The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange index advanced by 17.52 points to close at 2,863.43 on Monday. 23 securities changing hands, compared to 25 changing hands on Friday.
Market activity resulted in the prices of 10 securities advanced, 8 declined and 5 remained unchanged from an exchange of 2,509,141 units valued at $11,095,172 versus an exchange of 1,770,268 units valued at $6,952,112 on Friday.
Trading ended with an average of 109,093 units for an average of $482,399 compared to an average of 70,811 units for an average of $278,084 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 106,129 units at $429,494, compared to an average of 104,792 units at $405,635 on the previous trading day. February closed with an average of 338,697 units at an average value of $1,495,774 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 15 cents at $2.05, with 104,354 stock units trading, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of $1.99 at $33.01, with 10,000 units, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 30 cents at $8.70, trading 1,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 22 cents higher at $6.50, with just 2,000 shares, Caribbean Producers rose by 1 cent to end at $4.11, with 962,877 units. Derrimon Trading concluded trading at $7.48, with 57,908 shares, Dolphin Cove finished with a loss of 90 cents at $16.10, exchanging 750 stock units, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 8 cents at $2.77, with 381,025 units, Eppley ordinary share ended trading at $10, with 15,000 shares. 
Express Catering traded with a loss of 4 cents at $4.30, with 51,030 shares, FosRich Group finished trading at $2.50, with 33,614 shares, General Accident closed 8 cents higher at $3.04, with 169,615 stock units, GWest Corporation ended at $2.90, with 6,040 units changing hands. Honey Bun concluded trading 10 cents higher at $4.30, with 20,800 shares, Jamaican Teas rose 10 cents to close at $5, with 32,000 stock units, Jetcon Corporation traded with a loss of 40 cents at $4.50, swapping 210,424 units, Knutsford Express ended 4 cents higher at $15, with 66,427 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading 10 cents higher at $4.10, with 308,000 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 10 cents higher at $4.60, with 4,514 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled 34 cents higher at $4.09, with 24,200 shares, Main Event ended trading at $6, with 6,152 shares. Medical Disposables traded 5 cents higher at $4.85, with 311 shares and Stationery and Office closed with a loss of 38 cents at $5.10, with 41,100 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
CrediScotia costs Lasco Financial $1.5B
Lasco Financial profit dropped for 2017 Q3.
The acquisition of company operating CrediScotia, renamed LASCO Microfinance Limited cost Lasco Financial around $1.5 billion, data disclosed in the company’s December quarterly report shows.
The acquisition was funded primarily from related party advances which stands on the books at $1.27 billion. The amount will be repaid in full from a long term instrument being arranged to raise $1.5 billion at an interest rate of 9.5% and also to provide working capital to allow for expansion of the loan portfolio.
The acquisition was the main contributor for a $1.5 billion surge in the assets of the enlarged Group, taking it to $3.26 billion at the end of December.
Scotia Jamaica Microfinance Company, name was changed, effective at the start of December, following the acquisition by LASCO Financial Services in November 2017.
LASCO Microfinance now, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lasco Financial, is the ”fourth largest contender in the local microfinance market behind Jamaica National Small Business Loans, Access Financial Services and Worldnet Investment,” a release from Lasco disclosed.
The group “aims to continue a seamless transition to merge its networks, systems and processes over the next few months to effectively organize its operations under two main business lines – money services and loans through the
Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Managing Director of Lasco Financial.
At the end of March 2017 loans advanced to borrowers on the books was $282 million and seemed to have climbed to approximately $650 million by September last year. The acquisition has increased the group’s loan portfolio to $1.3 billion, Managing Director of Lasco, Jacinth Hall-Tracey confirms. The merger has also almost tripled the loan team to just under 90 persons, spread over 13 loan offices island-wide.
