Jamaica Broilers’ profit jumps 28%

July 1, 2017 by

Jamaica Broilers

The financial year to April 2017 was a good one for Jamaica Broilers Group, with attractive revenue and profit growth. For the full year, profit after tax attributed to the company’s shareholders rose 28 percent to $2.23 billion from $1.74 billion in 2016.
Sales revenues grew 15.3 percent to $44.44 billion for the year from $38.52 billion in 2016. The group enjoyed a 17% increase in revenues in the fourth quarter to $12.32 billion up from $10.52 in 2016 but profit but rose from $900 million to $1 billion at a slower pace than the growth in revenue.
A fall in the pace of growth in gross profit was a major factor in the slower growth in the last quarter as direct cost rose limiting gross profit to a rise of 13 percent to $3.57 billion in the quarter from $3.16 billion in 2016.
Segment results showed the Jamaican segment generating revenues of $31.96 billion up from $28.4 billion but segment results fell from $3.6 billion to $2.87 billion. Revenues for the US based operations grew to $10.86 billion from 8.8 billion and generated segment profit of $1.3 billion compared to $1 billion in 2016. Other Caribbean Countries generated revenues from third parties of $1.6 billion up from $1.3 billion in 2016 and contributed $944 million to profit up from $254 million in 2016.
While some Jamaican companies are by passing cheap borrowed funds for expansion purposes, Jamaica Broilers with equity capital of $14.4 billion has $7.7 billion in debt. The group holds $2.76 billion in cash with loan receivable of $2.55 billion of which $500 million is due within 12 months. Cash flow from operations is attractive at approximately $3 billion for 2017. During the past year $749 million was expended on the acquisition of fixed assets compared to $800 million in 2016 and the group paid dividends of $420 million for the 2017 fiscal year, up from $311 million in the prior period.
Forecast for 2018 is for EPS of $2.60, up from $1.85 for 2017. The stock closed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday at $18 at 10 times 2017 earnings but 7 times 2018 earnings compared to an average of the main market of 13.7. IC Insider.com rates the stock a buy for growth and income.

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AMG eases Dolphin Cove out of TOP 10

June 26, 2017 by

AMG Packaging back in IC TOP 10.

Only one change occurred in the TOP 10 list for the past week with AMG Packaging reentering the list and Dolphin Cove moving out, as the price of the latter moved back to $20 from $18, the week before.
In the main market Berger Paints jumps to third position from 7 with the price tumbling from $17.31 to $12.50 during the week after trading at a low of $12.05.
The other news worthy development of the week was the increase in the price of former TOP 10 Junior Market listing, Jetcon Corporation that drop out of the top list last week. The stock closed at a new high during the past week but ended at $5.90 after 3 for 1 stock split took effect on Thursday, with attempts to trade at $7.40 on Friday thwarted by the circuit breaker rules. The trade was cancelled after the market closed.
Market movement continues to be constrained by near term resistance levels but it does not prevent stocks from moving in either direction, but it will tend to keep prices overall from big movements upwards.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is 7.3 and 6.9 in the main market, these compare favourably with 13.5 for the overall main market and 13 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings. Several stocks are trading below these averages, and have potential for more gains in the months ahead, barring major negative developments.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 43 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead. At the end of April the reading was 35 percent discount for the juniors and 53 percent for the majors.

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Will Berger jump TOP 10?

June 19, 2017 by

Berger Paints is one of IC Insider’s TOP 10 stocks.

