IC Insider.com — Page 1414

C&WJ announces $2.99 prepaid rate

June 8, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Following on the decision of the Office of Utilities Regulation to lower interconnection rates, from $5 to $1.10 effective July 1, Cable & Wireless (C&WJ), today announced a one rate of $2.99 per minute for all pre-paid calls to any domestic and select international numbers, effective midnight tonight.

The standard Talk EZ Prepaid customers will enjoy the $2.99 per minute rate – billed on a per second basis – for local calls as well as the USA, Canada and landlines in the U.K. The Talk EZ plan is the default option for all new LIME customers, existing subscribers may activate the plan by dialling *123*1# from any mobile phone.

Garfield Sinclair, CEO, Cable & Wireless Jamaica and Cayman revealed that the TALK EZ prepaid plan will also extend to calls made to subscribers on its rival competitors’ network, Digicel.

Coming down from $6.99 per minute – the new cross network rate of $2.99 represents a 60% reduction in the cost to call across networks for its mobile subscribers. Digicel customers currently pay up to $14.20 per minute to call the C&WJ network, the CEO said.

Sinclair further announced an offer for persons wishing to capitalize on the company’s new rate adjustment with an in-store deal that will see customers receiving a free Alcatel 296 handset and a free SIM card with the purchase of $1000 pre-paid mobile call credit. The two-day offer will be available at C&WJ stores island-wide from Friday, June 7 to Saturday, June 8.

C&WJ, which has emerged as the clear mobile value provider, announced a dramatic rate cut in on and off-network calls on June 14 last year, when the Office of Utility Regulation (OUR) issued its Interim Determination to reduce the Mobile Termination Rate from $9 to $5 per minute.

JSE: 18 stocks up, 5 down, index falls

June 8, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Thursday, 6th June 2013 | There was broad based trading on Thursday as shares in 31 companies traded resulting in 18 stocks registering positive price changes and only 5 fell. In what turned out to be a relatively low trading day, just 2.55 million shares valued at $17 million traded. Junior market Blue Power traded 912,587 units up to $8 an all time high with a total value of $7.3 million. Scotia Group traded 129,408 shares valued at $2.77 million, closed at $21.20 and traded at a high of $23.08. Lasco Financial Services traded 127,078 units to close at $10. All other stocks traded less than a million dollars.

Main movers | Scotia Investment recovered $1.50 of the $4 it lost in trading on Wednesday with the stock closing at $27 but it had a bid of $27 at the end of trading. Desnoes & Geddes gained 25 cents to close at $4.95, Carreras gained 70 cents to close at $60, Jamaica Producers closed at $18 up 94 cents for the day. Jamaican Teas traded up 20 cents at $4.60. National Commercial Bank gained 90 cents to close at $22 but the offer was at $21 at the end of trading. Pan Jamaican Investments traded up 50 cents and closed at $55.01. Scotia Group closed at $21.20, off 31 cents on the day.

First Caribbean Bank lost $2 to close at a 52 weeks low of $101.

But by the end of trading, bids for 5 stocks were higher and 2 stocks had offers that were lower than their last selling price.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, JSE Company, Trading Activity

TTSE: Trading picks up

June 8, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Thursday, 6th June 2013 | Trading picked up in Thursdays trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange with the advance decline ratio being positive. Thirteen securities changed hands of which 6 advanced, 2 declined and 5 traded firm, well above Wednesday’s trading, when only 4 companies traded. Three stocks traded at 52 weeks high at the end of trading.

Trading on the main market amounted to 584,217 shares valued at $4,741,343. Trinidad Cement traded 440,126 shares for a value of $418,120. Neal & Massy Holdings had a volume of 60,080 shares trading for $3,544,720. There was trading in 27,063 shares Sagicor Financial Corporation with a value of $170,512, while Guardian Media added 20,548 shares valued at $405,823.

Clico Investment Fund posted a volume of 33,186 shares valued at $704,072 while the price of the fund advanced by $0.17 to end at $21.22.