Interestingly, while the acquisition of CrediScotia took place in November, the results for Lasco show no increase in income for the December quarter. For the September quarter total revenues reached $396 million up from $272 million in 2016, but the December quarterly, reports trading income of $407 million compared to the revenue in September, but it was well ahead of the $298 million generated in the December quarter of 2016. The December quarter is usually the period of highest revenues exceeding all other quarters by a good margin. “There was reduced fX spread compared with September quarter which impacted income; it also led to a revaluation loss,” Hall-Tracey informed IC Insider.com. Profit fell in the quarter to $55 million from $100 million in September an unusual development as profit would normally be greater than the amount reported in the September quarter, after recognizing some direct expenses for the acquisition and normal seasonal operational increases,” Hall-Tracey stated. There was short term debt which attracted legal & professional fees for the short term loan and there was finance cost as well as transaction fees for the short term borrowings to settle the sale price on Hall-Tracey informed IC Insider.com.
Adjusted for the above one off cost and set back earnings from ongoing operation is well ahead of the $55 million reported for the period in 2017 and augurs well for improved results for the March 2019 results.
No losses on TTSE on Monday
Market activity picked up on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday with 11 securities trading from just 12 on Friday with no security losing. The market closed with 814,429 shares valued at $6,075,902 trading, compared to 240,391 shares valued at $3,651,230 on Friday.
The market closed with the prices of 5 stocks rising, none declining and 6 remaining unchanged. At close, the Composite Index rose 1.15 points on Monday to 1,271.36, the All T&T Index closed with a rise of 0.47 points to 1,700.79, while the Cross Listed Index gained 0.25 points to close at 113.62.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, on Monday, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks with bids lower than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
Gains| Clico Investments rose 11 cents and settled at $20.01, with 155,760 units, JMMB Group finished trading with a gain of 1 cent at $2, with 22,922 stock units changing hands, NCB Financial Group gained 2 cents and ended at $6.55, trading 2,120 shares, Trinidad & Tobago NGL closed with an increase of 1 cent at $27.28, trading 18,930 shares and Unilever Caribbean finished 50 cents higher and settled at $29.50, with 348 units.
Losses|There were no stocks closing with a loss on Monday. 
Firm Traded| First Citizens ended at $32.11, trading 2,850 shares, Grace Kennedy settled at $3.35, with 593,796 units, National Flour ended at $1.86, trading 2,097 shares, Republic Financial Holdings completed trading at $101.51, with 1,600 stock units changing hands, Sagicor Financial settled at $7.83, with 13,906 units trading and West Indian Tobacco concluded trading at $88.55 with 100 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Mahfood family sold over 111.8m Wisynco shares
Wisynco had the largest trades on Friday.
Mahfood advised that when the family took the decision to go public the intension was to have sold 4 percent of the share the company to the public by way of new shares and 19 percent of the existing shares. Ahead of the initial offering a decision was made to sell only 20 percent of the company to the public with the balance to be sold after.
The sale of the shares on Friday was full filling the original decision taken which reduces Wisynco Group Caribbean Ltd holdings to just over 74 percent of the total shares issued or 2.776 billion units. Mahfood says there are no plans to sell any more shares.
Sygnus Credit profit exceeding projections
Sygnus Credit Investments (SCI) raised approximately US$16 million in capital from institutional and accredited high net worth investors following a private placement in May 2017 and began operating on July 1, 2017.
By the end of December last year, Investment Income amounting to US$500,568 was earned, with total Expenses amounting to US$106,858, resulting in Net Investment Income of US$393,710, which represents the Company’s core operating earnings, data from the company’s interim results show. Unrealized gain of US$290,650 due to the appreciation of the Jamaican dollar against the US dollar, on an investments in Portfolio Companies that are denominated in Jamaican currency. This unrealized gain may fluctuate depending on movement in the Jamaican currency versus the US currency. Net Income after Income taxes of US$3,893 amounted to US$680,467 representing 0.01 cent per share, based on a weighted average number of ordinary stock units of 64,503,985.
The Company recorded Other Comprehensive Income of US$310,475 reflecting fair value gains on its investment in Portfolio Companies resulting in Total Comprehensive Income of US$990,942 for the period.
The net results for the period does not include Management Fees to be charged from January 2018 along with Performance Fees. Management Fees are computed at 1.9% of assets under management. Performance fees are computed at 15% of the return on equity above a hurdle rate of 6%.
