The Jamaica Stock Exchange raced sharply on Monday to close out October on a winning note with two main indices rising more than 4,700 points as rising stocks outnumbered declining ones by a wide margin.
The market closed with a new listing QWI Investments, on the main market as the market capitalization exceeded 2 trillion dollars for the first time.
Trading ended with the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index soared 5,214.18 points to close at 567,070.53; the JSE Index advanced 4,717.62 points to 516,042.91 and the JSE Financial Index gained 1.30 points to close at 142.56.
At the close of trading, 41 securities changed hands in the main and US dollar markets with 20 advancing, 14 declining and 7 traded firm. Main market activity ended with 198,831,547 units valued at $1,248,840,350 in contrast to 40,634,550 units valued at $123,950,544 on Friday.
Sagicor Real Estate dominated trading with 91.7 million shares for 46 percent of total volume, followed by Wigton Windfarm with 87.7 million units accounting for 44 percent of the day’s trade, QWI Investments with 11.8 million shares for 6 percent of the market’s trade.
The Market closed with an average of 5,373,826 units valued at $33,752,442 for each security traded, in contrast to 1,269,830 units valued at an average of $3,873,455 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 1,585,081 units valued at $14,071,562 and previously an average of 1,391,725 units at $12,363,616 for each security traded. The market closed out August with an average of 1,743,431 units valued at $9,907,963 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 19 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
In main market activity, Barita jumped $3.50 to close at $86.50 with 28,965 units traded, Carib Cement exchanged 25,331 units, after gaining $3.15 to settle at $80, Carreras lost 35 cents ending at $8.15 after trading 85,554 units, Eppley Caribbean Property climbed $2 in closing at $38, after exchanging 143,410 shares. GraceKennedy closed 39 cents higher to settle at $69.80 trading 14,109 shares, Jamaica Producers rose $1.50, in settling at $25.05 with 1,126,350 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 45 cents exchanging 276,663 units to end at $26.60, JMMB Group closed $1.19 higher at $45.99 with 253,662 shares changing hands, Kingston Wharves jumped $8 to $55 with 18,182 shares traded. Mayberry Jamaican Equities closed at $12.50, after gaining $1.45 trading 171,675 shares, NCB Financial dropped by $3.89 to settle at $206.11 with 133,718 units traded, PanJam Investments rose by 99 cents and ending at $104 after exchanging 7,438 shares, Sagicor Group advanced $3.99 to settle at $73 while trading 81,822 shares. Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 40 cents in trading 91,711,455 units at $11.50, Salada Foods closed 35 cents lower to $31.65, exchanging 155 shares, Scotia Group advanced $2.40 to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $62.40 with 228,814 shares changing hands, Seprod ended the day’s trade 50 cents higher to settle at $55 in trading 25,305 shares and Supreme Ventures dropped $1.32 to end at $25, after trading 409,266 shares.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 146,867 units valued at over US$29,408 with the market index declining 1.61 points to close at 198.86. Productivity Business Solutions traded 2,000 shares at 60 us cents, Proven Investments traded 94,847 shares, at 27 US cents, Sterling Investments traded 40,000 units at 3 US cents and Sygnus Credit gained 1 US cent exchanging 10,020 units to close at 15 US cents.
Archives for September 2019
3 TTSE stocks rose 8 fell – Monday
Market activity ended on Monday on Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange, with 17 securities being active against 9 on Friday, as 3 gained, 8 declined and 6 remained unchanged.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index shed 0.09 points to end at 1,400.75. The All T&T Index fell 2.11 points to 1,746.18, while the Cross Listed Index rose 0.27 points to close at 143.06.
Trading ended with 360,171 shares at $7,710,531, compared to 319,532 shares at a value of $6,914,740 on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 7 stocks closing with bids higher than the last selling prices and just one with a lower offer.
Gains| Massy Holdings added 5 cents and ended at $54.50, with investors exchanging 87,576 shares, NCB Financial rose 10 cents to end at $10.50, after exchanging 16,903 shares and West Indian Tobacco advanced $1.9 completed trading of 2,336 units at $104.90.
Losses| Clico Investment Fund fell 5 cents and completed trading of 39,312 shares at $24.10, Ansa Merchant Bank closed with a loss of 25 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $35.75, after exchanging 1,056 shares, First Citizens Bank closed 23 cents lower and ended at $40.16, with investors exchanging 2,230 shares. National Enterprises shed 10 cents and settled at $5.90, after swapping 1,050 shares, National Flour dropped 11 cents and concluded trading at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.57, with 116,354 stock units changing hands. Point Lisas declined 2 cents and closed at $3.60, with 20,845 units crossing the exchange, Sagicor Financial fell 6 cents to $10.15, in swapping of 47,614 shares and Trinidad & Tobago NGL lost 50 cents exchanging 200 units to close at $25.
Firm Traded| Angostura Holdings settled at $16, with 5,000 stock units trading, Ansa McAl ended at $55, after swapping 4,000 shares, Guardian Holdings settled at $18.15 after exchanging 11,698 units, JMMB Group settled at $2.10, with 2,475 stock units changing hands. One Caribbean Media settled at $10, with 100 shares changing hands and Republic Financial completed trading at $121.85, with 1,422 stock units crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those at which the last trade took place.
IC TOP 10 focus on QWI
Attention by investors seems set to be focused on QWI Investments, which commences trading on Monday, but being the end of the month, investors could be seeing other stocks recording interesting movements.
Buy Rated stocks had few changes with Elite Diagnostic and Express Catering climbing back into the Junior Market TOP 10 with the price of Elite dropping to $5.40 from $5.60 at the end of the previous week while Seprod returns to the main market list at the expense of Scotia Group.
