Archives for November 2015

Huge profit turn at Honey Bun – BUY RATED

November 27, 2015 by

HONEY BUN LOGO Aug 2015Honey Bun turned around a loss of $17 million in the September 2014 quarter into a profit of $4 million in 2015 and a profit of only $23 million into a one of $68 million for the 2015 fiscal year or earnings per share of 72 cents.
The performance and IC Insider’s forecast for the next two years, (See EPS forecast below) have elevated the status of the stock to BUY RATED.
The change came from a 22 percent rise in revenue in the quarter to $215 million from $169 million in 2014 and from a 19 percent growth in revenues for the full year, to $887 million from $747 million in 2014. The profit in the September quarter is a major achievement for the company it being the first time since 2012 when a small profit of $550,000 was realized that the company is reporting a profit.
“The company services lots of schools and so the summer months are normally reduced due to the holiday season for July and August. We will always have this challenge but we have somewhat overcome a significant portion of it by way of the development of new products that are not directly geared for schools and by targeting other markets also.

One Honey Bun's Products

One Honey Bun’s Products

This has made a significant impact,” Chong stated in response to questions posed to her by IC Insider.com subsequent to the release of the June quarterly report.
Helping the growth in profits was an improvement in gross profit and gross profit margin with the latter being 42.8 percent up from 41 percent in 2014 and from a 9.5 percent increase in administrative and other expenses, selling & distribution costs of $307 million from $280 million.
Investments, cash and equivalents rose to $92 million, net current assets stood at $102 million, borrowed funds fell from $73 million in 2014 to $51 million while equity rose to $368 million.
The company’s shares are listed on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and last traded at $5.50, with the price being up 164 percent since 2015, and now sports a PE of 7.6 times 2015 earnings. IC Insider is forecasting earnings per share (EPS) of $1.15 for the 2016 fiscal year which gives it a PE of 4.8 and EPS of $1.70 for 2017.
The company advised that the Board of Directors will meet on Monday, December 7 to consider the declaration of a dividend. An interim dividend of 12 cents per stock, amounting to $11.3 million was paid in May this year.

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

Juniors make strong recovery on Friday

November 27, 2015 by

Knutsford closed at a new high of $9 on Friday

Knutsford closed at a new high of $9 on Friday

The junior market recovered sharply from losses with 19 active securities out of 27 listings on Friday. Trading ended with 9 stocks advancing and 4 the declined. A total of 4,447,873 units, valued at $17,215,047 changed hands. Trading ended with a 2 percent or 34.09 points rise in the index to 1,626.01. The market ended with 4 new 52 weeks’ closing highs.
Only 2 securities ended with no bids to buy and 7 had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and none closed with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial Services traded 249 units with the price rising 7 cents to $13.57, AMG Packaging closed at $6 with 1,458 units changing hands, Blue Power rose by 1 cent and closed with 10,265 units trading, C2W Music ended with 61,000 units changing hands at 38 cents. Caribbean Cream had 87,000 units changing hands but lost 10 cents, to end at $4.40, Caribbean Flavours in trading 7,426 units and ended at $6.57, Caribbean Producers gained 35 cents in trading 462,506 units to end at $5.80 for a 52 weeks’ closing high, Consolidated Bakeries fell 10 cents trading 19,736 shares at $1.30. Dolphin Cove ended with 128,900 units changing hands with a $1 gain to $16, General Accident ended with 699,239 shares changing hands and closed at $2 after declining by 19 cents, Honey Bun with 1,000 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 15 cents at $5.65 for a new 52 weeks’ high. Jamaican Teas gained 5 cents with 3,000 shares trading at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $5, JM - Trade 27-11-15 KLE Group ended with 30,000 units with a loss of 10 cents at 70 cents, Knutsford Express jumped $1 in trading 30,000 units at $9 for a 52 weeks’ high. Lasco Distributors closed with 1,135,443 shares changing hands, to end with a rise of 5 cents at $4.05, Lasco Financial ended at $3, with 1,124,054 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing rose 16 cents to $3.71 with 651,985 shares trading, Sweet River Abattoir traded just 612 units at $3.95 and Derrimon Trading preference share ended with 3,500 trading at $2.20.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No price change for TTSE – Friday