The news IC insider broke a few weeks ago, have been confirmed on Friday with Ansa McAl entering an agreement to acquire the Berger Caribbean operations. What impact that will have on trading in Berger Jamaica shares this week, with the price having slipped to $17.31 at the end of trading on Friday, is unknown?
In a week when the All Jamaica composite index fell 4,089.25 points and the junior Market fell 63.94 points, no stock exited or entered the top lists. The movement of prices in recent weeks, suggest that investors can make gains by bottom fishing, when investors push some prices down. Market movement continues to be constrained by near term resistance levels acting as short term restraint to a break out from current levels for the time being.
The markets offer some good opportunities for bottom fishing, with General Accident falling to a low of $2.30 during the week before rebounding to close at $2.80. Caribbean Producers seems attractively priced, with 2018 earnings as the target with the price having fallen to $3.03 with some large volumes trading around that level.
Last week, IC insider.com reported that tTech demand is building while selling has eased with limited supply being shown in the market. This week, the price inched higher to $8.55 from $7.75 at the close of the previous week. Elsewhere, NCB Financial Group is hitching for a major breakout from a wedge formation, the stock is in good demand in Trinidad with a price around J$77.
In the main market, earnings per share for Radio Jamaica have been sharply reduced to 25 cents with the latest results for the full year to March coming in below expectations. The stock remains in the TOP 10 list, with improvement expected in the current fiscal year.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks stands at 7.4 and 7.1 in the main market, these compare favourably with 13.4 for the overall main market and 13 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings. Several stocks are trading below the average, and have the potential for more gains for the rest of 2017, barring major negative developments.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 45 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead. At the end of April the reading was 35 percent discount for the juniors and 53 percent for the majors.

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Berger returns to TOP 10

June 12, 2017 by

Shuffling of stocks in the TOP 10 list was quite pronounced this past week with two companies exiting and entering each list. Jetcon Corporation and CAC 2000 slipped out of the Junior Market TOP 10, and were replaced by Dolphin Cove and Lasco Financial.
Entering the TOP 10 main market list are Berger Paints, returning after a recent fall from the list and Grace Kennedy that dropped out previously.
In the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Scotia Investments earnings per share have been sharply reduced with the latest results for the half year showing no growth, with the stock falling off the TOP 10 list as a result, while Salada Foods price rose to $10, resulting in it being pushed off the list.
In trading last week, tTech demand is building while selling has eased with limited supply being shown in the market. Elsewhere, NCB Financial Group is hitching for a major breakout from a wedge formation.
As indicated in recent weeks, market movement continues to be constrained by near term resistance levels which is acting as short term restraint to a break out from current levels for the time being.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is 7.4 and 7.2 in the main market, these compare favourably with 13.8 for the overall main market and 13 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings. Several stocks are trading below the average, and have the potential for more gains for the rest of 2017, barring major negative developments.
In a number of cases, the TOP stocks will need to deliver results in the upcoming quarter in order to send a message that the potential they have will be manifested.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 45 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 48 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead. At the end of April the reading was 35 percent discount for the juniors and 53 percent for the majors.

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Berger & Scotia Group jump TOP 10

June 5, 2017 by

Scotiabank jumped out of TOP 10.

The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, moved forward on each day of the past week except for a fall on Thursday to sit close to the all-time high on Friday. Movement in the Junior Market was up and down but a few stocks traded at new highs during the week.
In the main market, IC Insider downgraded the earnings of Carreras to $9 after the company reported full year results, the stock jumped to a record $89 at the close of the week and is out of the top listing. Carreras exit allowed for Jamaica Broilers to return to the main market listing. Jetcon Corporation returns to the Junior Market list and Lasco Financial moves out of the TOP 10.
The week’s movement continue to be constrained by near term resistance levels which could be acting as short term restraint to a break out from current levels.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is 7.5 and 6.8 in the main market, these compare favourably with 13.7 for the overall main market and 13.4 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings. With several stocks trading below the average, the potential for more gains for the rest of 2017 seems positive, barring any major negative developments.
In the main market, decline in the prices of Seprod down to $30 and Sterling Investments to $15.50 moved them into the top list and replaced Berger Paints and Scotia Group that maintained their prices and are now some distance from the top list.
Recent TOP 10 listings that remain just below the top spots include Access Financial that hit a new record high close of $50 and Blue Power up to $55 at the close of the week.

