Trading on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Tuesday with 23 securities changing hands, 9 advanced, 8 declined and 5 traded firm with 28,191,292 units valued at $755,323,320 compared to 4,115,612 units valued at just $48,667,070 on Monday.
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index declined by 646.61 points to close at 314,205.01 and the JSE Index declined by 589.13 points to close at 286,276.31. The US dollar market index rose 6.40 points to 168.30 as 1 security traded with a gain in this market with a volume of 51,366 units valued at US$11,060.
Trading ended with an average of 1,225,708 units for an average of $32,840,144 in contrast to 178,940 units for an average of $2,115,960 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 346,613 units valued at $5,296,046 and previously 284,400 units valued at $3,346,771. 
In contrast, October closed with average of 185,251 units valued at $16,528,582 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.
Major movements took place in NCB Financial Group with 5.4 million shares trading with the price dropping $3.50 and Supreme Ventures with 14 million units with its price rising 25 cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share traded 6,272,469 stock units. Barita Investments declined by $1, Caribbean Cement fell of $2.92, followed by Carreras with a fall of $1.18, while Sagicor Group rose $1.90.
Citizens Bank dominates TTSE trading
Trading ended with 13 securities changing hands on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday compared to 14 on Monday as First Citizens Bank dominated market activity with 69 percent of the volume of securities traded and 87 percent of the value.
The market closed with 2 stocks advancing, 5 declining and 6 holding firm as 651,650 shares traded at a value of $16,389,752 compared to Monday’s trades of 363,319 valued at $3,307,599.
The Composite Index declined by 3.51 points to 1,280.43, the All T&T Index added 0.14 points to 1,754.98 and the Cross Listed Index lost 0.98 points to close at 108.61.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 4 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Gains| At the close of the market First Citizens rose by 4 cents to close at $31.85 trading 447,445 shares valued at $14,250,791 and JMMB Group gained 5 cents, closing at $2.20 with 1,080 units exchanged.
Losses| Securities declining based on the last traded price are, Clico Investment trading with a loss of 50 cents, in closing at $20.50 with 19,991 shares valued at $414,710 changing hands, Massy Holdings slid 8 cents to close at $48.92 in exchanging 3,883 shares, 
National Flour Mills closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.90, losing 5 cents with 100,000 shares. Republic Financial Holdings with a loss of 1 cent, closed at $101.69 with 229 units and Sagicor Financial ending at $7.80, after falling by 15 cents with trades of 4,052 shares.
Firm Trades| The securities trading unchanged at the close of trading are Angostura Holdings that closed at $15.05 with 8,100 shares, Guardian Holdings exchanged just 92 units at $15.60, NCB Financial Group held firm at $5.90 with 1,500 units trading. One Caribbean Media closed at $14 with 58,580 shares valued at $820,120, Scotiabank remained at $58.50 with 5,650 shares valued at 330,518 and Trinidad Cement exchanged 1,048 units at $3.95.
Jamaican$ value improves – Tuesday
Trading in the foreign exchange market the rate of exchange to buy the US dollar by the public, declining again on Tuesday to $126.54 as dealers sold US$43.27 million of the US dollar, compared to US$41.70 million at an average rate of $126.58 on Monday.
US currency purchases amounted to US$39.31 million on Tuesday, at an average rate of $125.59 compared to Monday, with US$43.65 million at $125.55.
Dealers’ purchased US$54.28 million, versus US$48.63 million on Monday in all currencies in Jamaica’s forex market and sold US$59.20 million compared with US$45.47 million of all currencies sold previously.
At Midday, dealers bought US$12.9 million at J$125.90 and sold US$10.5 million at J$126.62 compared to the purchase of US$9.9 million at J$125.92 and selling of US$4.3 million at J$126.74.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar climbed to J$99.70 from J$98.88 at the close on Monday. The selling rate for the British Pound slipped to J$167.18 versus J$167.27 on Monday and the euro gained value against the Jamaican dollar, rose to J$149.72 to buy the European common currency, versus J$149.28 previously.
6 Junior Market stocks rise 1 fall
The Junior Market Index advanced by 30.97 points to close at 3,003.68 on Tuesday with 17 securities changing hands, as the prices of 6 securities advanced, 1 declined and 10 remained unchanged.
Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed with resulting in an exchange of 1,885,937 units valued at $9,218,166 compared to 2,877,033 units valued at $17,351,257 on Monday from 18 securities trading.