November 27, 2015 by

TTSE build Trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange was moderate Friday, ending with 14 active securities but there were no prices changes based on last traded prices and only 60,287 shares changed hands for a value of $1,263,624.
At the close, the Composite Index ending with a fall of 1.82 points at 1,158.66, the All T&T Index declined by 1.23 points to 1,955.35 and the Cross Listed Index slipped by 0.33 points to 47.57.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Firm Trades| Agostini’s traded 170 shares at $18.20, ANSA McAL contributed 200 shares and ended at $67, Ansa Merchant Bank traded 500 units to close at $38.96, Clico Investment Fund closed with 7,389 shares changing hands at $22.65. TTSE 27-11-15First Citizens Bank traded 6,769 shares to close at $35.01, Guardian Holdings with 5,680 shares changing hands, closed at $12.90, Massy Holdings closed at $61.95 with 20 shares changing hands, National Commercial Bank traded 10,200 shares at $1.95. National Enterprises with 350 shares changing hands at $16.49, National Flour with 1,000 shares ended at $2.22, Republic Bank closed at $112, with 1,000 shares changing hands. Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 8,377 shares changing hands at $6.03, One Caribbean Media ended with 17,205 shares valued at $378,510, changing hands at $22.05 and West Indian Tobacco added 1,427 shares and ended at $126.15.

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

JSE make moderate gains early Friday

November 27, 2015 by
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In early trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the main market indices have inched up and junior market index also gained, as the market was active from the start, but with moderate volumes.
At 10.45 am, the all Jamaica Composite Index is up 91.31 points to 156,742.22, JSE int 27-11-15the JSE Market Index gained 81.71 points to 141,188.34, the JSE combined index rose 150.44 points to be at 147,591.34 and the junior market index was up 8.21 points to 1,600.13.
The main trades have been Cable & Wireless traded 732,740 units and last traded at $1.45, Lasco Manufacturing with 526,824 shares at $3.51, Caribbean Producers with 362,506 units with a gain of 30 cents to $5.75, Jamaica Broilers with 187,098 units at $8.40 and Supreme Ventures with 172,209 shares at $4.80 and Kingston Wharves with 65,660 units at $11.
In trading, 24 securities have changed hands with a volume of 2,368,532 units as 6 stocks gained and 6 declined.

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

J$ slips against all on Thursday

November 26, 2015 by

FX_USPound2 On Thursday the Jamaican dollar slipped against the three major currencies it usually trades against in the foreign exchange market. Purchasing by dealers was US$7.6 million less than the funds they sold. At the close of the market, the equivalent of only US$16,888,330 was bought by dealers with the equivalent of US$24,496,549 sold, compared with US$32,919,431 they purchased and US$37,604,938 sold on Wednesday.
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$14,549,371 compared to US$30,545,842 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar declined 34 cents to $118.94 and US$20,657,823 was sold versus US$35,916,393 on Wednesday, the selling rate rose 6 cents to $119.93. FX sum 26-11-15The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 8 cents to end at $87.39 with dealers buying C$942,453 and selling C$646,643, at an average rate that gained 26 cents to $89.56. The rate for buying the British Pound fell 81 cents to $177.16 for the purchase of £1,008,120, while £383,784 was sold, with the rate rising 97 cents to $180.56. At the end of trading, it took J$127.09 to purchase the Euro, a fall of 46 cents from Wednesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$124.56 for a fall of 49 cents from Wednesday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$144,899 being bought, while US$2,778,069 was sold.
Highs & Lows| On Thursday, the highest and lowest buying rates for the US dollar and the highest selling rate were unchanged at $120.10, $98.66 and $126.42, respectively. FX hl 26-11-15The lowest selling rate declined by $18.34 to $98.66. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 40 cents to end at $91, the lowest buying rate remained at $71.63, the highest selling rate fell 66 cents to at $91.68 and the lowest selling rate declined by $1 to $84.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose 50 cents to end at $181. The lowest buying rate was unchanged at $145.25, the highest selling rate jumped $3.12 to $187.25 and the lowest selling rate was down by $1 to end at $174.