The company has US$11.6 million invested in four Portfolio Companies in Energy Distribution, Beverage Manufacturing, Commodity Distribution and Food Distribution. At the current pace of investment, SCI is sourcing and investing an average of US$1.9 million in transactions per month, which is a faster velocity than anticipated a report by the company states.
The investment in Portfolio Companies is earning income at a yield of 10.3 percent. US$6.5 million or 56.6 percent of the initial investment in Portfolio Companies is structured with profit participation and other upside structures. At the end of 2017, the overall investment pipeline stood at US$30 million, including US$7.9 million with signed mandates. The demand is likely to be funded by new shares to be sold to the public this year.
Shareholder’s equity grew to US$16,705,798 at the end of 2017. The Company issued 159,269,523 ordinary shares initially at a price of US$0.10 and J$12.86 per share and has a book value of US$0.1049 or J$13.04 per share.
Sygnus Credit Investments is a specialty private credit investment company, focused on providing non-traditional financing to medium-sized firms across the wider Caribbean region. The investment objective of the Company is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns with an emphasis on principal protection, by generating current income, and to a lesser extent capital appreciation, through investments primarily in medium-sized firms using private credit instruments.
The Company targets Companies operating across a broad range of sectors, including manufacturing, distribution, financial services, energy, real estate, transportation, infrastructure and business services. Target companies typically have revenues between US$5 million and US$25 million.
Chairman of the board is Clement Wainright Iton, B.Sc., MBA, Non-executive Directors are Nakita Edwards CFA, FCCA,CPA, Hope Fisher, B.Sc, Ian Williams B.Sc, MBA,Peter Thompson, CFA, MSc, Damian Chin, BA, MSc and Ike Johnson, PhD, CFA. Executive directors are Jason Morris CFA and Beresford Grey.
La Bohème Encores Sunday – Palace Cineplex
Sonya Yoncheva as Mimì and Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo in Puccini’sLa Bohème.
The world’s most popular opera returns in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production of Puccini’s La Bohème, set to encore this Sunday March 4, 11:30 am at Palace Cineplex.
La Bohème is a classic story full of young love and the triumph of unconditional love over circumstances. On its face, it is the definitive depiction of the joys and sorrows of love and loss, on closer inspection, it reveals the deep emotional significance hidden in the trivial things that make up our everyday lives. Franco Zefferelli’s classic production starred Sonya Yoncheva and Michael Fabiano as the young lovers Mimi and Rodolfo, with Susanna Phillips as Musetta and Lucas Meachem as Marcello.
Lyrical and touchingly beautiful, the score of La Bohème exerts a uniquely immediate emotional pull. Many of its most memorable melodies are built incrementally to depict love and the struggles of everyday life.
Composer, Giacomo Puccini was immensely popular in his own lifetime due to his remorseless perfectionist style of composing. His mature works such as; Tosca and Madama Butterfly, remain staples in the repertory of most of the world’s opera companies. Being one of the world’s favourite opera, it takes a talented producer to add freshness to the production without removing the subtle nuances of Puccini’s original piece.
Ryan Speedo Green as Oroe in Rossini’s “Semiramide” playing March 10.
The titan behind the current production of La Bohème, is Academy Award® nominated director and producer; Franco Zeffirelli. He known for productions such as; Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Brother Sun, Sister Moon and the Taming of the Shrew.
The next transmission will be Semiramide, Rossini’s rarely-performed masterpiece of vocal fireworks, on Saturday, March 10. The all-star bel canto cast, led by Maurizio Benini, features Angela Meade in the title role of the murderous Queen of Babylon, who squares off in breathtaking duets with Arsace, a trouser role sung by Elizabeth DeShong. Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green complete the cast.
Partial recovery for JSE majors – Friday
Rising prices on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange had the upper hand at the close of trading on Friday, with an advance delcie ratio of 3 to 2.
At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index in gaining 796.36 points to 318,127.47 and the JSE Index adding 725.57 points to end at 289,850.09.
Trading on Friday closed with 27 securities changing hands leading to 11 advancing, 8 declining and 8 trading firm, in the main and US dollar markets.