Trading ended with an average of 110,937 units for an average of $542,245 in contrast to 151,423 units for an average of $913,224 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 122,969 units 
valued at $598,559 and previously an average of 133,594 units valued at $602,040. In contrast, October closed with an average of 74,690 units valued at $362,548, for each security traded
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed $2 higher at $42, with 866 shares trading, Caribbean Cream finished at $5.60, with 1,900 shares, Caribbean Producers traded at $4.08, with 1,000,000 units, Dolphin Cove finished trading at $18, with 2,000 shares, Derrimon Trading closed $1.50 higher at $8, with 200 shares, 
Express Catering ended at $4.60, with 21,448 stock units. General Accident finished at $2.72, with 1,000 shares, Honey Bun settled at $4.80, with 11,806 shares, ISP Finance ended trading at $16, with 333 stock units, Jamaican Teas traded 5 cents higher at $4.05, with 25,100 units. Jetcon Corporation finished trading 14 cents higher at $4.74, with 154,338 shares, Knutsford Express closed at $13.50, with 43,681 shares, Lasco Financial ended trading 19 cents higher at $6.50, with 172,903 stock units. Main Event closed 45 cents higher at $5.95, with 8,250 shares, Paramount Trading concluded trading with a loss of 10 cents at $3.70, with 11,500 units, Stationery and Office ended trading at $5.15, with 397,500 stock units changing hands and tTech finished trading at $7, with 33,112 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
JSE main market closes down – Monday
Trading on the Main Market and the US dollar market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange concluded trading on Monday with 26 securities changing hands, 8 advanced, 12 declined and 6 traded firm.
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index dropped by 1,137.09 points to close at 314,851.62 and the JSE Index sank by 1,036.02 points to close at 286,865.44. The US dollar market index fell 6.90 points to 161.90 as 3 securities traded in this market with a volume of 119,502 units valued at US$33,226.
The main market closed with 4,115,612 units valued at $48,667,070 trading compared to 6,563,781 units valued at $52,758,651 on Friday. Trading ended with an average of 178,940 units for an average of $2,115,960 in contrast to 262,551 units for an average of $2,110,346 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 284,400 units valued at $3,346,771. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 292,432 units valued at $3,440,509 and previously 292,432 units valued at $3,440,509. In contrast, October closed with average of 185,251 units valued at $16,528,582 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Major movements took place in Caribbean Cement with an increase of $2, followed by JMMB Group that rose 79 cents, Kingston Wharves traded with a loss of 99 cents, NCB Financial Group fell $1, Sagicor Group lost $1.40 Scotia Group declined by $1.50, Seprod jumped $1.99 and Supreme Ventures dropped by $1. Ciboney traded at a 52 weeks’ high of 29 cents before ending at a 52 weeks’ closing high of 27 cents.
Volatility hits prices on JSE main market
Caribbean Cement stock price jumped $2 on Monday to close at $35.
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index dropped by 1,137.09 points to close at 314,851.62 and the JSE Index declined by 1,036.02 points to close at 286,865.44 on Monday as nine stocks had wild movement in prices ranging from 79 cents to $2.
The US dollar market index fell 6.90 points to 161.90 as 3 securities traded in this market with a volume of 119,502 units valued at US$33,226. The US dollar market that was up sharply in the first half of the year is now trading in negative territory with the two major contributors to the big move in 2017 suffering sharp reversal in fortunes. The main market closed with 4,115,612 units valued at $48,667,070 trading.
Trading on the Main Market and the US dollar market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 26 securities changing hands, as 8 advanced, 12 declined and 6 traded firm.