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Berger & Scotia Group drop TOP 10

May 28, 2017 by

Image courtesy of suphakit73/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The two main markets of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, pulled back this past week as the volatility in the price of some stocks resulted in shifts in the position of some stocks in the TOP 10. Movements were not enough to change the Junior Market list, even as Caribbean Producers saw a 25 percent fall during the week with heavy volume, the stock enjoyed partial recovery by weekend.
This week’s pull back, seems to support the comment last week, “that both markets are trading close to recent resistance levels which could act as a short term restraint on upward movement.”
In the main market, decline in the prices of Seprod down to $30 and Sterling Investments to $15.50 moved them into the top list and replaced Berger Paints and Scotia Group that maintained their prices and are now some distance from the top list.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is 7.5 and 6.8 in the main market, these compare favourably with 13.7 for the main market and 13.4 for Juniors, based on 2017 estimated earnings. With several stocks trading below the average, the potential for more gains for the rest of 2017 seems positive, barring any major negative developments.
Recent TOP 10 listings remain just below the top spots with Access Financial, Jetcon Corporation, AMG Packaging, Dolphin Cove, Caribbean Cream and Blue Power sitting just below, with potential gains of more than 100 percent and in the main market, Grace Kennedy and Sagicor Group are just below the Top spots with good potential gains ahead.
The history of the Top stock performance indicates that, it takes a few months for most of the stocks to reach potential targeted prices as they tend not to be the stocks favoured by a large segment of investors, in the short term.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 44 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving several stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
At the close of the week, bid volumes for junior market stocks remained relatively low ranging from a high of 66,436 units at $5.15 for Lasco Manufacturing with an offer of 16,685 units at $5.20, Access with a bid of 35,425 at $42.50, Caribbean Producers with 34,300 units on the bid at $3.50, with 100,000 shares on offer at $3.80. Key Insurance closed with 15,213 units on the bid at $2.90 and 51,361 offered at $3.80 and Lasco Financial ended the week with a bid of $4.05 to buy 24,000 units with 47,888 units being offered for sale at $4.40.

Seprod shares dropped from $45.10 in February to $30 on Friday.

Caribbean Cement had a bid to buy 54,903 units at $28.50 and offers of 7,850 shares at $29.95. Carreras had just 1,233 units on the bid at $77 with 4,954 shares being offered at $80, JMMB Group’s has bids to buy 8,272 units at $19.80 with an offer to sell 6,224 shares at $20, Radio Jamaica bid ended trading at $1.68 to buy 883 units with 30,000 units on offer at $1.79 while Scotia Investments closed the week with 14,753 units on the bid to buy at $36.50 and 14,049 units offered for sale at $37.85. Interest in Seprod has fallen with only 250 units on the bid at $29.50 and selling of 95,352 units at $30, this is way off from the 52 weeks’ high of $45 the stock sold at late February this year.

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Pulse & ISP exit TOP 10 with big gains

May 21, 2017 by

I$P Finance hits a new high of $35 on Wednesday up 1,650% since listing last year March.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange, two main markets hit new highs on several days over the past two weeks, with new records created during this past week as well. Both markets are trading close to recent resistance levels which could act as a short term restraint on upward movement.
With the average PE ratio of the markets trading around 13 based on 2017 estimated earnings and several stocks trading below, it just a matter of time for prices and the markets to move higher.
Recent market activity has been characterized by some sizable swings in prices for a number of stocks, these movements have pushed some stocks in and out of the top list. Most companies released results for the 2017 first quarter, in some cases IC Insider.com has revised the earnings based on the latest information contained in the results.
Earnings have been up graded for Caribbean Producers to 60 cents, for the 2018 fiscal year, based on the nine months’ performance to March, with the March quarter results pointing the way forward with an 8 percent increase in revenues and lower selling and administrative cost. In the main market, Berger Paints’ 2018 fiscal year earnings per share was up graded to $2, based on a strong finish to the 2017 results. Pulse Investments announcement of a 2 for 1 stock split to be considered by the board subject to approval at a meeting of shareholders, helped push the price up to $14.40 from $8.05 and out of the Top list after entering in November last year at $4. Jetcon Corporation entered at $6.09 on January 6 and is now at $15 and out of the top listing. Main Event entered at $2 and is now at $7.25 and ISP Finance entered at $8.50 and last traded at $28.
Recent TOP 10 listings remain just below the top spots with Access Financial, Jetcon, AMG Packaging, Dolphin Cove, Caribbean Cream and Blue Power sitting just below, with potential gains of more than 100 percent and in the main market, Grace Kennedy and Sagicor Group are just below the Top spots with good potential gains ahead.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks continue to trade at an average discount of 43 percent to the Junior Market average, those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving several stocks with room for growth for the rest of the year.
The history of the performance of the TOP STOCKS indicates that in most cases, it takes a few months for the stocks to reach potential targeted prices unless there are extraordinary developments such as stock splits.