But by the end of trading, bids for 4 stocks were higher and 4 stocks had offers that were lower than the last selling price.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Trading Activity, TTSE

Exports surge but trade deficit widens

June 6, 2013 by IC Insider.com

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The trade deficit for the first two months of this year widened despite exports growing faster than imports. The deficit was US$827 million compared to US$755 million in the similar 2012 period. Imports rose 12.5 per cent or US$127 million to US$1.148 billion from the same period in 2012. The bulk of the increase was occasioned by US$98 million rise in chemicals.

Exports | Grew faster than imports at an increase of 21.2 percent which generated US$321 million inflows, an increase of US$56 million. Mining and quarrying accounted for major part of the increase. But manufactured goods, which fell by US$23 million, prevented a steeper increase in export earnings. The decline may well be a timing difference relating to shipment of sugar which is mostly exported in the early part of the year. Statin, who released the report, did not say which items resulted in the decline in manufactured goods. Investigations done by IC Insider confirms that in 2012 the sugar industry exported 40,000 tonnes of sugar between January and February at a value of US$37.5 million and this year only 19,130 was shipped in the same period with a value of US$16.6 million, a difference of US$21 million.

Imports | While imports rose, not all major categories rose as some items fell. Imports of Chemicals rose by US$178 million to US$276 million, due to higher imports of ‘Organic Chemicals’, ‘Plastic in Non Primary forms’, and ‘Medicinal and Pharmaceutical products’. “Food” increased by US$26 million to US$174 million up by 17.3 per cent. “Machinery and Transport Equipment” increased by US$5.7 million or 3.9 per cent to US$153 million this period. “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” fell by US$89 million or 21.1 per cent and was valued at US$333 million. “Manufactured Goods” also declined by US$3.5 million or 3.5 per cent, and was valued at US$95 million down from US$99 million recorded in the comparable 2012 period.

Traditional Exports | This segment earned US$139 million during 2013 period, a decrease of 3.4 per cent, or US$5 million, due to the decline in earnings from “Manufactured Goods” which fell by 48.6 per cent from US$48 million to US$25 million. There was an increase in “Agriculture” earning US$3.4 million, 73.2 per cent above the US$2 million recorded in 2012. “Coffee” was the commodity which contributed to the overall increase in this category. “Mining and Quarrying” rose by 17.9 per cent, or US$17 million to US$111 million. Alumina earned US$90.3 million, moving up from US$74 million in the comparable 2012 period. “Bauxite” earnings grew by US$1 million or 4.4 per cent to US$21 million.

Non-traditional | Exports of non-traditional commodities earned US$170 million due largely to increases in the groups “Food’, and “Other Non Traditional Exports”.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, GOJ

CARICOM balance narrows sharply

June 6, 2013 by IC Insider.com

The trade balance with the CARICOM region narrowed sharply during the first two months of 2013 as Jamaica imported US$41 million less goods form countries in the region compared with the previous year. Not only did imports enjoy a major decline, exports held up well and was virtually the same as the year before period with a mere marginal decrease of US$0.7 million or 6.5 percent.

The country imported US$98 million worth of goods from CARICOM, a decrease of 29.5 per cent. Expenditure on “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” fell by US$50 million or 51 percent to US$48 million. “Food” grew by US$6.9 million to US$30 million. “Beverages & Tobacco” were valued at US6 million, roughly the same as in 2012 period, the Statin report on the trade data indicated.

Total exports to the region fell by to US$10 million during the 2013 review period. Exports of domestically produced goods accounted for US$8.8 million, down from US$9.2 million in the comparable 2012 period. Re-exports fell to US$1.5 million. The major groups of domestic exports were “Food”, valued at US$5.2 million, and “Beverages & Tobacco” worth US$1.7 million. These two sub-categories increased by 9.0 per cent and 27.4 per cent respectively.

