Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday, resulted the advanced decline ratio being very positive. The market ended with strong gains in indices with the JSE Market Index gaining 865.46 points to 83,174.80, 
the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 967.61 points to close at 91,711.58 and the JSE combined index increasing by 800.44 points to close at 84,804.11.
The volume of stocks trading was moderate at 1.167 million units as only 16 securities traded in the main market. Major price movements, were recorded by Carreras up 95 cents to $39.95, Jamaica Broilers up 20 cents to $4.50, Jamaica Money Market down 24 cents to $7.02. Mayberry down 36 cents to $2, National Commercial Bank gaining 89 cents to $25, Proven 8% preference shares put on 45 cents to $5.50, Scotia Group gained 45 cents to $21.50, Scotia Investments lost $1 to $22 and Seprod climbing $1 to $14.
Archives for March 2015
JSE closes with strong gains
6 TTSE stocks down 3 up
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended with 11 securities changing hands of which 3 advanced, 6 declined and 2 traded firm with a total of 149,963 units, valued at $5,020,193.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.04 points to close at 1,154.86, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.25 points to close at 1,972.38 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.05 points to end at 44.23.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens Bank that added 11,480 shares valued at $405,721 as the price inched up 2 cents to $35.35. Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 2,500 shares and gained 5 cents to end at $5.55 and West Indian Tobacco in contributing 18,144 shares with a value of $2,269,089, gained 1 cent, to end at $125.06 for a 52 weeks’ high.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Agostini’s suffering a loss of 9 cents, closing at $17.29 while trading 14 shares. Angostura Holdings trading 350 units to close at $14, Guardian Holdings contributing 1,000 shares and closing unchanged at $ 14.50, Massy Holdings with 27,655 shares trading for $1,742,309, lost a cent to end at $63, National Commercial Bank with 10,942 shares ending at $1.56 and Republic Bank with 474 shares traded lost 6 cents in ending at $117.93.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund traded 14,825 shares valued at $333,565 and remained at $22.50 and Trinidad Cement with 63,029 shares changing hands for a value of $163,727 as it traded at $2.60
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.
Buying & selling even on Wednesday
The buying and selling of foreign currencies in the system, were evenly matched purchases of all currencies by dealers amounting to US$37,292,575 equivalent, compared with US$38,377,465, on Tuesday and selling of the equivalent of US$38,096,238 versus US$66,929,309 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$35,114,776 compared to US$34,755,724 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar slipped 4 cents to $114.61 and US$36,632,413 was sold versus US$64,588,710 on Tuesday, the selling rate fell 3 cents to end at $115.10. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 13 cents to $89.78 with dealers buying C$775,340 and selling C$542,317, at an average rate that climbed 18 cents to $92.07. The rate for buying the British Pound was unchanged at $169.31 for the purchase of £955,066, while £625,348 was sold, at an average rate of $170.58, for a fall of 5 cents. At the end of trading it took J$125.57 to purchase the Euro, 25 cents less than on Tuesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$123.17 for a fall of 23 cents off Tuesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$159,442 while the equivalent of US$103,256, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, fell $1.40 to $115.40. The lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained at $93.94 and $120.37 respectively and the lowest selling rose $1.85 to $95.79. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar climbed $1.45 to $93.20, the lowest buying rate rose 83 cents to $72.46, but the highest selling rate fell 20 cents to $94.28 and the lowest selling rate remained at $87.30. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, the lowest buying and lowest selling rates were unchanged at $171.30, $137.20 and $165.30 respectively, while the highest selling rate fell $1.73 to $175.14.