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Flash Back TOP 5

May 14, 2017 by

Berger Paints is one of IC Insider’s TOP 5 best performers from the initial list & exceeded the price target.

IC Insider.com first published its TOP 5 stocks, for the week ending September 9 last year. Looking back, the first set of selection is revealing.
There has been no losers in the list, 6 have more than doubled and two nearly doubled, that is a near 80 percent of strong performances. The Junior Market index is up 43 percent over the period and the All Jamaica Composite is up 29 percent for main market stocks.
First the disappointments, Grace Kennedy has hardly moved from where it entered at $41.45 while Caribbean Cement keeps on dancing up and down as the company’s management fails to properly communicate with investors as to the company’s performance, both past and future, the stock is up from the $26 but just. AMG Packaging while trading higher than the $19.20 it entered the list at, has not done much based on its underperforming profitability. The same cannot be said about Berger Paints, up from $5 to $20 on Friday, helped by strong profit increase. NCB Financial has almost doubled and still has much more room for growth. Barita Investments and JMMB Group have more than doubled in price over the period. Medical Disposables have moved to $6.50 and traded higher up from $3.55, Jetcon is up from $3.50 to $15.74, exceeding by far the $10 price tag projected, Paramount was projected to get to $37 based on the number of shares then issued, the price exceeded that level after the stock split 10 for 1, and sits just below the equivalent of $37, currently. Access Financial has more than doubled and came close recently to the IC Insider.com’s target of $48, having traded at $47.

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Access exits TOP 10 at record $47

May 8, 2017 by

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.

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NCB buy rated for growth

April 28, 2017 by

NCB Financial Group’s shares look likely to rise.

NCB Financial Group (NCBFG) reported net profit of $9.5 billion for the six months ended March 31, 2017, an increase of 58 percent over the prior year, with profit for the quarter to March, ended with a 63 percent increase to $5.9 billion, up from $3.59 billion in 2016.
Operating income amounted to $29.2 billion, an improvement of $3.8 billion or 15 percent over the similar period in 2016. The increase the Group said “was driven gains realised on investment activities increasing by $1.8 billion or 96 percent mainly due to improved investor confidence as a result of the improved macroeconomic fundamentals of Jamaica. Net fee & commission income increasing by $1.7 billion or 33 percent, primarily due to credit related fees from volume growth in loan product sales, point of sale and e-commerce commissions, coupled with corporate finance and unit trust fees.”
Loans the main driver of profits, increased by $34.6 billion or a strong 20 percent to $207.3 billion at the end of March over a year ago. The increase was driven by a 22 percent in Retail Banking and 17 percent increase in Corporate Banking portfolio, Patrick Hylton, the Managing director, advised investors in a report accompanying the results.
Operating profit rose about the similar period in 2016 by 150 percent for Retail & SME divisio0n, 16 percent for payment services, 77 percent for Corporate Banking. Treasury and Correspondent Banking enjoyed a 46 percent rise, Wealth, Asset Investment Banking operating profit jumped 67 percent, Life Insurance and Pension Fund Management rose 50 percent general insurance grew 42 percent and other 45 percent
The Group approved an interim dividend of 60 cents per ordinary stock unit at its board of directors meeting on April 27. The dividend will result in a total payment of $1.48 billion. Earnings per share ended at 42.39 for the March quarter and $3.84 for the six months and seems on target to exceed IC Insider.com target of $8 for the full year to September.
In trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the group’s stock traded at $63.75 and at TT$3.99 on the Trinidad Stock Market.

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