Tuesday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, culminated in the prices of 8 stocks rising and 7 declining, as 21 securities changed hands. A total of 5,217,834 units traded, valued at $54,942,294, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower. The increase is probably due to month end window dressing by some portfolio managers would want to impact the value of the funds under management at the end of the month and quarter.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 160.31 points to 72,238.36 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined by 179.24 points, to close at 79,483.81.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement, with 109,500 shares changing hands, ended 4 cents higher at $2.40, Grace Kennedy put through 19,208 units with a gain of 70 cents to $58.20, Jamaica Producers had 122,728 shares changing hands, gained 25 cents to $15.75, Mayberry Investments with 5,420 shares closed 4 cents higher at $1.50 and Sagicor Group traded 738,840 units, with an increase of 65 cents, to $9.90.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints with 3,500 units, closing at $1.66, Cable & Wireless with 453,827 shares at 29 cents, Desnoes & Geddes 45,000 share at $4.77, Pan Jamaican Investment 417,537 shares trading to close at $49.10, Proven Investments 27,700 ordinary shares, to close with the price at 18 US cents and Seprod with 40,000 shares, closed at $10.90.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the close of the main market are, Carreras, down 8 cents to end at $34.55, in trading 93,336 units, Jamaica Broilers with 500,000 shares lost 50 cents to end at $4, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 42,087 ordinary shares trading, lost 5 cents at $6.95, National Commercial Bank had 452,630 units changing hands, with a 5 cents loss, at $17.94 and Scotia Group with 351,187 shares, closed 5 cents off at $19.25 .
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share traded 222,593 units, with a gain of 5 cents to $3.50 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 110,462 units at $2.
Market closes out month down
Only 3 stocks traded Tuesday on junior market
Trading in the Junior Market continued to be low, with only 3 securities changing hands, as a total of 1,462,279 units, valued at $1,281,976 traded. The JSE Junior Market Index rose 2.56 points to close at 653.79. Two stocks rose and 1 declined.
The main trades were Lasco Manufacturing with 863,229 units, to close at 86 cents, down 4 cents, after trading between 86 cents and 93 cents and Lasco Financial Services with 589,050 shares trading, between 87 cents and $1, ending at 87 cents, with a gain of 2 cents. The other stocks to trade are Lasco Distributors with 10,000 shares, ended at $1.11 with a 7 cents gain.
At the close of the market, 9 stocks had no buying interest, with no bids displayed to buy, while there were 7 stocks that had no sellers showing an interest in selling. There were 5 stocks with bids to buy above the last selling prices and 2 with offers that were lower.
6 stocks up 4 down on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Tuesday, saw 17 securities changing hands of which 6 advanced, 4 declined and 7 traded firm with a total of 209,317 units, valued at $1,645,611. At the close, there were two stocks closing, at 52 weeks’ high and one at 52 weeks’ low.
The Composite Index rose 0.07 points to close at 1,145.12, the All T&T Index fell by 0.17 points to close at 1,976.30 and the Cross Listed Index increased by 0.04 points to end at 41.10.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Ansa Merchant Bank with only 100 shares and closed with a 3 cents gain at $39.37, a new 52 weeks high, First Citizens Bank contributed 5,309 shares with a value of $193,455 to gain 2 cents at $36.44, while Guardian Holdings added 5,000 shares valued at $67,450 and closed 14 cents up at $13.49, Massy Holdings stock price increased 37 cents to end at $68.89, while trading 500 shares, Prestige Holdings hit a new 52 weeks’ price high, as 500 shares traded at $9.55, with a 5 cents gain, followed by Scotia Investments with a volume of 10,000 to end 5 cents higher at $1.50.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with a volume of 18,438 shares valued at $405,886, declined by 2 cents to end at $22, One Caribbean Media traded 831 shares, 2 cents lower at $25.33, Republic Bank traded 2,972 shares at $121.50 for a 20 cents decline, conversely, Scotiabank fell 5 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $59.95 with 1,985 shares changing hands.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings 2,000 shares at $12.75, Ansa McAL put through 1,420 units and closed at $66.20, Firstcaribbean International Bank 2,674 shares at $5, Grace Kennedy 1,943 units at $3.76, Jamaica’s National Commercial Bank with 128,445 shares changing hands for a value of $128,445 closed at $1. Praetorian Property Mutual Fund traded 12,000 unit at $3.40, Sagicor Financial 200 shares at $6.21 and Sagicor Financial 6.5% preference share traded unchanged at US$1.13 with 15,000 shares.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed only 1 stock with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
JSE slips back with 7 stocks up 7 down
Monday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 7 stocks rising and 7 declining with 16 securities changing hands, a total of 2,648,086 units traded, valued at $28,212,290, In all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell 106.01` points to 72,398.67 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined 118.54 points to close at 79,663.05.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless with 217,861 shares trading, with a 1 cent rise to 29 cents, Jamaica Broilers 18,500 shares changed hands, 10 cents higher at $4.40, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 4,500 ordinary closed up 5 cents at $7, followed by Jamaica Producers with 19,231 units, to gain 30 cents at $15.50, Pan Jamaican Investment put through 59,124 shares, 10 cents higher to end at $49.10 and Seprod had 36,500 shares changing hands, 10 higher at $10.90.