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

No stocks rise on TTSE’s – Thursday

November 26, 2015 by

TTSE build Trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange declined to more moderate levels Thursday, ending with 11 active securities, none closed higher, 1 declined and 10 remained unchanged as 248,589 shares changed hands for a value of $2,284,764.
At the close, the Composite Index ending with a fall of 0.05 points at 1,160.48 the All T&T Index decline of 0.09 points to 1,956.58 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 47.90.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| No stocks recorded gains on Thursday, this is the first time in November that this has happened.
Declines| Massy Holdings suffered a loss of 2 cents to close at $61.95 with 80 shares changing hands to end at a 52 weeks’ low.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment Fund closed with 8,361 shares at $22.65TTSE 26-11-15r First Citizens Bank traded 1,072 shares to close at $35.01, Grace Kennedy closed unchanged at $3.75 with 185,500 shares changing hands for a value of $695,625, JMMB Group contributed 3,956 shares and ended at 50 cents, Republic Bank closed at $112, with just 20 shares changing hands. One Caribbean Media closed with 220 shares changing hands at $22.05, Scotia Investments traded 124 units to end at $1.59, Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $22 as 46,717 shares changed hands for a value of $ $1,027,772 and West Indian Tobacco added 2,538 shares valued at $320,169 and ended at $126.15.

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

Bulls take charge of JSE on Thursday

November 26, 2015 by

Jamaica Producers closed at a new 52 weeks' high of $31 on Thursday.

Jamaica Producers closed at a new 52 weeks’ high of $31 on Thursday.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market suffered another day of reversal in the indices on Thursday, even as more stocks gained than declined. The market closed with a volume of 10,536,571 units valued at $65,677,281 changing hands, in all market segments.
Activity took place in 42 securities, leading to 22 securities rising and 10 declining with 4 stocks ending at 52 weeks’ closing highs and one stock closed at a 52 weeks’ low. The JSE Market Index rose 1,159.84 points to 141,106.63, the all Jamaica Composite Index climbed 1,296.19 points to end at 156,650.91 and the JSE combined index gained 1,523.05 points to end at 147,440.90.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading of 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
In trading, Cable and Wireless closed with 1,296,078 units changing hands at $1.42 and gained of 2 cents, Caribbean Cement climbed $1 to $19 with 250,137 shares changing hands, JSE sum 26-11-15 Carreras fell $3.90 to close at $55.10 with 5,319 units trading, Ciboney did not traded but had a bid to buy 400,000 at 17 cents and just below that are bids to buy 1.9 million units at 16 cents. Desnoes & Geddes ended with 67,000 shares trading at $30, Gleaner traded 105,270 units at $1.94, Jamaica Broilers traded 1,102,100 shares to close at $8.60. Grace kenned traded 70,834 units 40 cents higher at $75.50, Jamaica Producers jumped $2 while trading 8,779 shares to end at $31 for a 52 weeks’ high, The Jamaica Stock Exchange had 43,000 shares changing hands but fell 13 cents, to end at $13.15, JMMB Group rose 5 cents while trading 161,362 shares to close at $10.25. Kingston Wharves ended with 11,638 shares changing hands at $11.47, Mayberry Investments closed with 21,830 units trading with a gain of 50 cents and ended at $4.50, National Commercial Bank closed with a rise of 18 cent as 105,002 shares changed hands to end at $37.19. Pan Jamaican Investments dropped $5 to end at $90 with 6,531 units changing hands. Pulse Investments traded 20,000 shares and ended at $3 after falling 65 cents, Radio Jamaica ended at a 52 weeks’ high of $5.50, after rising 43 cents, with 11,610 units changing hands, Sagicor Group rose 20 cents in trading 239,919 units to end at $16.70. JSE Fn Qts 26-11-15 Scotia Group had 9,055 shares changing hands and closed with a rise of 65 cents at $27, Scotia Investments jumped $5.50 to $33.50 but with only 1,000 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures had 29,320 units changing hands but the price slipped 19 cents to $4.70. Proven Investments ended at 22.9 US cents with 108,528 changing hands, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share traded 107,067 units with the price jumping $1.01 to end at $4.50 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share, traded 89,000 units at $2.65.