The trade deficit with CARICOM during February 2013 fell by US$40.3 million to US$ 87.6 million. This was due to decrease importation of “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” during the current review period.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: CARICOM, Economy, GOJ

JSE: Trading levels up again

June 6, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 5th June 2013 | The main indices recorded advances in today’s trading except for a small decline in the junior market index. But advance decline ratio turned negative with 8 stocks advancing and 12 declining. But by the end of trading, bids for 10 stocks were higher and 1 stock had an offer that was lower than the last selling price. There was heavier trading than has happened for sometime with $127 billion being expended on 11.87 million shares.

The all Jamaica composite index closed up 174 points at 89,985.22 and the main market index closed at 88,466.47 up 98.67 points.

Main movers | Desnoes & Geddes which traded at $5.10 closed down 20 cents at $4.70 while trading 694,173 units, Carreras fell 70 cents in trading 23,568 units. Jamaica Broilers traded up 21 cents to close at $4.83 with 460,913 units having changed hands. Kingston Wharves traded 329,566 units and put on 19 cents in closing at $7.81 after trading as high as $8. Lasco Manufacturing saw profit taking, with 990,188 units trading closing at $13.85 down 15 cents on the day. National Commercial Bank traded 1 million shares and slipped back 10 cents at the close at $21.10, the stock traded down to $19.17 at one stage.

Pan Jamaican Investments traded 20,500 units and gained 51 cents and closed at $54.51. RJR had just two trades which accounted for 2.989 million units and inched up 5 cents to close at $1.35. Sagicor Life put on 48 cents in closing at $8.99 but only traded 65,152 units between $8.50 and the closing price. Scotia Group had 17 trades that accounted for 712,000 units between $21.20 and $23.50 with the stock closing at $21.51up 42 cents on the day. Scotia Investment had 5 trades that accounted for 1.29 million units with the stock closing at $25.50 down $4 but it had a bid of $27 at the end of trading. Seprod traded 527,000 units at $14.61 and gained 11 cents and Supreme Ventures saw 771,000 units being exchanged for 10 cents less at $2.90 by the end of the day.

Based on trades for a few stocks it appears that some special deals were done resulting in adjustments in the prices of some, which does not conform to recent market movements.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, JSE Company, Trading Activity

TTSE: Stay as you are

June 6, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 5th June 2013 | As if to indicate that the increased trading activity on Tuesday was just a flash in the pan, investors seem to have sent a message that what happened then can’t be expected to continue.

As a result, the market pretty much gave back today what it gained in Tuesday’s increased trades. With the exception 316,443 shares of National Commercial Bank (NCB) which changed hands with a value of $379,732 there was little else to seriously brag about in market activity on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock exchange which was tepid at best. At the end of the days trading there were no price changes of any of the mere 4 securities that traded.

Trading activity on the main market involved 325,148 shares, valued at $634,160. Apart from NCB which accounted for the vast majority of the volume that traded, Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 6,781 shares valued at $42,788. Republic Bank contributed 1,924 shares with a value of $211,640. Also trading was 29,940 units of Clico Investment Fund at a value of $630,237.

At the end of trading 5 stocks bids were higher and 3 stocks had offers were lower than the last selling price.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Trading Activity, TTSE

FX: US$ settles for now

June 5, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 4th June 2013 | Trading levels moderated in the foreign exchange market with much less currency changing hands. The equivalent of US$27.9 million, were purchased and US$35.57 million sold. US$23 million were purchased at an average rate of $98.72 actually 16 cents less than on Monday and US$32.6 million sold at an average rate of $99.61, just one cent more than on Monday.

While the US dollar was pretty, dealers forked out $1.28 more on average for the Canadian dollar but they only sold it for 27 cents more than the day before and in the case of the Pound Sterling, it cost $1 more on both the buy and sell side to exchange the currency than on Monday.

Buying of Pound sterling and Canadian dollars exceeded the amounts that were sold for these currencies once again.

One US dollar was purchased as high as $100 and the highest sell rate stood at $104.49.

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, FX Market, Trading Activity

LASCO Manufacturing: one for the radar

June 5, 2013 by IC Insider.com

LASCO Manufacturing enjoyed a 15 percent increased profit for the year ended March 2013 before taxation from increased revenue of 13% for the year. Profit after taxation was up only 9 percent as the 2012 results benefited from a tax credit which boosted the after tax figure. In the latest quarter, revenues were up just 8 percent, a lower pace than the September and December quarters with growth of 21 percent and 15 percent respectively. But the best is yet to come with the near completion of the factory expansion that will cut cost and result in new products being introduced.

