched up a cent to $2.02 while trading 1,000 shares to be the sole stock to gain in price.
Declines| The only stock declining at the end of trading is Scotiabank with 1,000 shares, fell 1 cent to close at $57.99 to a new 52 weeks’ low.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Agostini’s traded 284 shares at $17.34, Clico Investment Fund with 9,160 shares valued at $202,436 closed at $22.10, First Citizens Bank traded 869 shares to close at $36.75, Guardian Holdings contributed 3,100 shares to end at $13.50, National Commercial Bank with 6,000 shares closed at $1 and Republic Bank with 12,000 shares changing hands for a value of $1,449,000, ended at $120.75.
With results being released for the September quarter and the end of the year nearing, financial information may be forthcoming that could result in more interest in some of the stocks. The number of stocks with bids higher than their last sale prices is in keeping with the above.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator was showing a moderately bullish signal as had 6 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 stock with the offer that was lower.
