The Junior Market closed down on Thursday, with the index diving 71.37 points to end at 3,293.57 with 22 securities trading, compared to 21 on Thursday. Knutsford Express closed trading at all-time high of $70 with investors responding to the 5 for 1 stock split to take effect next week.
At the close of trading, 7 stocks advanced and 8 declined with 2,514,401 units valued at $21,351,143 changed hands, compared to 5,121,628 units valued at $19,594,786 on Thursday. Trading ended with 7 stocks having bids higher than their last sale prices and 2 with lower offers.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 114,291 units for an average value of $970,507 compared to 243,887 units for an average value of $933,085, on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for the month to date are 91,672 units and $621,105, while at the close of the prior day it was 90,541 units and $601,694. The average volume and value for April ended at 502,597 units and $2,768,003.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging rose 30 cents and closed at $4.80 with 9,516 units changing hands Blue Power rose 25 cents to end at $52 with 600 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream closed trading with 24,704 units to end at $8.40, Caribbean Producers had 31,000 units changing hands compared more than 3 million units each on Wednesday and Thursday, the price rose 30 cents to close at $3.50, Consolidated Bakeries jumped 50 cents trading 236,038 shares to close at $3, strong> Derrimon Trading fell 75 cents and ended at $8.75 with 3,000 shares changing hands, Dolphin Covetraded at an all-time high of $22.50 but by the close of the market, fell $1 from Thursday’s close and ended at $20 with 213,272 shares changing hands, Eppley had 22,931 units changing hands to close of $12, Honey Bun lost 23 cents with 7,459 shares changing hands at $7, ISP Finance ended at $26.50 with 486 units changing hands. Jamaican Teas rose 2 cents and closed trading with 14,000 shares, at $4.52. Jetcon Corporation and ended at $14.90 with 29,293 shares trading, Knutsford Express rose $2 and closed with 13,198 shares trading at an all-time high of $70. Lasco Distributors fell 5 cents and ended with 1,273,645 units trading at $7.05, Lasco Financial ended with 21,248 shares changing hands at $4, Lasco Manufacturing lost 45 cents to close at $5.20 while trading 168,679 shares, Main Event added 25 cents and ended trading of 202,483 shares at $8, Medical Disposables lost 20 cents and ended at $5.65 with 26,755 units trading, Paramount Trading ended with a fall of 5 cents as 36,200 shares changed hands at $3.05, tTech had 385,646 units changing hands at $7.50 and Eppley 8.25% preference share traded 5,000 units at $6.05.
Archives for May 2017
8 straight days of weakness on TTSE
Prices remained under pressure on Thursday on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange, continuing a negative trend since Thursday May 18. At the close on Thursday 5 stocks declined, 1 advanced and 8 were unchanged with a total of 14 securities changing hands compared to 19 on Wednesday.
The Composite Index lost 1.30 points to 1,213.64, the All T&T Index fell 1.75 points to 1,793.04 and the Cross Listed Index was down 0.11 points to close at 85.01. Trading closed with on. A total of 128,271 shares were traded at a value of $1,640,227 compared to Wednesday’s 328,366 shares valued at $8,363,330.04.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 4 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Gains| Clico Investment was the sole stock rising as it just squeezed a gain of 1 cent to close at $22.51 with 9,000 shares trading.
Losses| Trinidad & Tobago NGL (TTNGL) loss a further 52 cents on top of the 66 cents fall, closing at $20.61 with 659 shares. The stock was trading at $22.50 at the start of the month, falling to $22 on May 17, the same day that the Board of Directors of sanctioned the additional sale of the shares by its majority shareholder.
JMMB Group lost 1 cent, closing at $1.27 exchanging 4,280 shares, NCB Financial Group traded 5 cent lower to close at $3.95, with 52,000 shares changing hands, Sagicor Financial closed at $8.98, losing 1 cent trading 2,000 shares and West Indian Tobacco lost 4 cents to close at $126.40, with 294 shares changing hands.
Firm Trades| First Citizens held firm at $31.85 trading 27,593 shares valued at $878,837, First Caribbean International exchanged 15,100 shares at $7.75, Guardian Holdings traded 5,801 shares at $16, and National Enterprises closed at $10.50, with an exchange of 2,402 shares. Prestige Holdingsclosed at $10.90, with 100 shares being traded, Readymix held firm at $11, with 1,251 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments traded 2,350 shares at $2.45 and Trinidad Cement closed at $4.20 trading 5,441 shares.
Bahamian company to list soon
Cable Bahamas is set to be the next company to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The exchange approved the listing a short time ago. Information available to IC Insider.com is that the list will be on the US dollar exchange and will comprise ordinary and preference shares.
According to the company’s financials there are 43,884,754 ordinary shares and 8 different category of preference shares issued. The net asset value of the ordinary shares are around BH$2 each.
