The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange fell back again on Tuesday by 10.27 points to end at of 3,268.33 trading session of more than 1 million shares changing hands.
At the close of the market, the number of securities trading, inched up to 23 versus 20 on Friday with 11 securities advancing and 8 declining. Overall, 1,172,423 units valued at $10,317,500 changed hands, compared to 671,454 units valued at $5,978,378 on Monday. Trading ended with 4 stocks having bids higher than their last sale prices and 4 with lower offers. Two stocks ended trading at new closing highs.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 50,975 units for an average value of $448,587 traded, compared to 33,573 units for an average value of $298,919 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for the month to date are 74,085 units and $573,358 while at the close of the prior day it was 77,936 units and $594,153. The average volume and value for April ended at 502,597 units and $2,768,003.
At the close of the market, Access Financial Services lost 10 cents and closed at $46.90 in trading 400 shares, AMG Packaging shed 16 cents to close at $4.84 with 200 units changing hands, Cargo Handlers dipped 50 cents in trading 1,500 shares at $20, Caribbean Cream rose 35 cents and closed trading with 102,161 units at $7.85. Caribbean Flavours gained 90 cents in trading 30,000 units to end at $9.50, Caribbean Producers rose 10 cents trading 10,024 shares changing hands, to close at $3.90, Consolidated Bakeries lost 15 cents in trading 18,332 shares to close at $2.85, C2W Music had 10,000 units changing hands to close at 50 cents, Derrimon Trading fell 25 cents and ended at $8.25 with 4,905 shares changing hands, General Accident rose 10 cents and closed trading with 16,790 shares at $3.25, Honey Bun rose 10 cents with 76,556 shares changing hands, to close at $8, ISP Finance climbed $2.99 to end at a record closing high of $22.99 with 90,602 units changing hands. Jamaican Teas traded 7,900 shares, to close at $4.75, Jetcon Corporation dropped $1 and ended at $14 with 137,146 shares trading Knutsford Express traded 3,077 shares and gained $4 to end at a record close of $55. Lasco Distributors ended with 371,382 units trading with a loss of 30 cents at $7.15, Lasco Financial rose 40 cents and ended with 4,000 shares changing hands at $4.50, Lasco Manufacturing climbed 40 cents and closed at $5.50 while trading 88,171 shares, Main Event dropped 75 cents and ended trading 79,566 shares at $6.35, Medical Disposables climbed 50 cents and ended at $6.50 with 81,715 units trading, Paramount Trading ended with 500 shares changing hands at $3.05, tTech rose 20 cents and ended with 3,300 units changing hands at $7.20 and Eppley 8.25% preference share, traded 34,196 units to end at $6.10.
6 stocks fall on TTSE 3 rise
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday resulted in 12 securities changing hands, the same as on Monday.
The market closed with 3 stocks advancing, 6 declining and 3 unchanged as 325,975 shares traded at a value of $1,016,707 compared to Monday’s 101,230 shares valued at $1,806,077.
The Composite Index added 0.33 points to 1,222.74, the All T&T Index lost 0.16 points to 1,800.29 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.11 points to close at 86.52.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 4 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
Gains| Clico Investment closed at $22.51, with a 1 cent gain trading 2,880 shares, JMMB Group gained 4 cents to close at $1.25, with 254,917 shares changing hands valued at $318,426 and Point Lisas closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.87, with gains of 11 cents with 300 shares trading.
Losses| Guardian Holdings lost 1 cent to close at $15.59, with trades of 4,066 shares, NCB Financial Group was down 1 cent, closing at $4 with an exchange of 20,052 shares, One Caribbean Media closed 4 cents lower to $16.80 trading 180 shares. Prestige Holdings closed at $11, losing 1 cent with an exchange of 536 shares, Republic Financial Holdings closed at $101.91, after falling 9 cents with an exchange of 1,600 shares and Trinidad & Tobago NGL closed at $22.49, with a loss of 1 cent in exchanging 207 shares.