Slipping out of the IC TOP 10 listing is Jetcon Corporation that remained at $1.80, Main Event earnings were adjusted down with the decline of profit reported in the July quarter due to increased cost that exceeded revenues and Scotia Group rose to $60 from $57.50 and dropped out of the TOP 10.
Market activity, resulted in Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 244 percent being the leading Junior Market stock with potential gains, followed by Iron Rock with likely gains of 200 percent and Medical Disposables with projected gains of 186 percent.
Radio Jamaica closed the week with projected gains of 194 percent as the leading main market stock with the price falling to $1.70 from $1.90 during the week. Berger Paints sits at the number two spot with projected gains of 132 percent as more interest comes in for this stock coupled with reduced selling ahead of the most important quarter coming up when sales exceed all other quarters and Carreras with projected gains of 112 percent.
The main market closed the week with the overall PE of 17.7 up from 16.7 the previous week and the Junior Market is up to 11.7 from 11.3 based on current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 7.9 compared to 7.8 the previous week and the main market PE remains at 10.4. These levels of PE ratios point to big upside for TOP 10 stocks.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 32 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 41 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, along with the PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains with the likely gains ranked in descending order with highest-ranked being the most attractive. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
3 all for TTSE stocks – Friday
At the close of trading on Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday, price changes were even with 9 securities being active against 13 on Thursday, as 3 gained, 3 declined and 3 remained unchanged.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index shed 1.97 points to 1,400.84. The All T&T Index declined 1.35 points to 1,748.29, while the Cross Listed Index rose 0.36 points to close at 142.79.
Trading ended with 319,532 shares at a value of $6,914,740, compared to 231,071 shares at a value of $3,306,462 on Thursday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 3 stocks closing with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
Gains| Ansa McAl closed with an increase of 50 cents at $55, with 20,300 stock units changing hands, Massy Holdings rose 45 cents to end at $54.45, with 9,769 units crossing the exchange and NCB Financial gained 5 cents and close at $10.40, after exchanging 19,877 shares.
Losses| Clico Investment Fund added 2 cents and concluded trading of 1,207 units at $24.15, Grace Kennedy shed 20 cents and concluded trading at $3.30, with an exchange of 76,883 stock units and West Indian Tobacco dropped $2 and ended at $103, with 248 units crossing the exchange.
Firm Trades| Guardian Holdings ended at $18.15, with 398 units changing hands, Trinidad & Tobago NGL exchanged 185,850 units to close at $25.50 and LJ Williams ended at $1 trading 5,000 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those at which the last trade took place.
QWI Investments list on Monday
The latest initial public offering of shares QWI Investments was approved for listing on the main market the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday and will be listed on Monday.
The offer of shares was initially for 600 million units but was upsized to 900 million after the issue was oversubscribed. The issue saw more than 4,000 applicants applying for more than 1.6 million shares and pulled in just over $2 billion with more investors who never caught the IPO wanting shares.
As a result of the oversubscription, applicants from the General Public received the first 100,000 units plus 31.2188 percent of the excess applied for. NCB Capital Markets and Directors of QWI Investments get the full allotments. All other applicants got a portion of what they applied for with a minimum of 76,000 units for applicants in the Jamaican Teas and KIW International pool.
Increased cost stunts Main Event’s profit
Sales climbed 29 percent for the quarter to $469 million from $364 million in 2018 but increased cost melted away the revenue gains leaving 40 percent less profit in the July quarter at $15 million, down from $25 million reported in 2018 for Main Event.
The third quarter’s performance is in stark contrast to the second-quarter performance. With $31 million lower revenues, profit in the April 2019 quarter was $62 million, well up on the July quarter’s outcome.
The company, an entertainment production and planning agent, recorded a strong 28 percent growth in revenues for the nine months to July of $1.36 billion, up from $1.07 billion in 2018. Very little of the increased income percolated into more profit for the nine months to July, as profit increased slightly by 2 percent to $108 million from $105 million in 2018.
The strong increase revenue is attributed to the company’s focus on diversifying its income stream that includes M-Style experience that focuses on the wedding market, expansion to the western end of the island and M Academy project, the company directors advised investors.
Gross profit margin in the nine-month period fell to 44 percent from 48 percent in 2018 and was also down in the July quarter by 42 percent, from 45 percent in 2018. Direct expenses climbed 37 percent in the nine months ending July to $761 million from $556 million in 2018, and by 36 percent in the quarter ending July to $271 million from $200 million. Gross profit rose slower than revenues by 21 percent in the quarter to $198 million from $164 million but increased 18 percent for the year to date to $604 million from $510 million in 2018.
Operating and administrative expenses rose a sharp 35 percent to $182 million in the quarter and 25 percent in the nine months to $492 million. Finance cost declined in the quarter to $8 million from $5 million in 2018 and from $14 million to $18 million for the nine-month period. “We have taken note of increased prices in third party inputs and increased inefficiency internally”, the directors indicated.
Gross cash flow from operating activities brought in $213 million, payables of $146 million and dividends of $18 million. At the end of July, shareholders’ equity was $631 million, long term loans of $139 million, net current assets ended the period at $470 billion inclusive of receivables of $375 million, cash and bank balances of $50 million and current liabilities of $240 million.
Earnings per share came out at 4 cents for the quarter and 36 cents for the nine months. IC Insider.com is forecasting 40 cents per share for PE of 14 times earnings, importantly, with the 2019 fiscal year ending in October investors should be looking at the 2020 results to deliver increased profits and stock price appreciation. Continued strong top-line growth and implementation of cost control measures will enhance gains in 2020 and should see earnings hitting 85 cents per share for a PE of 7. The shares are listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and last traded at $5.72.