The company has been providing cable TV services in The Bahamas since March 1995 and Internet services since March 2000. On June 30, 1995, the company completed a $30 million public equity issue, resulting in 3,000 Bahamian shareholders holding shares in the company. In its first full year of operations, revenue was $12 million and net income $2.5 million and the year-end subscriber count was 37,400.
By the end of 2000, the share price stood at $8.50 with a cumulative growth of over 750%, total subscribers were 51,609 and net income was $7.3 million. Two significant growth areas for the company are its high-speed Internet services and its wholly owned submarine 600 km fiber-optic cable system, which is operated by its subsidiary, Caribbean Crossings Ltd.
Late 2010, Cable Bahamas purchased System Resource Group (SRG) to enable the company to introduce new services and lower prices to the consumer. This union allows the company to become the Bahamas’ 100 percent Bahamian-owned public converged communications services provider offering voice, broadband data and video products.
With the introduction of REVOICE, a cutting-edge home phone service, Cable Bahamas became a triple-play provider in the Bahamas, offering TV, Internet and phone services at bundled prices.
The network comprises 14 free-to-air broadcast systems on 11 islands, eight stand-alone cable TV systems, and four triple play systems networked by a submarine fibre. Together, this network services 99 per cent of the Bahamian population. The company’s submarine fibre continues into the United States, connecting to a terrestrial fibre in South Florida, creating a terrestrial fibre ring around the state, and providing triple play services to four additional systems. These combined networks make up the complete Cable Bahamas network.
Revenue earned for the 2016 December quarter, was BH$47.887 million compared to BH$41.730 million and for the year to December BH$180.588 versus BH$165.678. The company reported losses of BH$9.2 million in the December quarter inclusive of a fixed asset write off of BH$5.8 million and $7.8 million for the year. Total shareholders’ equity stood at BH$91 million at the end of December 2016 and losses incurred in the March 2017 quarter of BH$7 million pushed shareholders’ equity down to BH$84 million at the end of March this year. Revenues in the March 2017 quarter rose 17 percent to $51 million up from $43.7 million in 2016 but operating cost jumped even faster by 60 percent to $46.6 million from $29 million with depreciation and amortization rising from $9 million to $16.8 million.
The stock last traded in the Bahamas at BH$4.05, with 900 units trading. Selling by investors is at $4.40 and above with buying interest at $4.05 and below.
The shares will only be listed as none will be offered to the public as an Initial Public Offering. Scotia Investments is the sponsoring broker.
Two other listing should be heading to the market within weeks as Stationery and Supplies and the Musson subsidiary Productive Business Solutions with operations in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA come to the market with a US$41 Million offer of ordinary shares.
JSE main market retreats on Wednesday
Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday with 26 securities changing hands with 1 trading in the US dollar market. At the close, 8 stocks advanced and 12 declined.
Trading levels in the main market ended at 1,213,938 units valued at $26,942,858 compared to 2,049,349 units valued at $29,749,255 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 8,950 units valued at US$2,551.
The All Jamaica Composite Index declined 1252.85 points to close at 258,351.92 the JSE Market Index dropped 1,141.49 points to finish at 235,387.85 and the JSE US dollar market index advanced 11.73 points to close at 217.92.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 46,690 units valued at $1,036,264 per security traded, compared to an average of 81,974 units valued at $1,189,970 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 426,916 units with an average value of $5,892,603 compared with an average of 450,680 units and $6,196,124 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
In market activity, Berger Paints traded 9,963 shares at $19, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.35, with a loss of 2 cents exchanging 21,085 shares and Caribbean Cement traded 50 cents higher to close at $28.50 with trades of 84,386 units. Carreras exchanged 7,452 shares at $83, Grace Kennedy closed at $43, gaining 1 cent with trades of 55,130 units, Jamaica Broilers closed at $19.50, with gains of 95 cents, after 42,750 shares changed hands, Jamaica Producers gained 1 cent to close at $16, with an exchange of 38,937 shares and Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 4 cents to close at $7.50 trading 3,917 shares. JMMB Group closed at $19.99, losing 2 cents with trades of 20,721 units, Kingston Properties traded for the first time after last week’s 2 for 1 stock split and jumped $1.70 to close at a new record high of $10 exchanging 7,820 shares, Kingston Wharves fell $2.10 to close at $29.40, with an exchange of 11,200 units, Mayberry Investments gained $1.12 to close at $5.30, with 200 shares changing hands, NCB Financial Group closed at $71.50, losing 50 cents after trading 13,881 shares, 1834 Investments gained 1 cent to close at $1.46, with trades of 2,800 shares, 138 Student Living exchanged 32,606 shares at $4.49, PanJam Investment closed at $35.50, with a loss of 11 cents exchanging 14,745 shares. Radio Jamaica closed at $1.72, gaining 7 cents trading 10,616 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $32.50 with trades of 431,201 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $10.65, losing 64 cents exchanging 10,599 units, Scotia Group closed at $42.10, with a loss of $1.20 trading 28,989 units, Scotia Investments traded 5,193 shares at $37.50, after losing 35 cents, Seprod dropped $4 to close at $30 exchanging 27,802 shares, strong>Sterling Investments traded 10,400 shares at $16.90 and Supreme Ventures lost 49 cents to close at $7, with trades of 75,850 shares. Proven Investments closed at 29 US cents trading 8,950 ordinary shares and JMMB Group 7.50% preference closed at $1.10 with trades of 243,195 units.
