Remittance inflows for the 2015 to September were affected by a slowdown in inflows in September ending with US$1.65 billion, for an increase of US$51 million or 3.2 per cent over the nine months to September 2014.
The slowdown is a continuation from August, when inflows increased marginally.
After allowing for in outflows of US$167.7 million for the nine months to September, this year compared to US$170.4 last year, net remittances for the year to September, were US$1.48 billion, an increase of US$48 million or just 3.3 per cent over the similar period of 2014.
Gross remittance inflows for September 2015 were US$184 million, an increase of US$1.4 million or 0.7 per cent versus the same month in 2014. Remittance inflows also slowed in August 2015, with inflows amounting to US$186 million, for an increase of just US$1.7 million over August 2014. Total Remittance Outflows amounted $19.9 million slightly higher than the US$19.7 for September 2014, leaving net inflows were US$163.7 million, an increase of US$1.5 million, relative to the corresponding period of 2014.
Archives for December 2015
J$ moves to $120.42 to US dollar
The Jamaican foreign exchange market trading activity on the final Monday in 2015, fell well below Thursday’s levels with dealers buying almost $11 million less than they sold, as the value of the local currency slipping further against the US dollar. The inflows of funds into the market were unusually low for this time of the year, the closure of some businesses for the holiday may account for it.
Dealers bought the equivalent of US$31,609,960 and sold US$32,521,826, compared with US$34,740,726 and US$44,288,308 respectively on Thursday.
Sale of US dollars , exceeded the amount dealers bought by US$2.7 million. Dealers bought US$28,536,776 compared to US$32,213,491 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 25 cents to $119.45. A total of US$31,277,510 was sold versus US$42,468,505 on Thursday as the selling rate rose 7 cent to $120.42. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell by 37 cents to end at $82.75 with dealers buying C$1,131,418 and selling C$1,198,716, at an average rate that rose 63 cents to $87.01. The rate for buying the British Pound climbed by $1.03 to $176.48 for the purchase of £1,470,687, while only £150,953 was sold, with the rate falling 89 cents to $177.24. At the end of trading, it took J$131.88 to purchase the Euro, for a rise of 96 cents from Thursday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$129.21, rising by 80 cents from Thursday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$116,372 being bought, while US$156,024 was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, fell 5 cents to $120.70, 
the lowest buying, the highest and lowest selling rates were unchanged at $98.70, $126.47 and $116, respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar dropped $1.75 to $86.45, the lowest buying rate fell 20 cents to $68.61. The highest and lowest selling rates remained at $90 and $80.50 respectively. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, jumped $4.10 to end at $182.80. The lowest buying, the highest and the lowest selling rates were unchanged at $142.84, $184.15 and $170.70 respectively.
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TTSE up last Monday of 2015
Grace closed at a new high on TTSE on Monday
The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange commenced the last week of trading for 2015 on a positive note, closing with 12 active securities. Activity ended with price of 4 stocks rising, none declining and 8 remaining unchanged as 190,841 shares changed hands valued at $2,606,951.
The Composite Index ended with a gain of 0.61 points to 1,160.03, the All T&T Index gained 0.20 points to 1,947.78 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.14 points to end at 48.99.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Grace Kennedy gained 5 cents with 4,889 units changing hands at $4.05, Guardian Holdings with 7,613 shares changing hands and closed at $13.25 after rising 5 cents, JMMB Group traded 10,672 shares with a gain of 2 cents to end at 53 cents and Republic Financial Holdings rose 2 cents and ended with 500 shares at $111.91.
Declines| There were no declining stocks on Monday.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment Fund closed with just 127,180 shares changing hands to end at $22.75, 
First Citizens traded 7,475 units, to close at $35, Guardian Media traded 4,364 shares with the price remaining at $19.75, Massy Holdings ended at $61.47 while trading 10,065 shares with a value of $618,645. National Commercial Bank traded 8,931 shares at $2.05, Scotiabank closed with 215 shares changing hands unchanged at $61.98, Trinidad Cement closed at $4 with 317 shares changing hands and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $21 with 87,518 shares valued at $1,837,878 changing hands.
New record for JSE majors – Monday
Jamaican stock market closed at a new all-time high on Monday.
The number of shares changing hands ended at 13,211,348 units valued at $79,384,406.
A total 17 stocks in the combined markets gained and 5 declined. One stock traded at 52 weeks’ closing high and one at intraday 52 weeks’ high as the bull market continues to wind its way forward.
At the close the JSE Market Index climbed 1,012.93 points to 147,160.14, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 1,132.01 points to end at 163,416.05 and the JSE combined index gained 1,138.74 points to close at 154,128.91. The main market faces resistance test around the 165,000 points level, on the all Jamaica composite index.