In the main activity Berger Paints finished at $16, with 23,483 shares, Cable & Wireless settled 2 cents higher at $1.07, with 1,295,319 shares trading, Caribbean Cement ended trading $2 higher at $35, with 393,242 stock units, Carreras traded with a loss of 20 cents at $11.20, with 540,401 units. Ciboney Group finished trading at a 52 weeks’ high after rising 2 cents to close at 27 cents, with 471,130 shares, Grace Kennedy closed 10 cents higher at $43.10, with 102,504 shares, Jamaica Broilers ended at $18.80, with 14,074 stock units, Jamaica Stock Exchange finished with a loss of 1 cent at $7, with 29,960 shares. JMMB Group settled 79 cents higher at $29.40, with 38,687 shares, Kingston Wharves traded with a loss of 99 cents at $33, with 21,845 units passing through the market, Mayberry Investments finished trading at $5.20, with 3,911 shares, NCB Financial Group closed with a loss of $1 at $103, with 34,440 shares. 1834 Investments ended at $1.30, with 20,000 stock units, PanJam Investment concluded trading with a loss of 1 cent at $41.99, with 3,890 units, 
Pulse Investments settled 1 cent higher at $1.80, with 47,343 shares, Radio Jamaica ended trading at $1.10, with 14,704 stock units, Sagicor Group traded with a loss of $1.40 at $35.60, with 12,516 units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund finished trading with a loss of 50 cents at $14.50, with 336 shares, Salada Foods Jamaica closed at $8.50, with 824,963 shares, Scotia Group ended with a loss of $1.50 at $52, with 155,603 stock units, Seprod finished $1.99 higher at $31.99, with 53,958 shares and Supreme Ventures ended trading with a loss of $1 to $10.80, with 9,303 stock units. In the main market preference segment, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share ended trading 5 cents lower at $1.05, with 4,000 stock units, while in the US dollar market JMMB Group 6% preference share rose modestly to close at US$1.22 with 10,000 units, Margaritaville traded 6,100 units at 19 US cents after falling 1 cent and Proven Investments traded 103,402 ordinary share in the US dollar market at 20.01 US cents after slipping 1 cent.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
10 Junior Market stocks rise 6 fall
Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with the prices of 10 securities advancing, 6 declined and 2 remained unchanged on Monday with 19 securities changing hands, the same number as on Friday.
At the close of market activities, the Junior Market Index declined by 24.55 points to close at 2,972.71, resulting from an exchange of 2,877,033 units valued at $17,351,257 compared to 1,034,761 units valued at $4,990,857 on Friday.
Trading ended with an average of 151,423 units for an average of $913,224 in contrast to 54,461 units for an average of $262,677 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 133,594 units valued at $602,040 and previously an average of 121,656 units valued $578,945. In contrast, October closed with an average of 74,690 units valued at $362,548, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed with a loss of $1.20 at $40, with 80,000 shares, AMG Packaging lost 1 cent to end at $3.07, with 12,500 stock units, Cargo Handlers ended trading 2 cents higher at $11.01, with 56,829 units, Caribbean Cream added 5 cents to close at $5.60, with 600 units, Caribbean Producers traded with a loss of 2 cents at $4.08, with 273,549 units, Express Catering ended 10 cents higher at $4.60, with 60,376 stock units. General Accident finished 2 cents higher at $2.72, with 13,800 shares, Honey Bun settled at $4.80, with 8,194 shares, ISP Finance ended trading with a loss of 20 cents at $16, with just 414 stock units, 
Jamaican Teas traded with a loss of 10 cents at $4, with 100,000 units. Jetcon Corporation finished trading at $4.60, with 50,877 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express closed 50 cents higher at $13.50, with 7,400 shares. Lasco Distributors settled 30 cents higher at $5.50, with 2,075,784 shares, Lasco Financial ended trading with fell 29 cents to close at $6.31, with 70,396 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing traded 16 cents higher at $4.20, with 34,728 units, Paramount Trading concluded trading with 2,857 units to gain 30 cents to end at $3.80, Stationery and Office ended trading 3 cents higher at $5.15, with 16,256 stock units and tTech finished trading 50 cents higher at $7, with 12,173 shares. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading ended with 300 units changing hands at $2.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Jamaican$ gains value moderately – Monday
Trading in the foreign exchange market returned to normal levels on Monday, compared to Friday with a C$60 million sell off of the Canadian Dollar.
By the close of trading, the rate of exchange to buy the US dollar by the public, fell on Monday to $126.58 as dealers sold US$41.70 million of the US dollar, compared to US$24.76 million at an average rate of $126.64 on Friday.
US currency purchases amounted to US$43.65 million on Monday, at an average rate of $125.55 compared to Friday, with US$28.39 million at $125.38.
Dealers’ purchased US$48.63 million, versus US$38.85 million on Friday in all currencies in Jamaica’s forex market and sold US$45.47 million compared with US$73.49 million of all currencies sold previously.
At Midday, dealers bought US$9.9 million at J$125.92 and sold US$4.3 million at J$126.74 compared to the purchase of US$9.6 million at J$125.96 and selling of US$8.9 million at J$126.78.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar dipped to J$98.88 from J$99.99 at the close on Friday as the Canadian dollar dominated trading on Friday. The selling rate for the British Pound rose to J$167.27 versus J$166.43 on Friday and the euro gained value against the Jamaican dollar, to J$149.28 to buy the European common currency, versus J$148.11 previously.