Knutsford approves split
Shareholders of Knutsford Express Services, approved a 5 for 1 stock split at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on May 22, increasing the issued capital from 100,000,003 units to 500,000,015 shares of no par value.
The meeting also agreed that each ordinary share of the company be subdivided into five shares resulting in the Authorized Share capital of the Company increasing from 100,005,000 shares to 500,025,000 shares of no par value. The record date is June 2 and the ex-split date will be May 30.
The stock traded today at $66 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The split should result in the price trading at $13.20 and could easily go to $15. With only 500 million shares issued, the company may well need to consider another split at the annual general meeting later this year.
Pulse revs up stock split to 6 to 1
The Board of Pulse Investments at a board of directors meeting held today agreed to recommend to shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting splitting of the existing shares into six units for each one now held.
According to the release from the company, the recommendation is that the stock be split on the basis that 5 (five) additional shares to be issued to shareholders for every share currently held and that the authorized share capital be increased from 450,000,000 (four hundred and fifty million) shares of no par value, to 1,950,000,000 (one billion, nine hundred and fifty million) shares, by the creation of an additional 1,500,000,000 (one billion, five hundred million) shares. The increased split comes against the back ground of an IC Insider.com article which suggested that the split should be at least 4 to 1to allow for liquidity in the stock.
The board had previously indicated that they were going to consider a 2 for 1 stock split.
The company currently has 271,789,674 issued shares, the proposed split would put the total up to 1,630,738,044 units with greater liquidity. The company’s stock last traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $14.50 and carries a PE of 11 compared to 13.5 for the main market.
According to the Chairman, Kingsley Cooper, the likely date for the meeting to consider the split is tentatively set for June 21.
Pulse reported profits of $66 million for the March quarter and $221 million for the nine months period, up from $189 million for the similar period in 2016. The profit includes gains of investment property of $28 million in the March 2017 quarter and $81 million for the nine months.
Government selling more shares
Trinidad & Tobago NGL’s stock price fell 86 cents to $21.13 on the Trinidad & Tobago stock Exchange on Wednesday. This comes on the heels of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s intent to make an offer for an additional sale of 40,248,000 shares by National Gas Company.
The market saw trading in 19 securities compared to 17 on Tuesday with 2 stocks advancing, 4 declining and 13 remaining unchanged. A total of 328,366 shares changed hands valued at $8,363,330 compared to Tuesday’s 449,650 shares valued at $12,647,675.
The Composite Index fell 1.90 points to 1,214.94, the All T&T Index declined 2.76 points to 1,794.79 and the Cross Listed Index was down 0.14 points to close at 85.12.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 2 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 8 with lower offers.
Gains| JMMB Group closed at $1.28, with a 1 cent gain trading 21,142 shares and NCB Financial Group gained 5 cents to close at $4, exchanging 148,884 shares valued at $591,330.
Losses| Ansa McAL closed at $66, with a loss of 39 cents exchanging 1,425 shares, Clico Investment lost 1 cent, closing at $22.50, with an exchange of 50,615 shares valued at $1,138,945, Scotia Investments traded 23 cents lower to close at $2.45 with 650 shares changing hands and Trinidad & Tobago NGL exchanged 7,609 shares at $21.13, after losing 86 cents.
Firm Trades| Angostura Holdings traded 1,400 shares at $15, Ansa Merchant Bank closed at $40, with an exchange of 2,171 shares, First Citizens remained at $31.85 trading 1,000 shares, First Caribbean International exchanged 7,223 shares at $7.75. Guardian Holdings traded 6,479 shares at $16, Massy Holdings held firm at $51.45 exchanging 1,300 shares, National Enterprises closed at $10.50, with an exchange of 14,718 shares, Prestige Holdingsclosed at $10.90, with trades of just 5 shares. Readymix was unchanged at $11, with 1,345 shares changing hands, Republic Financial Holdings traded 56,190 shares at $101.92 valued at $5,726,885, Sagicor Financial closed at $8.99 exchanging 2,000 shares, Scotiabank remained at $58, with trades of 926 shares and Trinidad Cement held firm trading 3,284 shares at $4.20 .