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 15 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.In trading, Barita Investments ended with a loss of 5 cents as 105,000 shares traded at $3.80, Berger Paints traded 143,510 shares at $3.15, Cable and Wireless had 92,427 units changing hands at $1.33, Caribbean Cement lost 10 cents to end at $18.10, with 2,979,782 shares trading, Carreras rose 75 cents to close at $60.75, with 610 units changing hands. Grace Kennedy gained 9 cents with 561 units changing hands, to finish at $80.11, Jamaica Broilers rose 20 cents to close at $10.05 with 32,000 shares changing hands, Jamaica Producers traded 20,000 shares to end at $32, JMMB Group rose 30 cents to close at $10.45 with 4,454 units changing hands.
Kingston Wharves gained just 1 cent to close at $11.35 with 40,200 shares changing hands, Mayberry Investments had 20.000 shares trading at $4.40 for a gain of 10 cents, National Commercial Bank lost 20 cents to end at $39.70, with 4,100 units changing hands, Pulse Investments traded 5,370 units with a gain of 25 cents at $2.75. Sagicor Group closed with 44,400 units changing hands with a gain of 90 cents to $18.50 for a new 52 weeks’ closing high, Scotia Group gained 30 cents with 36,408 shares changing hands at $30, Supreme Ventures ended at $4.66 with 15,000 units changing hands and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference share traded 50,000 units at $2.02.
Juniors hits new record on Monday
The junior market closed at an all-time high on Monday.
Trading ended with 12 securities trading of which 6 advanced and 1 declined. Volume changing hands amounted to 9,625,941 units, valued at $21,462,981.
At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 5 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last traded prices while one closed with a lower offer.
In trading, AMG Packaging closed with 1,000 units changing hands at $7, Caribbean Cream gained 8 cents with 211,685 shares changing hands at $3.88, Caribbean Producers rose 1 cent in trading 40,000 units to close at $4.58, Consolidated Bakeries rose 10 cents with 38,000 shares changing hands at $1.30, Derrimon Trading ended with 100,000 shares changing hands at $3.80.
General Accident lost 2 cents with 8,576,273 shares trading valued at $17,143,022 to close at $1.88. Knutsford Express ended at $9.60 with 970 shares changing hands. Lasco Distributors rose by 5 cents and closed with 283,883 shares changing hands at $4.95 for a 52 weeks’ high, after trading earlier at an all-time high of $5.08. Lasco Financial rose 3 cents to close at $3.53, with 22,000 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing gained 10 cents, to close at $3.50 with 259,030 shares trading, Medical Disposables closed with 9,100 shares trading at $3.55 and Eppley 9.5% preference share ended with 84,000 shares trading at $6.
13 stocks rise 3 down early trading
Trading levels are low after the Christmas break with 24 securities trading up to 10:45 on Monday morning on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. 
All the main indices rose with 13 stocks rising and only 3 declining with 1,022,877 units changing hands.
The all Jamaica Composite Index rose 731.19 points to 163,015.23 the JSE Market Index gained 654.27 points to 146,801.48, the JSE combined index increased by 745.93 points to 153,736.10 and the junior market index is down 14.36 points to 1,694.77.
Interesting trades include Barita Investments with 105,000 shares at $3.80, Caribbean Cement rising $1.30 with 9,815 shares to $19.50, Caribbean Cream with 76,685 shares at $3.88 after gaining 8 cents, Derrimon Trading with 100,000 units at $3.80, Lasco Distributors with 180,883 units at a new high of $5 and Lasco Manufacturing with 248,830 shares at $3.40.
First Citizens flat 2015 numbers
As Trinidad and Tobago struggled with recession in 2015 profit for the year ended September 2015 resulted in a marginal increase from TT$627 million in 2014 to TT$630 million for First Citizens Bank, a Trinidadian based and Trinidad Stock Exchange listed bank.
The performance emanated from revenues of $1.76 billion net of $282 million in interest cost, compared to $1.68 billion net of interest cost of $315 million in 2014. For the September quarter profit fell to $148 million from $157 million reported for the June quarter.
While interest income was marginally down to $1.45 billion from $1.47 billion for the 12 months, fees and commissions rose sharply by 28 percent to $415 million from $360 million, gains on sale of financial assets, netted only $27 million versus $66 million in 2014 while foreign exchange gains, rose to $12 million from $76 million.
Driven mainly by a 19.5 percent increase in the wage bill that hit $425 million administrative expenses rose 13.8 percent to $594 million from $522 million and other operating expenses were flat at $390 million as technical and professional fell to $21 million from $38. Loan losses fell to $6 million from $13 million in 2014 but taxation climbed to $160 million from $146 million thus reducing a 4.7 percent increase in pretax profit to a virtually flat net results for the year, with earnings per share of $2.51.
Investment assets amounted to $12.3 billion up from $10.4 billion in 2014 while loans grew to by $1.6 billion in the final quarter to $17.3 billion and is up from $14.9 billion at September 2014.
With Trinidad now in recession and the price of oil under US$40 per barrel, institutions such as banks could see their income and profit under pressure in 2016 as demand for loans remain weak. The stock last traded at $35 on the Trinidad Stock Exchange with a PE of 14 and don’t seem to have much room for growth in the months ahead.