Firm Trades| Massy Holdings held firm at $51.49 trading 4,075 shares, Scotia Investments traded 37,152 shares at $2.75 and Trinidad Cement closed at $4.20 with of 10 shares.
BOJ sells US$80m up to J$129.91
Bank of Jamaica has USD80 million through its new Foreign Exchange auction system between May 4th to 9th to Authorised and Cambios Dealers.
The central Bank sates that after inviting bids for USD on Tuesday, the Bank through its Trading Room sold US$30 million to Authorised Dealers and Cambios at a rate of J$129.91 to US$1. On Thursday, May 4th and Friday, May 5th, the Bank sold US$50 million to Authorised Dealers and Cambios via its trading room. On May 4, US$30 million was sold at $129.85 and on the 5th US$20 million was sold at the same rate.
JSE majors slipped slightly on Monday
Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with 26 securities changing hands with 1 trading in the US dollar market. At the close, 10 stocks advanced and 8 declined with the main market ending in 2,884,030 units valued at $64,356,186 trading compared to 4,838,789 units valued at $105,278,278 at the close on Wednesday.
Trading in the US dollar market accounted for only 1,502 units valued at US$450. The All Jamaica Composite Index declined 144.74 points to close at 257,591.70, the JSE Market Index fell 131.87 points to finish at 234,695.22 and the JSE US dollar market index closed unchanged at 218.99 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 110,924 units valued at $2,475,238 per security traded, compared to an average of 256,060 units valued at $2,718,995 on Friday. The average volume for the month to date ended at 188,647 units with an average value of $3,859,708 versus 204,192 units with an average value of $4,136,602 on the prior trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
In market activity, Berger Paints lost 5 cents to close at $16.85, in trading of 17,380 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.34, with 353,181 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cement traded $1 higher to close at $29 with an exchange of 13,220 units, Carreras closed at $77 exchanging 57,323 shares, Grace Kennedy closed at $42.50, after gaining 25 cents and trading 800,378 units. Jamaica Broilers closed at $17.50, with gains of 50 cents trading 64,249 shares, Jamaica Producers closed $1 lower to $17.60 exchanging 223,675 shares and Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.75, with a loss of 25 cents, trading 12,138 shares, JMMB Group closed at $21.25, losing 25 cents with trades of 11,790 units, Kingston Wharves traded 90 cents lower to close at $30, with 11,511 shares changing hands. Mayberry Investments gained 5 cents to close at $4.55 with an exchange of 78,234 shares, NCB Financial Group closed at $71, after exchanging 143,410 shares, 1834 Investments gained 6 cents to close at $1.50, trading 4,300 shares, 138 Student Living traded 100 units at $4.50, PanJam Investment closed 19 cents higher to $35.20, in exchanging 7,317 shares, Portland JSX Fund closed at $10.60 trading 800 units. Pulse Investments closed trading at $9.10 in gaining $1.05 with 113,536 shares swapping owners, Radio Jamaica gained 2 cents and closed at $1.67, with 43,300 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $33.50, to record a gain of 45 cents in trading 29,153 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 5 cents to close at $10.35 while exchanging 8,200 units, coffee processors, Salada Foods traded 2,700 units at $8, Scotia Group closed 50 cents lower at $43, with 29,579 units changing hands, Seprod shed $3.50 to close at $36, trading 15,860 shares Sterling Investments lost 1 cent to close at $17 with an exchange of 500 units, Supreme Ventures closed at $6.38, with trades of 678,489 shares and Proven Investments exchanged 1,502 ordinary shares at 30 US cents.
2 stocks rise 3 fall on TTSE – Monday
Price movements at the close of trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday remained moderate, as 12 securities changed hands, compared to 16 on Friday. The results was for small changes in the market indices.
The market closed with 2 stocks advancing, 3 declining and 7 unchanged as 101,230 shares traded at a value of $1,806,077 in contrast to Friday’s 871,460 shares valued at $6,273,683.