The securities with the largest price changes include, Berger Paints that dropped $2.35 to $19, Caribbean Cement falling $2.99 to $33.01, Grace Kennedy jumping $2 to $46, Jamaica Producers losing $2 to $15, JMMB Group that climbed $1.99 to $26, Sagicor Real Estate Fund jumping $1 to a record $17 and Scotia Group with a fall of $1.98 to $50.02.
Main market activity ended with 115,025,659 units valued at $1,171,809,500 compared to 22,773,292 units valued at $377,866,606 on Friday. Wisynco Group accounted for 111,757,051 changing hands, followed by Ciboney Group with 1,851,345 units.
Trading results in an average of 4,424,064 shares valued at $45,069,596 for each security traded, in contrast to 875,896 shares valued at $14,533,331 on Thursday. For the month to date an average of 2,649,980 units valued at $29,801,464 traded. In contrast, February closed with average of 213,336 units valued at $3,392,475 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with Proven Investments concluded trading at 21.5 US cents, down from 21.94 cents with 101,500 units changing hands with a value of US$21,823 as the market index slipped 2.05 points to 169.56.
For more details of market activities see – Wisynco trades 112 million shares on JSE – Friday.
Wisynco trades 112M shares on JSE – Friday
NCB Capital Markets, Stanley Thompson (left) exchanges laughs with Wisynco, Chairman William Mahfood, Wisynco CEO Andrew Mahfood & PWC’s Fiona Hyman
The big trade by in Wisynco Group, pushed trading in the overall market to 115,025,659 units valued at $1,171,809,500 versus 22,773,292 units valued at $377,866,606 on Thursday.
With the second and third largest shareholders accounting for 37.7 million units each, the seller of the bulk of the shares traded came from Wisynco Group Caribbean Ltd with just over 2.88 billion units. The trade reduced the majority holdings to just over 74 percent of the total shares issued.
Activity on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 26 securities changing hands, ending with 11 securities rising, 7 falling, 8 trading firm. The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index rose 796.36 points to 318,127.47 and the JSE Index advanced by 725.57 points to 289,850.09.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments closed at $7.50, with 6,200 shares changing hands, Berger Paints ended with a loss of $2.35 at $19, with 6,550 stock units, Cable & Wireless concluded trading 9 cents higher at $1.10, with 110,691 units exchanged, Carreras finished 5 cents higher at $11, with 82,757 shares, Caribbean Cement settled at 8 cents more at $33.09, with 4,074 shares. Ciboney Group ended trading with a loss of 3 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of 7 cents, with 1,851,345 shares trading, Grace Kennedy climbed $2 to end at $46, with 4,168 stock units, Jamaica Broilers finished trading at $19, with 38,638 units, Jamaica Producers closed with a loss of 2 cents at $15, with 338,051 shares. Jamaica Stock Exchange ended at $6.55, with 1,500 shares, JMMB Group concluded trading in jumping $1.99 to $26, with 35,818 shares, Kingston Properties finished at $6.65, with 2,059 stock units trading, Mayberry Investments ended trading with a loss of 45 cents at $5, in exchanging 2,283 shares. NCB Financial Group traded at $99.50, with 6,795 shares, 1834 Investments finished trading for 4 cents more at $1.19, with 6,534 shares, 
PanJam Investment gained 20 cents to end at $41.50, with 5,965 units, Portland JSX concluded trading at $10, with 506 shares. Radio Jamaica settled with a loss of 2 cents at $1.08, with 55,760 shares, Sagicor Group ended trading after rising 59 cents at $37.10, with 35,845 stock units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded $1 higher at record high of $17, with 58,784 shares, Scotia Group finished trading with a loss of $1.98 at $50.02, with 142,058 shares, Supreme Ventures finished 19 cents higher at $11.95, with 55,000 units. Victoria Mutual Investments settled at $4.45, trading 216,227 shares, Wisynco Group lost 45 cents to end at $10.25, with 111,757,051 shares traded and in the main market preference segment, Jamaica Money Market 7.5% traded at $1.95, with 1,000 stock units changing hands.Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place. For more details of market activities, see “Partial recovery for JSE majors – Friday.”
