The Junior Market Index jumped sharply by 37.33 points to close at 2,953.12 in trading on 21 securities changing hands compared to 23 on Monday.
At the close of the market there was the exchange of 1,429,313 units valued at $7,069,102 compared to 9,045,733 units valued at $53,607,772 changing hands on Monday.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 10 securities advanced, 5 declined and 6 remained unchanged leading.
Market activity ended with Stationery and Office closing at a new high of $7.55 after trading at an intraday high of $8 as investors continue to respond positively to the release of strong gains in first quarter profit.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
Market activity ended with an average of 68,063 units for an average of $336,624 in contrast to 393,293 units for an average of $2,330,773 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 115,694 units with an average value of $536,823 and previously 119,914 units with an average value of $554,562. April closed with an average of 121,622 units at $506,803, for each security traded.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended at $2, with 6,851 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading at $30, with 1,320 units, Cargo Handlers settled 9 cents higher at $9.84, with 5,480 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $4.80, with 17,500 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading with a loss of 26 cents at $5.29, with 547,035 units. Consolidated Bakeries closed 5 cents higher at $1.90, with 50,000 shares, Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a loss of 14 cents at $9.50, with 13,509 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled 5 cents higher at $3.25, with 135,689 units, Express Catering traded with a loss of 4 cents at $5.61, with 424,840 shares. FosRich Group finished trading 1 cent higher at $2.31, with 7,787 shares, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 10 cents at $4.70, with 3,623 shares, Jetcon Corporation traded 2 cents higher at $4.20, with 1,753 units, KLE Group closed 15 cents higher at $2.50, with 27,499 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading 35 cents higher at $4.35, with 10,995 stock units, Lasco Financial finished at $5.44, with 297 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled 19 cents higher at $4.09, with 2,345 shares, Main Event ended trading 16 cents higher at $6.95, with 5,115 shares. Medical Disposables traded at $5, with 10,614 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading with a loss of 9 cents at $3.01, with 116,966 stock units and Stationery and Office closed 5 cents higher at $7.55, with 25,095 units. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley 8.75% settled at $6, with 15,000 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
TTSE close down again – Tuesday
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange ended on Tuesday with trading in 15 securities against 15 on Monday, with 3 advancing, 4 declining and 9 remaining unchanged.
The market ended with units 331,441 shares valued at $1,920,957 changing hands, compared to 752,392 shares valued at $6,349,130 trading on Monday.
At close of the market the, Composite Index the Composite Index fell 0.06 points on Tuesday to 1,231.85, the All T&T Index rose 3.56 points to 1,718.21, while the Cross Listed Index fell 0.52 points to close at 100.20.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows the market continuing to be weak as it closed with 3 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
Gains| Massy Holdings rose 23 cents and completed trading at $47.50, with 450 stock units changing hands, One Caribbean Media closed with a rise of 1 cent and ended at $12.40, after exchanging 3,600 shares and Scotiabank added 76 cents and concluded trading at a 52 weeks’ high of $64, after exchanging 80 shares.
Losses|Grace Kennedy shares fell 10 cents and settled at $3, with 78,519 units, JMMB Group closed with a loss of 5 cents and completed trading at $1.70, with 110,850 stock units changing hands, LJ Williams B share shed 2 cents and ended at 70 cents, after exchanging 935 shares and NCB Financial Group lost 20 cents and ended at $5.05, after exchanging 61,199 shares.
Firm Traded| Angostura Holdings completed trading at $15.75, with 60 stock units changing hands, Clico Investments settled at $20.20, with 1,278 units, First Citizens ended at $35, after exchanging 10,719 shares, Guardian Holdings concluded at $15.25, after exchanging 20 shares, Republic Financial Holdings completed trading at $101.71, with 1,000 stock units changing hands, Sagicor Financial settled at $7.80, with 58,810 units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL settled at $29, with 3,451 units and West Indian Tobacco completed trading at $88.50, with 450 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Profit jumps 80% at Jamaica Stock Exchange
Profit soared 80 percent in the 2018 first quarter for the Jamaica Stock Exchange to, $101 million from $56 million in 2017 on a strong 45 percent jump in revenues.
Revenues rose, to $350 million from $241 billion in 2017 as income from Cess almost doubled to $126 million from $69 million and fee income rose from $134 million to $188 million. Expenses increased a robust 28 percent from $162 million in the March 2017 period to $207 million.