Moderate trading on JSE – Wednesday
Pan Jamaican gained $1.95 to closed at $57 on Wednesday
Main Market| At the close, the JSE Market Index dropped 240.35 points to close at 82,309.34, the JSE All Jamaican Composite fell 268.71 points to close at 90,743.97 and the JSE Combined Index declined by 217.82 points to close at 84,003.67.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Gleaner closing with 50,000 units and added 5 cents to end at 95 cents. Jamaica Broilers concluding trading with 2,351 shares changing hands, gained 25 cents to $4.30, Pan Jamaican Investment finished trading with 15,330 shares traded with a gain of $1.95 to $57, Sagicor Real Estate Fund closing with 4,650 shares changing hands at 25 cents higher to $6.95 and Scotia Group concluding trading with 84,692 shares with the price rising 5 cents to $21.05.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Desnoes & Geddes ending trading with 2,200 shares at $5.45 and Grace Kennedy while having 66,194 shares changing hands closed at $61.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless closing with 63,730 units, the price ended 2 cents down at 50 cents. Caribbean Cement finishing trading with 26,007 units, as the price slipped 5 cents to $2.25, Carreras ending with 10,560 units 10 cents off to $39, Jamaica Producers in trading 1,150 units, slipped 40 cents to $15.60. Mayberry Investments finishing trading with 40,168 shares changing hands for 2 cents lower at $2.36, National Commercial Bank had 56,063 shares changing hands for 88 cents loss to $24.11 and Sagicor Group contributing 321,714 shares to trading at 4 cents lower to $10.51.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share finishing trading with 4,450 units at $3.04.
Low trading by juniors on Wednesday
Activity on the Junior Market closed with 4 securities traded ending with 251,020 units changing hands valued at $286,011. The JSE Junior Market Index gained 0.89 points to close at 707.05, with the price of 1 stocks advancing and 1 declining.
At the close of the market, there were 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 5 securities closing with no bids to buy and 7 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Caribbean Producers traded 10.000 units at $2.10, Lasco Distributors closed with 19,500 units trading at $1.46 for a 1 cent gain, Lasco Financial Services ended with 181,520 shares trading unchanged at $1.05 and Lasco Manufacturing with 40,000 shares closing 1 cent down at $1.14.
JSE closes with triple digit losses
The JSE closed down in all main indices as trading levels were subdued, with a mere 749,000 shares traded in the main market. Sagicor Group with 321,714 units changing hands closing at $10.51 was majo9r trade for the day, Grace Kennedy traded 66,194 at $61.
At the close the JSE Market Index declined by 240.35 points to close at 82,309.34, the JSE All Jamaican Composite declined by 268.71 points to close at 90,743.97 and the JSE Combined Index declined by 217.82 points to close at 84,003.67.
5 up 3 down on TTSE Wednesday
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange was with 17 securities changing hands of which 5 advanced, 3 declined and 9 traded firm with a total of 208,225 units, valued at $3,407,398.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.91 points to close at 1,154.82, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.03 points to close at 1,972.63 and the Cross Listed Index fell 0.24 points to end at 44.18.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAL trading 200 shares while gaining 2 cents to end at $ 66.92, First Citizens Bank trading 5,109 shares valued at $180,496, to close 2 cents higher at $35.33. Jamaica Money Market Brokers contributing 16,416 shares to gain of 1 cent at 41 cents, Scotia Investments trading 6,600 shares at $1.53 after gaining 3 cents and Unilever Caribbean gaining 15 cents to end at $65.56 while trading 208 shares, to close at a 52 weeks’ high.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings trading 1,150 shares at $14, for a loss of 1 cent, Firstcaribbean International Bank fell 7 cents to close at $5.03 with 94 shares trading and Scotiabank had 5,180 shares trading for $321,212 to close down 4 cents at 62.01,
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund trading 61,160 shares valued at $1,376,100 declining by 1 cent to $22.50. Grace Kennedy trading 1,815 shares at $3.54, Guardian Holdings closing with 61,663 shares changing hands for a value of $894,114, to end at $14.50, followed by Massy Holdings, in trading 511 shares at $63.01. National Commercial Bank with 5,308 shares changing hands closed at $1.56, National Enterprises with a volume of 28,000 shares being traded for $485,800, and ended at $17.35, Republic Bank trading 3 shares at $117.99, Sagicor Financial Corporation trading 1,200 shares to close at 5.50, while Trinidad Cement added 13,608 shares and closed at $2.60.