Firm| The only stock in the main market to close without a change in the last traded price is Ciboney, with 155,500 units at 7 cents.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras with 60,148 shares, lost 2 cents to end at $34.63, Desnoes & Geddes traded 100,825 units at a loss of 3 cents, to end at $4.77, Grace Kennedy ended at $57.50, down by $1.95 with only 572 units trading, National Commercial Bank with 222,880 shares, closed with a cent loss at $17.99, Sagicor Group price slipped 40 cents to $9.25 with 1,188,145 shares and Scotia Group declined by 20 cents to $19.30 with 315,896 shares trading.
Preference| No trading took place in the preference section.
Jamaican$ gains against all on Monday
The Jamaican dollar gained against the three main currencies it regularly trades with, in Monday’s forex trading. Authorized dealers purchased the equivalent of US$41,647,022 versus US$50,731,870 on Friday, and the equivalent of US$48,692,938 was sold compared with US$32,356,343 on Friday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$37,493,261 compared to US$48,910,642 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 23 cents to $112.27 and US$46,856,853 was sold versus US$30,734,179 on Friday, the selling rate eased by a cent to $112.68. The Canadian dollar buying rate, fell 36 cents to $98.70 with dealers buying C$1,194,201 and selling C$768,096 at an average selling rate that slipped 9 cents, to $101.31. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 88 cents to $181.03, for the purchase of £1,779,286, while £577,599 was sold, at $182.82 for a fall of 92 cents. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$234,843, while selling was for the equivalent of US$208,343.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, closed with the loss of a cent at $112.99, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $91.85 and $117.70 respectively. The lowest selling rate dropped $9.70 to $91.85. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 25 cents to $101.85, the lowest buying rate and the highest selling rate remained unchanged at $79.93 and $105.50, respectively. The lowest selling rate rose 45 cents to $96.75. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, declined 55 cents to $183.45, the lowest buying rate fell 42 cents to $146.74. The highest selling rate remained at $192 and the lowest selling rate is dived 50 cents to $176.80.
JSE Junior Market hibernating
There was only 3 securities trading in Junior Market on Monday, as investors continue to focus elsewhere, for investment opportunities. A total of only 248,404 units valued at $326,764 traded. The JSE Junior Market Index fell 1.02 points to close at 656.22, with 1 advancing and 1 declining.
At the end of trading 5 junior market stocks had bids that are higher than the last selling price and only two with offers that were lower, in addition s sign of some weakness in this market is 10 stocks having no bids versus 7 with no offers.
The main trades was Lasco Manufacturing with 210,404 units with a loss of 6 cents to end at 90 cents, Access Financial Services trading 10,000 units at $10.50 and was the only stocks with a gain, with the price rising 32 cents at the end of trading in the junior market a Lasco Distributors traded 28,000 units unchanged at $1.11.
Scotiabank drops again on TTSE
In trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange, Scotiabank dropped to a new 52 weeks’ low of $60.24, with just over 4,000 shares traded. The stocks has declined 18.74 percent, from a high of $73.12, reached in April, this year. The price is still exposed to further decline, with an offer to sell at $60 and no buying interest shown at the end of trading. A total of 14 securities changed hands in trading of which 2 advanced, 4 declined and 8 traded firm, with 724,283 units changing hands, valued at $4,863,899.
The Composite Index lost 1.11 points to close at 1,145.05, the All T&T Index fell 2.29 points to close at 1,976.47 and the Cross Listed Index inched up by 0.01 points to end at 41.06.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are Angostura Holdings with a volume of 82,069 shares being traded for $1,046,380 with the price increasing 5 cents to $12.75 and Sagicor Financial traded 100 shares to close with a cent gain at $6.21.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are ANSA McAL traded 54 units and closed 2 cents down at $66.20, for a new 52 weeks’ low, Guardian Holdings contributed 68,932 shares with a value of $926,676 while losing 25 cents to close at $13.25, Scotiabank suffered a 78 cents fall, to close at $60, as 4,010 shares traded and Trinidad Cement with 10,000 shares, ended 1 cents lower at $2.24.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Clico Investment Fund with 24,263 shares valued at $534,247, to end at $22, First Citizens Bank with 920 shares closed at $36.42, Massy Holdings closed at $68.52 while trading 11,500 units valued at $787,980, Jamaica’s National Commercial Bank with 384,178 shares changing hands for a value of $384,178, closed at $1, One Caribbean Media traded 110 shares at $25.35, Point Lisas Industrial Port added 37,397 shares valued at $149,588 and ended at $4, Prestige Holdings had 750 units being active to end at $9.50 and Sagicor Financial 6.5% preference shares traded 100,000 units at US$1.13.
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 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
Sugar helps Seprod hike profit
Seprod reported a hike in profit of 14 percent for the six months to June this year, slower than the 34 percent increase in the first quarter. The company posted profit of $698 million for the half year, up from $614 million in 2013 and $298 million in the quarter versus $317 million in the 2013 quarter.