Junior Market falls again – Friday
The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange index declined for the second day, with a fall of 14.96 points to close at 2,845.91 on Friday. At the close, the prices of 11 securities advanced, 8 declined and 6 remained unchanged from 25 securities changing hands, compared to 26 changing hands on Thursday.
Market activity resulted in an exchange of 1,770,268 units valued at $6,952,112 versus an exchange of 3,574,111 units valued at $13,735,257 on Thursday.
Trading ended with an average of 70,811 units for an average of $278,084 compared to an average of 137,466 units for an average of $528,279 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 104,792 units at $405,635. February closed with an average of 338,697 units at an average value of $1,495,774 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed at $50, with 1,188 shares trading, AMG Packaging ended 17 cents higher at $2.20, with 4,032 stock units, CAC 2000 finished at $9, with 2,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 28 cents higher at $6.28, with 2,267 shares, Caribbean Producers rose 5 cents to close at $4.10, with 2,450 units. Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a gain of 48 cents to $7.48, with 71,245 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled 12 cents higher at $2.85, with 633,886 units, Eppley ended trading at $10, with 2,000 shares, Express Catering traded at $4.34, with 22,012 shares. FosRich Group finished trading with a loss of 11 cents at $2.50, with 169,827 shares changing hands, after the company reported earnings per share of 14 cents from 81 percent rise in profits for 2018. General Accident closed 6 cents higher at $2.96, with 26,621 stock units, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 10 cents at $2.90, with 2,260 units, Honey Bun concluded trading 20 cents higher at $4.20, with 26,000 shares. Jamaican Teas ended trading with a loss of 9 cents at $4.90, with 68,758 stock units, 
Jetcon Corporation traded 30 cents higher at $4.90, with 65,640 units, Key Insurance finished trading with a loss of 6 cents at $3.94, with 17,204 shares, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of 4 cents at $14.96, with 7,562 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading at $4, with 97,597 stock units, Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 22 cents at $4.50, with 382,367 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled at $3.75, with 52,070 shares, Main Event ended trading 10 cents higher at $6, with 7,545 shares. Medical Disposables traded with a loss of 5 cents at $4.80, with 26,480 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading with a loss of 25 cents at $3.10, with 6,515 stock units, Stationery and Office closed 18 cents higher at $5.48, with 71,200 units after the company posted a 78 percent rise in profits and tTech concluded trading $1 higher at $6, with 1,542 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Trading picks up on TTSE – Friday
Market activity picked up on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday with 12 securities trading from just 8 on Thursday. The market closed with 240,391 shares valued at $3,651,230 trading, compared to 218,720 shares valued at $2,790,805 on Thursday.
The market closed with the prices of 6 stocks rising, 1 declining and 5 remaining unchanged. At close, the Composite Index rose 1.48 points on Friday to 1,270.21, the All T&T Index closed with a rise of 0.09 points to 1,700.32, while the Cross Listed Index gained 0.40 points to close at 113.37.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, on Thursday, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks with bids lower than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
Gains|Berger Paints ended trading with 20 cents gain and settled at $4.25, in exchanging 100 shares, JMMB Group finished 4 cents higher at $1.99, with 21,420 stock units changing hands, NCB Financial Group concluded trading with a gain of 3 cents to settle at $6.53, as 176,426 shares changed hands, 
Republic Financial Holdings added 1 cent to end at $101.51, with 15,356 stock units changing hands, Sagicor Financial rose 1 cent to $7.83, with 1,732 units and Trinidad & Tobago NGL rose 16 cents and settled at $27.27, in trading 1,900 shares.
Losses| Massy Holdings ended trading 25 cents lower at $47.25, with 5,000 stock units changing hands.
Firm Traded| Ansa Mcal ended trading at $60, with 3,000 units, Clico Investments closed at $19.90, with 8,841 units, First Citizens settled at $32.11, trading 6,057 shares, One Caribbean Media concluded market activity at $12.48, with 59 stock units changing hands and West Indian Tobacco completed trading 500 shares at $88.55.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