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 4 with offers that were lower.
JSE having moderate day
The JSE is enjoying a slow Wednesday so far, with very few trades taking place within an hour of opening. At minutes after 11 am, there was only Sagicor Group that had any volume of note, with 259,904 units changing hands at $10.50. Trading overall resulted in very moderate increases in the indices. 
Profit looking up at Broilers
Jamaica Broilers recorded profits of $406 million for the quarter to January 2015, a 115 percent increase against the $188 million in 2014. Results for the third quarter was better than the amount earned in the first two quarters of the fiscal year combined.
Profit of $622 million was earned for the nine months, 21 percent above the $512 million for the 2014 period. Earnings per stock amounted 33.8 cents for the quarter, up from 15.7 cents for the corresponding period in 2014 and 51.86 cents per stock unit versus 42.71 cents, for the nine months period. IC Insider is forecasting $1 per share earnings for the year to April and $1.50 for the next fiscal year. If the forecast is met, the stock would be selling at at PE ratio of only 4.
The group should benefit from lower cost of inputs for feed, energy and fuel cost with the decline in the price of oil. Contributing to the gains so far, is the Group’s revenue increase of 15 percent for the quarter to hit $9 billion from the $7.8 billion in the corresponding period last year. Gross profit jumped 38 percent in the quarter to $2.2 billion, $600 million above the $1.60 billion of the corresponding quarter of 2014. For the nine months, gross profit came in at $5.7 billion versus $4.4 billion, an increase of 29 percent. It was the improvement in Gross profit margin that contributed most to the improvements in profit with $370 million for the quarter coming from the increased margin.
“In this quarter, the segment reporting was changed to reflect the new geographical perspective on the Group’s operations, being Jamaica, US and Other which includes Haiti,” the company’s management informed shareholders.
Management went on to state that “the growth in the US Operations continues. The segment results reflect the improvement in year to date performance; now at $773 million compared to the year to date of $283 million last year-a 173 percent increase. The Operations in Jamaica have performed as anticipated, given the market environment which has resulted in depressed consumer demand and lower disposable incomes. The year to date segment results at $1.297 billion therefore reflects only a 2 percent increase over the $1.270 billion recorded last year. Revenues from the fuel terminal operations at Port Esquivel were booked in this quarter in respect of a short-term contractual arrangement. A long-term agreement is being negotiated and prospects look good due to the current shortage of storage capacity for petroleum products. In this quarter, the segment reporting was changed to reflect the new geographical perspective on the Group’s operations, being Jamaica, US and Other (which includes Haiti). Distribution, selling and administrative costs, quarter -over –quarter, essentially reflect inflation increases along with costs related to organizational strengthening and increased activities in the US Operations.”
Borrowed funds increased to $6.9 billion and cash funds also increased to $1.76 billion, while equity stands at $11.3 billion.
Jamaica’s 2014 trade deficit falls
Imports of petroleum fell
Jamaica’s expenditure on merchandise imports during January to November 2014 fell by US$280 million or 5 percent to US$5,287 million when compared to the same period in 2013. Earnings from total exports fell by US$109 million or 7.5 percent to US$1.35 billion. The trade deficit a narrowed to by 4.1 percent or US$171 million to US$3.94 billion, compared to the similar 2013 period.
Major contributors to the fall in imports were declines of Mineral Fuels with a decline of US$154 million or 7.9 per cent, food declined by US$51 million or 5.8 per cent, to US$837 million. Chemicals fell by US$130 million or 18.6 per cent, lower imports of ethanol products were the primary contributor to this decline. Beverages & Tobacco decreased by US$66 million, US$4 million or 6.1 percent below the US$71 million recorded in the similar 2013 period.
Bauxite mining
Exports|Earnings from traditional exports increased up by US$19 million or 2.7 percent to US$739 million, due to increases in Mining and Quarrying but Non-Traditional domestic exports valued at US$549 million, fell 16.9 percent or US$111 million.