Seprod, involved in the manufacturing and processing of food products, oils, sugar, milk as well as a food product distribution business, enjoyed an 8 percent rise in revenues to $8 billion from $7.4 billion and 12 percent to $4.17 billion in the second quarter from $3.7 billion in the 2013 June quarter. While revenues climbed, Seprod suffered a reversal in the positive gains in investment income in 2013 with a fall of $110 million in the quarter and $118 million in the half year.
Gross profit grew a very strong 53 percent in the June quarter and a much lower 32.8 percent for the six months over the same period in 2013. Gross profit margins climbed to 29.70 percent in the June 2014 quarter, up from only 18.8 percent in 2013, for the six months 29.7 percent and 22.7 percent, respectively. These are good signs of an improving performance of the group. A major part of the improved performance, is the contribution the sugar manufacturing segment made.
Segment results show operating profit for the half year rising 61 percent, against revenues climbing only 11.4 percent, Distribution segment’s operating profit, fell from $99 million to $68 million. The group’s sugar operations made a loss of $15 million in the June quarter for the group net of minority interest and $30 million for the six months, a big improvement over the $166 million lost for the June quarter last year, and $200 million for the six months to June, 2013.
The group is now in the last six months of the year, when little income will be generated from the sugar operation at Golden Grove Sugar Factory in St Thomas. The cost associated with this operation will be absorbed and will dent profits in other areas. For the second half of 2013 the group picked up $322 million in losses from the sugar operation. Much progress has been made in reducing losses in the sugar operation but there is still some way to go to move to a profitable business. A lot will depend on increasing significantly, the amount of canes to be milled by the factory and by extension the sugar to be produced. They now need to produce around 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes more sugar, to break even.
Expenses| Selling expenses rose sharply by 43 percent in the quarter to $142 million compared with $100 million in 2013 and 22 percent for the six months to $241 million from $198 million. Administrative cost rose 25 percent to $428 million in the quarter versus $373 million in 2013. For the six months period, it rose only 7 percent from $784 million to $839 million.
Finances| Seprod has $4 billion in cash and investments. Borrowing stood at $2.55 billion up from $2.26 billion at June 2013, current assets are well in excess of current liabilities by more than 2 to 1 and equity stands at a strong $10 billion.
Longer term| For 2015 and beyond, a lot is predicated on the fortunes of the sugar operations in St Thomas, where the target is for the processing of 300,000 tonnes of canes and to produce around 25,000 tonnes of sugar. In 2013, Management indicated that the cane farms are already planted and increased production should be coming in from the 2014 crop. For the 2014 crop the factory, reached its highest-ever production levels, with 19,300 tonnes of sugar.
the group produced profits of $907 million last year and is expected to better this in 2014 by some. The stock remains buy rated.
More insider buying of D&G shares
Within less than a month of the release of Desnoes and Geddes full year results, to June, the company is reporting another purchase of shares by a director. The latest, is 3rd such inside purchase to have taken place, since the June results were released.
The latest acquisition is 507,650 shares on September 23. This comes on the heels of Desnoes and Geddes reporting strong full year results, with the promise of higher earnings, in the new fiscal year. The company previously reported the purchase 250,000 shares by a Director, on August 29, 2014 and 100,000 units, on September 1.
Profit on the rise for Dolphin Cove
The fast growing Jamaican north coast entertainment company Dolphin Cove, is reporting increased profits for the six months ended June, this year. Profit rose 30 percent to $287 million over the $221 million in the 2013 comparative period, according to the unaudited six months financial report.
For the June quarter, Dolphin made profit that is 34 percent ahead of that of 2013 to hit $139 million up from $103 million last year.
“This rise in profits is mainly as a result of the growth in revenues and supported by cost containment measures which resulted in operating expenses increasing by a lower percentage than the growth in sales. The decision to increase our investments in sales and marketing in the June 2014 quarter produced the desired results, as sales increased by 17 percent above that of 2013 and also surpassed the 11 percent increase in revenue which was experienced in the first quarter,” Manager said in a release of the results to shareholders.
Total revenues climbed 15 percent to $923.4 million for the half year, from $800 million and $471 million versus $400 million in June 2013 quarter, for an 18 percent increase.
The company would have benefited from the fall in the value of the local currency as its income is denominated in United States dollars, but much of its cost are in Jamaican dollars. The end may be in sight for a sharp fall of the local currency, even as the country in now in the period of low inflows and high demand for US dollars. So far the inflows have been buoyant, meeting demand up to the end of September with a stable rate so far. The company’s income is substantially reliant on developments in the tourism sector as it get the bulk of its income from overseas visitors for meals and the attraction of dolphins, sharks and stingrays.
IC Insider’s forecast for earnings, is $1.20 per share, for the current year ending December. In 2013 the company earned 82 cents. Based on the rise in profit, the company pushed dividends up by 50 percent for this year to date and works out at a yield of 8 percent on the stock price of $8.
Equity stood at $1.57 billion at the end of June with borrowed funds at only $355 million.