The Composite Index added 0.15 points to 1,222.41, the All T&T Index lost 0.27 points to 1,800.45 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.08 points to close at 86.41.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 6 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
Gains| NCB Financial Group closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.01, with a 1 cent gain, while exchanging 10,000 shares and Scotiabank gained 6 cents to close at $58.06 trading 550 shares.
Losses| Grace Kennedy closed at $2.77, after falling 8 cents with an exchange of 5,550 shares, Sagicor Financial lost 8 cents to close at $9.02 exchanging 1,000 shares and West Indian Tobacco closed 10 cents lower to $126.40 with trades of 1,113 shares.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment traded 7,580 units at $22.50, First Citizens exchanged 186 units at $32, Guardian Holdings closed at $15.60 trading 23,481 units valued at $366,304 and Massy Holdings was unchanged at $51.49, with 291 shares changing hands. Republic Financial Holdings closed at $101.91 trading 6,024 units valued at $613,996, Trinidad Cement closed at $4.20 with trades of 34,212 shares and Trinidad & Tobago NGL exchanged 11,243 shares at $22.50.
2c for Honey Bun’s shareholders
Honey Bun, at a Board of Directors’ meeting held on May 3, declared an interim dividend of two cents per share payable on June 1, to shareholders on record as at May 17.
The stock will start trading ex-dividend, on May 15, 2017. The company last paid a dividend of 2 cents on January 9, 2017, in June 2016 the company paid 3 cents per share in dividend. The stocks traded at $7.80 at the close on Friday, following half year’s results that are lower than in 2016.
Access exits TOP 10 at record $47
The Jamaica Stock Exchange, two main market closed at record highs on Friday and there are some changes to the TOP 10 listings. Since IC Insider last reported on the lists, on April 21, Access Financial and Caribbean Cream are out of the list for Junior Market while Berger Paints exited the top 10 for the main market.
In the Junior Market, Lasco Distributors returned to the top list and CAC 2000 entered for the first time and Berger was replaced in the main market by Salada Foods with the price having fallen to $6.50.
Access jumped to a new high of $47 during the week and Caribbean Cream earnings has been downgraded to 70 cents per share for 2018 fiscal year while Berger rose to $16 on the announcement of an increased dividend of 50 cents per share.
The average PE ratio of the Junior Market and the Main Market are currently at an average of 13, on this year’s estimated earnings. At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks continue to trade at an average discount of just under 37 percent to the Junior Market average, those in the main market are trading at a 53 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving several stocks with room for growth for the rest of the year.
The coming week should be dominated by the release of 2017 first quarter results for the majority of stocks that could result in major changes to the TOP lists.
During the week Pulse Investments announced 2 for 1 stock split.
Pulse split should be 4 not 2
I sometimes wonder who advises company management. The decisions they often make, while seeming to be well intentioned, raise critical questions about what they expect the out turn to be.
Pulse Investments is a case in point. The directors propose to consider the splitting of the issued shares of the company into two units for each one currently issued.
Last year, in a hurriedly called extra ordinary general meeting, the company approved an increase in its authorised share capital and sanctioned the board proceed with a rights issue of share. This was after a resolution was belated inserted on the agenda of at the 2016 Annual General Meeting to approve a rights issue which was forced by shareholders into a postponement.
The company currently has 271,789,674 issued shares, the split would put the total up to 543,579,348 units. The company’s stock last traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $8.05 and carries a PE of 6 compared to 13 for the main market.
From all indications, with the company’s PE ratio well below the general market, the company must be awaiting a greater uptick in stock price before going back to shareholders for more funds, a two for one split is not likely to do the work to get the price more in line with the market.
The problem is that Pulse is not a very liquid stock with just 271 million units issued. From my estimation the board should be considering a split in the order of 4 to 1 that would raise the issued shares to over 1 billion shares. Such a split would most likely excite the market and help move the stock upwards in price. The proposed 2 to 1 is not going to do it. With the Board Meeting is set to be held on Monday, May 22, it is not late for the directors to change their minds.