Earnings per share for the quarter is 14 cents compared to 8 cents for the quarter to March last year, suggesting earnings for the full year could be around 60 cents. These results now mean that the stock cannot be considered over valued at 11 time earnings at the last price the stock traded of $7, on the main market of the Exchange.
Gross cash flowbrought in $105 million but growth in receivables of $137 million used up a large portion of the funds generated.
At the end of March, shareholders’ equity stood at $1.04 billion with no borrowings showing on the financial statement. Net current assets ended the period $400 million well over payables of $263 million.
TTSE close down again – Monday
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange ended on Monday with trading in 15 securities against 14 on Friday, with 3 advancing, 6 declining and 6 remaining unchanged.
The market ended with units 752,392 shares valued at $6,349,130 changing hands, compared to 407,729 units valued at $7,221,428 trading on Friday.
At close of the market the, Composite Index the Composite Index fell 6.68 points on Monday to 1,231.91, the All T&T Index fell 0.58 points to 1,714.65, while the Cross Listed Index fell 0.63 points to close at 102.49. IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows the market continuing to be weak as it closed with 6 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
Gains| Clico Investments rose 10 cents and settled at $20.20, with 26,073 units, Republic Financial Holdings closed with a gain of 2 cents and completed trading at $101.71, with 19,096 stock units changing hands and Sagicor Financial gained 5 cents to settle at $7.80, with 226,240 units trading.
Losses|First Caribbean International Bank closed with a loss of 1 cent and concluded trading at $8.89, after exchanging 38,288 shares, Grace Kennedy closed with a loss of 5 cents and settled at $3.10, with 329,493 units, Guardian Holdings shed 5 cents and concluded market activity at $15.25, after exchanging 1,250 shares, NCB Financial Group lost 25 cents and ended at $5.25, exchanging 105,440 shares, Trinidad & Tobago NGL ended trading 5 cents lower and settled at $29, with 1,000 units and West Indian Tobacco concluded trading with a loss of 1 cent at $88.50, with 606 stock units changing hands.
Firm Traded| Angostura Holdings completed trading at $15.75, with 1,300 stock units changing hands, Ansa Merchant concluded the day’s activity at $40, after exchanging 200 shares, First Citizens ended at $35, after exchanging 1,381 shares, JMMB Group completed trading at $1.75, with 275 stock units changing hands, Prestige Holdings concluded trading at $10.15, after with 1,500 shares and Unilever Caribbean ended at $34, after exchanging 250 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Trading up sharply on Junior Market
Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange climbed sharply on top of the pick up on Friday and ended with 23 securities changing hands compared to 30 but with much higher volume.
At the close of the market 9,045,733 units valued at $53,607,772 traded, compared to 2,909,045 units valued at $13,268,308 changing hands on Friday.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 8 securities advanced, 9 declined and 6 remained unchanged leading the Junior Market Index in slipping 8.28 points to close at 2,915.79.
Market activity ended with Stationery and Office jumping to new high of $7.50 following the release of strong gains in first quarter profit, with earnings per share rising 70 percent to 17 cents.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
Market activity ended with an average of 393,293 units for an average of $2,330,773 in contrast to 96,968 units for an average of $442,277 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 119,914 units with an average value of $554,562 and previously 90,532 units with an average value of $363,661. April closed with an average of 121,622 units at $506,803, for each security traded.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped $2.80 to $50, with 2,100 shares, AMG Packaging ended at $2, with 140,356 stock units, CAC 2000 gained 50 cents to end at $8.50, with 7,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $4.80, with 92,602 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading with a loss of 5 cents at $5.55, in exchanging 6,404,986 units. Dolphin Cove finished 5 cents higher at $14.50, with 6,150 stock units, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 6 cents at $3.20, trading 56,513 units, Express Catering traded 1 cent higher at $5.65, with 43,200 shares, FosRich Group finished with a loss of 10 cents at $2.30, trading 9,678 shares. General Accident closed 12 cents higher at $3.50, with 50,500 stock units changing hands, GWest Corporation ended 14 cents higher at $2.30, with 20,000 units, Honey Bun concluded trading 19 cents higher at $4.80, with 2,000 shares, Iron Rock finished with a loss of 5 cents at $2.95, with 755 shares. Jamaican Teas ended trading at $4.50, with 11,031 stock units, Jetcon Corporation traded 8 cents higher at $4.18, with 21,533 units, Key Insurance finished trading at $4, with 3,000 shares, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of 1 cent at $12, exchanging 926,882 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 16 cents at $4, after 847,063 stock units changed ownership, Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 1 cent at $5.44, with 72,502 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled with a loss of 5 cents at $3.90, with 15,400 shares, Main Event ended trading with a loss of 21 cents at $6.79, with 34,859 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading at $3.10, with 57,500 stock units and Stationery and Office closed at $7.50, with 220,123 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Palace Q3 profit jumps 244%
Profit at Palace Amusement jumped 244 percent in the March quarter, to a record $45 million from just $13 million in 2017. For the nine months to December, profit surged 746 percent to $49 million from $6 million in 2017.