NCB Financial in big drop in Trinidad – Monday
NCB Financial Group dropped 9.2% on the TTSE.
NCB Financial Group dropped sharply at the close of trading Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday, shedding 60 cents or 9.2 percent in closing at $5.90 after exchanging 159,506 shares.
The market ended with 14 securities changing hands compared to 12 on Friday as the prices of 4 stocks advanced, 3 declined and 7 closed unchanged. Total volume passing through the market was 363,319 shares at a value of $3,307,599 compared to Friday’s trades of 337,266 valued at $3,015,209.
The Composite Index declined by 12.34 points to 1,283.94, the All T&T Index gained 0.03 points to 1,754.84 and the Cross Listed Index slid 3.39 points to close at 109.59.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 3 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Gains| The last traded price of the securities rising and the volumes changing hands are Ansa McAL with gains of 3 cents, closed at $63.03 with 7,314 shares valued at $460,991, Clico Investment traded 20 cents higher, closing at $21 with 25,533 shares valued at $535,150, National Flour Mills ended at $1.95, gaining 1 cent with 1,500 units traded and Trinidad & Tobago NGL closed at $23.70, after trading as high as $23.90, but closed with a gain of 4 cents, in trading 13,497 shares valued at $322,571.
Losses| The last traded price of the securities declining on Monday are, 
JMMB Group with a loss of 5 cents, to settle at $2.15 with 25,925 shares exchanged, NCB Financial Group closed 60 cents lower to $5.90 trading 159,506 shares valued at $961,048, the stock closed with 40,494 units on offer at $5.90 with no buying interest expressed at the close and Republic Financial Holdings fell 5 cents, closing at $101.70 with 15 units.
Firm Trades| The last traded prices of securities and the volumes traded unchanged at the close of trading are First Citizens traded 340 units at $31.81, Grace Kennedy closed at $3 exchanging 50,000 shares, Massy Holdings remained at $49 with 1,217 units, Readymix with trades of 345 units, closed at $11. Sagicor Financial held firm at $7.95 with 74,196 shares valued at $589,818, Scotiabank ended at $58.50 exchanging 2.526 shares and Trinidad Cement closed at $3.95 with 1,405 units traded.
Profit at Jamaican Teas rise 58%
Jamaican Teas CEO, John Mahfood addressing the company’s last AGM in 2017.
Jamaican Teas enjoyed strong growth of 86 percent in profit after corporate taxes for the quarter to September amounting $39 million up from $21 million in the previous year.
Profit before taxation rose to $54 million compared to $44 million an increase of 22 percent. For the twelve months to September, profits after taxation is up 58 percent to $186 million after the booking of some material one off cost and income in arriving at outcome for the year.
The Group enjoyed positive performance from continued improvement in core business at Jamaican Teas with increased exports sales of 24 percent for the quarter and 26 percent for the year as well as good growth in the sales at the supermarket in Kingston for the twelve months to Sept 2017 resulting in a strong increase of 19 percent in overall group sales as sales increased by 5 percent from $342 million to $358 million, during the final quarter of the fiscal year. For the year sales revenues rose to $1.53 billion from $1.29 billion in addition the group recorded other revenues of $94 million versus $61 million in 2016 and $44 million versus $21 million in the quarter.
Although the group realized gains on investments of $60 million during the year the report shows more than $37 million in unrealized gains on investments at the end of September.
The results represent another good year for the group coming off 2016, with growth in sales and profits from continuing operations of 9.5 percent and 103 percent respectively.
FINANCIAL POSITION|Shareholders’ equity continues to expand, exceeding the $1 billion market for the first time. Quoted investments and cash stood at $304 million at the end of the quarter. Working capital amounted to $529 million and includes borrowings of $167 million while long term borrowings ended the period at $70 million.
During the year, the group acquired 43 percent of the issued ordinary shares of KIW International, the company results, assets and liabilities are consolidated in the groups’ accounts.
Subsequent to the year end the directors approved a dividend of 3 cents per share payable on December 19, on the increased number of shares in issue of 682 million units. During the year the shares were increased based on a 2 for 1 stock split with the stock price rising from $1.95 to $4.10 presently the second consecutive year with gains of more than 100 percent in the stock price.
The new fiscal year has started off very well. According to management in commenting on the post quarter sales performance, “in October 2017 we doubled our export sales while our local tea sales increased by 26 percent and our supermarket sales by 8 percent. The group’s future prospects for the remainder of the quarter look favourable.”
John Jackson is acting Chairman of the group