Inflows down Jamaican$ slips
Flows into the Jamaican foreign exchange market on Thursday fell well below Wednesday’s levels with dealers buying almost $10 million less than they sold with the value of the local currency slipping just a cent against the US dollar.
Dealers bought the equivalent of US$34,740,726 and sold US$44,288,308, compared with US$56,579,543 and US$48,690,822 respectively on Wednesday.
Sale of US dollars , exceeded the amount sold by dealers by US$10 million. Dealers bought US$32,213,491 compared to US$52,781,867 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 13 cents to $119.70. A total of US$42,468,505 was sold versus US$46,420,126 on Wednesday as the selling rate rose 1 cent to $120.35. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell by 1 cent to end at $83.12 with dealers buying C$1,146,311 and selling C$1,102,909, at an average rate that rose $1.65 to $86.38. The rate for buying the British Pound climbed by 47 cents to $175.45 for the purchase of £927,856, while £587,131 was sold, with the rate putting on 67 cents to $178.14. At the end of trading, it took J$130.92 to purchase the Euro, for a fall of $1.05 from Wednesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$128.41 for a decline of $1.03 from Wednesday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$371,230 being bought, while US$159,109 was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, 
rose 20 cents to $120.75, the lowest buying rate held at $98.70, the highest selling rate fell 22 cents to $126.47 and lowest selling rates fell $1 to end at $116. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose $1.20 to $88.20, the lowest buying rate remained at $68.81, the highest selling rate ended 10 cents lower at $90 and the lowest selling rate fell $1.50 to end at $80.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, slipped 30 cents to end at $178.70. The lowest buying rate was unchanged at $142.84, while the highest selling rate jumped $1.45 to end at $184.15 and the lowest selling rate rose by 20 cents to $170.70.
20 stocks gained on JSE – Thursday
Sagicor Group HQ – its stock traded at a new high on the JSE
A total 20 stocks in the combined markets gained, 11 declined including 3 preference shares. Four stocks closed at 52 weeks’ high and one at an intraday high.
At the close the JSE Market Index climbed 450.69 points to 146,147.21, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 503.67 points to end at 162,284.04 and the JSE combined index gained 748.48 points to close at 152,990.17. The main market faces resistance test around the 165,000 points level, on the all Jamaica composite index.
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 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Jamaica Stock Exchange rose by $2.99 to close at $18.99 with 11,270 units changing hands. Mayberry Investments had 133,277 shares trading at $4.30 for a gain of 10 cents, National Commercial Bank rose 20 cents to end at $39.90, with 29,018 units changing hands, Pulse Investments traded 34,270 units with a gain of 20 cents at $2.50. Sagicor Group closed with 55,026 units changing hands with a gain of 10 cents at $17.60 for a new 52 weeks’ closing high, but traded earlier at $18.50 for an intraday high, Scotia Group gained 9 cents with 141,900 shares changing hands at $28.70. Seprod traded 8,033 units and gained 25 cents in ending at $20.60, Supreme Ventures ended at $4.66 with a rise of 6 cents with 68,393 units changing hands and Proven Investments ordinary share traded 45,700 units with a rise of 3.2 cents to close at 22.75 US cents.
4 new highs for juniors – Thursday
Lasco Distributors closed at a new high of $4.90 on Thursday.
The market closed with 14 securities trading of which 7 advanced and 4 declined. Volume amounted to 1,752,229 units, valued at $12,898,901 changing hands.
At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 4 stocks closed with bids higher than their last traded prices while none closed with a lower offer.
In trading, Blue Power closed with 1,490 units changing hands to close at $13.10, Caribbean Cream gained 10 cents with 1,000 shares changing hands at $3.80, Caribbean Flavours rose 44 cents in trading 13,000 units to close at $9.44, Derrimon Trading ended with 20,767 shares changing hands at $3.80. Dolphin Cove closed at $15.50 after dropping 50 cents with 54,900 shares trading, General Accident lost 5 cents with 46,544 shares trading to close at $1.90. Honey Bun gained 11 cents with 1,500 shares changing hands, to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $6.11, KLE Group closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.55 with a gain of 35 cents as 6,000 shares changed hands, Knutsford Express rose 10 cents and ended at $9.60 with 910,117 shares changing hands.
Lasco Distributors rose by 30 cents and closed with 445,314 shares changing hands at $4.90 for a 52 weeks’ high, Lasco Financial lost 9 cents to close at $3.50, with 172,697 shares changing hands, the stock traded at $3.60 for an intraday high. Lasco Manufacturing gained 10 cents, to close at $3.40 with 67,000 shares trading, Derrimon Trading 11.75% preference share closed with a loss of 5 cents with 3,500 shares trading at $2.10 and Eppley 9.5% preference share lost 2 cents, to end with 8,400 shares trading at $6.