Thanks to the high level of success of the Black Panther movie sale revenues rose a strong 39 percent for the quarter, to $343 million from $247 million and by 21 percent for the year to date, to $836 million from $692 million in 2017.
Gross profit rose 73 percent to $90 million and profit margin increased to 26 percent in the quarter from the 2017 out turn of 21 percent. For the nine months period to March gross profit rose a respectable 45 percent to $189 million and profit margin moved 23 percent from 19 percent in the 2017.
Administrative expenses rose 10 percent to $45 million in the quarter and by 7 percent in the nine months to $139 million.
Earnings per share came out at $31.53 for the quarter and $34.38 for the nine months and should end the fiscal year ending around $150 level, with the continued success of Black Panther and now The Avengers.
Gross cash flow brought in $79 million but there was the payment of loans and dividends amounting to $9 million. At the end of March, shareholders’ equity stood at $406 million with borrowings at just $24 million. Net current assets ended the period at $180 million inclusive of trade and other receivables of $62 million, cash and equivalent of $203 million and current liabilities stood at 139 million.
The stock traded at a record $1,500 on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 10 times, estimated 2018 earnings.
Profit up 19% at Grace for Q1
Grace Kennedy recorded a 5.1 percent increase in revenues to $24.9 billion and a 14.9 percent gain in net profit of $1.3 billion, for the first quarter of 2018.
Profit after minority interest, rose by a stronger 18.5 percent to $1.19 billion, resulting in earnings per share of $1.20. While revenues grew just over 5 percent, expenses climbed by a larger 6.2 percent, resulting in a fall in operating profit, to $712 million from $919 million in 2017. An increase of $277 million in other income and a cut in profit tax by $73 million were factors helping to boost the profit for the period.
Segment results show, improved results for food and trading division with operating results of $699 million versus $624 in 2017, gains for banking and Investments while insurance surged from $82 million in 2017 to $205 million in 2018 but Money transfer fell from $747 million to $664 million.
Don Wehby, Group CEO, noted that the company benefitted from performances of key business lines and new acquisitions and the strides being made in both our Foods and Financial Services segments. ”Our newest acquisitions, Consumer Brands and Gray’s Pepper Products, are a very good fit and are integrating well within the Group,” Wehby said.
The Group adopted the new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which became effective in January, this year.
“IFRS 9 addresses the recognition, classification and measurement of financial instruments while IFRS 15 addresses the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers. The effect of adopting these standards is a reduction in shareholders’ equity at the start of the year of J$0.9 billion, however the impact on the results for the first quarter has not been material,” Frank James said.
The Grace Kennedy Financial Group (GKFG) performed creditably with good growth in revenue driven by the Insurance business while both the Insurance and the Banking and Investments segments grew in pre-tax profits. GK Insurance (Eastern Caribbean) continued its expansion into the Caribbean with operations beginning in Antigua and Barbuda in April.
First Global Bank (FGB) reported growth in pre-tax profit mainly driven by lower cost of funds and lower expenses. The Bank is focusing on expansion through satellite locations branded FG MoneyLink. Four FG MoneyLink branches are in operation in four parishes.
“We consider compliance to be a competitive advantage and we have been working closely with our partner Western Union to ensure our network meets the highest internal and regulatory standards. In the medium-term we will see positive results. We also expect additional growth to come from the new channel WU.com which allows Jamaicans to send funds to 200 countries. Jamaica was the first country in the Latin America and the Caribbean to have this facility,” Wehby said.
Grace said that the Domestic Foods business as well as that of Canada and the USA showed growth, while the UK business had mixed results with decline in sales in the UK market but strong growth buoyed by deepening market penetration in Germany, Spain, Holland and France. New listings in Publix, Save-A-Lot and Stop & Shop stores in the USA and in Walmart in Canada, have helped boost performance in the Food Trading Segment.