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

Juniors recover sharply on Thursday

November 26, 2015 by

Jamaican Teas ended at a 52 weeks closing high on Thursday

Jamaican Teas ended at a 52 weeks closing high on Thursday

The junior market recovered sharply from losses with 14 active securities on Thursday, 9 of which advanced and 2 declined as most of the profit taking seems to be coming to an end. A total of 1,964,533 units, valued at $8,232,518 changed hands. Trading ended with a 3 percent or 47.93 points rise in the index to 1,591.92. The market ended with 2 new 52 weeks’ closing highs.
Only 2 securities ended with no bids to buy and 9 had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 5 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 3 closed with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial Services traded 6,250 units, with the price rising $1 to $13.50, C2W Music ended up with 3,083 units changing hands with a gain of 1 cent to 38 cents, Caribbean Cream had 8,000 units changing hands and recovered 20 cents, to end at $4.50, Caribbean Flavours in trading 5,000 units ended at $6.57. Caribbean Producers gained 45 cents in trading 328,400 units to end at $5.45, Derrimon Trading ended with 25,700 units changing hands with a 5 cents loss to $3.45, General Accident ended with 12,900 shares changing hands and closed at $2.19 after rising 29 cents but was offered at $2 at the close.JM - Trade 26-11-15 Honey Bun with 15,512 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 50 cents at $5.50 for a new 52 weeks’ high, Jamaican Teas had 10,700 shares trading at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $4.95, after rising by 30 cents, Knutsford Express lost 20 cents in trading 1,900 units at $8. Lasco Distributors closed with 641,324 shares changing hands, to end with a rise of 10 cents at $4, Lasco Financial ended at $3, with 465,338 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing closed with a decline of 16 cents to $3.55 with 255,274 shares trading and Eppley 2019 Preference Share ended with 190,000 units changing hands with a gain of 1 cents to $6.08.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ciboney shares doubled but why?

November 26, 2015 by

Cib -11-15Ciboney traded 1,186,460 units on Wednesday at 16 cents for a 52 weeks’ high, but the stock closed with the bid at 16 cents to buy 1,813,540 shares as investor push to price up to levels not seen since 2004 when it traded as high as 32 cents. The stock has doubled since November 9 when it traded at 8 cents. On the September 24 there were trading in 4.36 million units and 5.36 on October 26 and 2.1 million units on November 16.
Why the interest in the stock of a company that reported a loss of $1 million for the quarter, ending in August and seems set to lose $4 million for the year ending May 2016? For the 2015 fiscal year, a loss of $5 million was reported and $8.7 million in 2014.
Ciboney has whittled down the funds it holds in cash and investments, to $14.5 million from $20.6 million at August 2014 and with the losses could be out of cash in another two years, unless they were able to sell the land which the company owns. The last valuation was done in January 2015 which gives a value ranging from $200 million to $215 million, but is on the books at $44 million. If the valuation of $207.5 million was fully booked, the net book value would be around 31 cents per share. So far Ciboney has not obtained a buyer prepared to pay a price close to the market value.
IC Insider has been informed that two parties have expressed an interest in acquiring the company in part. One proposal is without the land, with the land to be placed in a separate company to be formed to hold it in proportion to existing share ownership of Ciboney. The other would see FINSAC retaining the land in possible exchange for either a cash injection and or transferring the FINSAC shares to minority shareholders. The deadline for the offer is Friday this week,any agreement would be subject to a vote by shareholders. If the former proposal succeeds, cash inflows would be minimal initially and shareholders would have to wait on the sale of the land for further payment. In the second case, investors would see no cash but the share value could be between 30-40 cents, with the possibility of losses could be eliminated. There is no guarantee that any of the proposals will be accepted. In the meantime, the price of 16 cents is well under the 31 cents adjusted net book value.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: ,

4 TTSE’s stocks up 3 down on Wednesday

November 25, 2015 by

Unilever Caribbean traded at a new high on Wednesday

Unilever Caribbean traded at a new high on Wednesday

Trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Wednesday ended with 10 active securities of which 4 stocks closed higher, 3 declined and 3 remained unchanged as 73,024 shares changed hands for a value of $2,249,495.
At the close, the Composite Index ending with a rose of 0.87 points at 1,160.53 the All T&T Index rose 1.72 points to 1,956.67 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 47.90.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Clico Investment Fund closed with 11,760 shares valued at $266,326 changing hands, 7 cents higher at $22.65, Prestige Holdings traded 2,603 units to end at $10.10, having risen 5 cents to a 52 weeks’ high. Trinidad Cement closed at a new 52 weeks’ high of $4.33 with 200 shares changing hands, after adding 13 cents and Unilever Caribbean ended with 12,085 shares valued at $823,593 trading with a gain of 12 cents, for a new 52 weeks’ high of $68.15.
TTSE 25-11-15r Declines| First Citizens Bank traded 2,733 shares carrying a value of $326,328, to close with a fall of 1 cent at $35.01, Point Lisas fell 4 cents in trading 1,000 units at $3.91 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed with a loss of 1 cent at $22 as 34,957 shares changed hands for a value of $769,101.
Firm Trades| Republic Bank closed at $112, with 279 shares changing hands, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 206 shares changing hands at $6.03, and infrequent trader L.J. Williams B share traded 615 units to close with a gain of 2 cents to end at 99 cents.

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