4^th Quarter | Pretax profit for the March quarter was up 29 percent to reach $175 million. After tax, the increase was just 8 percent. In the March quarter, gross margin increased from 27 percent in 2012 to 30.7 percent and is up from 27 percent in the December quarter. Administrative expenses rose 6.5 percent year over year, much less than the growth in revenues while selling and promotional expenses remained flat for the year, helping to boost profit.

The improvement shown in a better margin and subdued cost increases has been highlighted by management in a report to shareholders. “The company continues to focus on cost control, cost containment, cost management and increased efficiency,” the statement said.

Financials | Trade Receivables increased by $180 million from $447 million in 2012 which management states was due to a temporary timing difference of payment with one of their distributors and has subsequently been settled. Inventory also increased $210 million from $279 million in 2012. Equity capital was $1.9 billion at the end of March, enough to facilitate the loan taken on, allowing for appropriate coverage.

Factory expansion | LASCO Manufacturing embarked on 70 percent factory expansion of the manufacturing operation which is nearing completion at the White Marl location. When completed with new machineries in production, cost is expected to be reduced considerably. The areas that the reduction will be most visible include direct production cost, with less direct labour, material waste and cost relating to the double handling of goods. The capital spend on the expansion at the end of March is $1.7 billion out of a budgeted expenditure of J$2.2b. So far the company has drawn down J$1 billion of a loan facility to help fund the capital expenditure with the rest coming from internally generated funds.

“We are poised for further growth as we experienced higher demand for our products in the local and export markets in the past year,” Management said.

Products | The company manufactures several well-known food items such the soy protein based LASCO food drinks, LaSoy Lactose Free, Oats Porridge Mix. It will also package Full Cream Milk Powder and Skimmed Milk Powder and purchase and co-package a wide range of other food items, consumer, personal care, infant care and household products.

Exports | The company exports its products to 23 countries, including UK, Canada and USA. Export sales now represent 9% of overall sales.

Stock outlook | Lasco has a competitive advantage with a well-known and respected brand and the expansion will reduce the cost of production making the existing products even more competitive. New products are to be added to the existing ones and some products that are being manufactured by others will be produced in house.

The stock price raced to $15 after the company announced a 10 for 1 stock split and it gained added support with the release of the recent results. The growth seen during the year, with more to come, makes this stock one that must be on all investors’ radar.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: JSE Company, Lasco

JSE market bullish but paused

June 5, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 4th June 2013 | The market took a pause today with all the major indices declining as the day saw one of the highest levels of trading for sometime with 13.7 million shares trading with a value of $108 million. At the end of trading 5 stocks bids were higher and 1 stock had offers lower than the last selling price and 2 stocks reached 52 weeks highs.

Price changes | 14 stocks registered price appreciation and 8 declined on a day when 31 stocks traded. Price movements of note are Jamaica Broilers traded 1.55 million units and the price was down 38 cents, JMMB down 50 cents to $9 while there was another day of high trading in the stock with over 3 million units changing hands. National Commercial Bank traded 587,200 between 21 and $22 but closed 20 cents up at 21.20, Pan Jam shed $3 to close at $54 while 31,356 units traded and it was $2.92 up on Scotia Investments when 306,600 units traded between $27 and the closing price of $29.50.

Supreme Ventures traded nearly 2 million shares between $2.90 and $30 and gained 10 cents in the process.

Juniors | In the junior market, Access Financial Services up 41 cents to close back at $8 with a mere 2,700 shares trading, Lasco Distributors fell 90 cents to $14, while trading 47,000 units, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $14 down $1.35 while trading 69,500 units. The stock traded between $14 and $15.35 during the day.

Volume | Decent volumes came from General Accident, Gleaner, RJR, Sagicor Investments, Sagicor Life and Scotia Group.