Buy Rated — Page 63

Honey Bun sweetens profits

May 12, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Honey Bun continues to recover from poor results for 2014 with a 20 percent sales growth in the second quarter of the current financial year and an increase in gross profits of 24 percent compared with the corresponding period last year.

Honey Bun ended at a 52 week’s closing high on Thursday.

Profits also benefited from improvement in gross profit margins, which increased to 43.6 percent in the quarter from 42.3 percent in 2014 and came in at 44.4 percent for the six months, up from 44.07 percent. Earnings per share ended at 50 cents for the six months and the company should go on to increase this in the remaining quarters.
The improved revenue picture translated into profit before taxes, rising 145 percent over the prior year for the quarter of $30.5 million. The increase was partially due to the normalizing of distribution costs compared to 2014, when there were disruptions to this aspect of the business. For the year to date, sales revenues increased 16 percent, and profits climbed 41.6 percent to $47 million. Sales and profit would have benefited from the Easter falling to the end of the quarter. The company usually have a poor September quarter with lower revenues than the others.
Administrative costs rose marginally in the quarter to $44.79 million. In 2014, Honey Bun incurred $43.98 million in this category and for the six months, $89.85 million versus $85.24 million. Selling & distribution costs rose to $32 in the quarter from $30 min 2014 and for the six months, $62.3 million compared with $52.9 million. “Exports increased by 43 percent for the quarter and by 66 percent year to date over the corresponding periods’, management indicated.
The company’s equity stood at $356 million while cash and investments grew to $61 million, receivables of $72 million were slightly up on 2014 levels while inventories kept steady at $45 million and payables declined to $56 million from $64 million in 2014.
The company’s stock last traded on the junior market at $1.90 but now has a bid at $2.35 to buy 12,000 units.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Honey Bun

Access Q1 profit jumps 72%

May 11, 2015 by IC Insider.com

A fifteen percent jump in revenues at Access Financial Services saw profit before tax almost doubling to $157.6 million, up from $79 million in 2014. After providing $20 million for corporation taxes Access ended with $137 million profit or 50 cents per share for an increase of 72 percent. The good fortune did not all come from ongoing income and expenditure as loan losses fell from $39 million in the March 2014 first quarter to only $3 million in the latest quarter. Gains from the purchase of loan portfolios from Appliance Traders and Proven Investments resulted in a one off profit of $11 million. These acquisitions increased loans on the books to $1.5 billion from $1.1 billion at March 2014 and the profit pushed the equity capital to $900 million.
For the full year earnings should touch $2 per share, the stock is priced at $15.10 with a potential PE of 7.5, with its growth potential and limited available shares on the market, this valuation may be considered low.
Proven Investments who bought out the Mayberry Holdings last year December, is laughing all the way to the bank for having picked up the block of shares at a bargain price of $9 each.
Access is a junior market listed company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and is primarily involved in payroll based lending.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican Stock, Mayberry, Proven

Big gains in Buy Rated stocks

April 29, 2015 by IC Insider.com

TCL posted the highest gains of 172% of all IC Insider’s Buy Rated selections

Profitable investing is not always about current fads but more so about selection and where possible timing of entry and exit. The Market Watch list is mean to help investors to identify some of the stocks with the best prospects for capital gains.
IC Insiderreports on the listing from time to time do investors can see the movements in the individual stocks. In 2014, the Trinidad companies were out performing those in Jamaica and worse most of the junior market stocks that took a hammering, as interest rates climbed up to the first quarter of 2014. Much has changed since then and now stocks in Jamaica are beating the performance of those in Trinidad.

IC insider’s selections have been doing well for JSE main market but so well for the juniors.
There have been 5 winners and 9 losers in the junior market providing an average loss of just 2 percent. The JSE main market has 12 winners, so far and 4 losers, for an average gain of 22 percent and TTSE has an average gain of 11 percent with 7 winners and 6 losers. Two previous winners were removed from the Trinidad list.
A number of the Jamaican companies are reporting strong results for the first quarter of 2015 this bodes well for stock prices, the same can’t be said for the Trinidad companies that are mostly reporting flat profits. The other critical factor is that interest rates have been rising in Trinidad which is negative for stocks and they are falling in Jamaica which has already given stocks a big shot in the arm. Currently investors are focused on the bigger main market stocks but the junior will come into their own later on.
NCB has gained 65 percent since last year’s low but should head much higher, Carib Cement with very strong first quarter result should be well up from the $3 it close at on Tuesday. Trinidad is clearly not the place for much investment, unless ones eyes are on the longer term future.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News Tagged With: Caribbean Cement, NCB

Why NCB deserved a look then?

April 29, 2015 by IC Insider.com

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NCB closed at a new 52 weeks’ high on of $26.50 on Wednesday

National Commercial Bank (NCB) closed on the 28th of April at $28, that is up a strong 65 percent form the price of $17 in May last year. With the realisation that the stock was heavily undervalued, in June last year IC Insider had this to say about the stock.
The shares may not be trading in droves recently with the price tending to trade around $17 since early May but investors may be missing a great buying opportunity with a stock that is seriously undervalued.
In Trinidad the stock closed as low as TT$1.04 recently but has moved up to $1.10 on Friday and seems poised to go higher. The bid in Trinidad on Friday’s close was $1.10 (J$19.20) to buy 22,933 units with an offer of 26,000 units at $1.14. On Wednesday the stock traded 69,456 units at $1.08 and gained 2 cents in the process. On Friday 21,322 traded in Jamaica at $18.01 each and 1,396,013 on Thursday between $17 and $18.03. Wednesday saw 21,595 units being traded between $17.30 and $19. One important factor is that the stock is not in great supply.

But it’s the order book on the Jamaica Stock Exchange that is sending a strong message to buy coupled with is 2014 being a year when the results should help stimulate the stock price higher. There are only 280,000 shares on offer in the market but the buying interest is not particularly strong. With the pickup in trading in Trinidad, the price in Jamaica could get a lift and with third quarter results to June which are due in the last week in July, that could strengthen investor’s appetite for the stock and give it a badly needed push.
IC Insider forecasts earnings of $5 per share for the current year (2014), so far NCB reported earnings of $2.38 for the first 6 months of the fiscal year. Well NCB went on the report $4.73 per share for the year to September but it took a long time for the stock to rise. Like good cream, goods stocks will eventually rise. Not only has the stock posted strong gains, investors in it have had a very good payment with increased dividends. Interesting while all the potential was there, there are investors who sold around the $17 price level and moved into Alibaba, it being the rage then. The returns of the former speaks volumes about investing in what is known and buying undervalued stocks as Alibaba has gone nowhere since last year while NCB has grown and is heading higher yet.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News Tagged With: National Commercial Bank

Carib Cement impressive profit

April 29, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Caribbean Cement posted impressive first quarter results for 2015, with profit after tax rising sharply to $248 million versus just $35 million the year before, from revenues of $3.58 billion. Revenues were just slightly less than the $3.6 billion generated in 2014.
Domestic sales volumes fell 3 percent, while exports declined sharply from 61,000 tonnes to 40,000, however, an increase in clinker sales from 44,261 tonnes to 55,371 mitigated the decline in cement sales somewhat. Lower energy costs, improvements in operational efficiencies, effective control of fixed costs and lower financing costs, were the major factors helping in the improved profit out turn. These results suggest that full year earnings could rise to $1 per share for 2015 and may well exceed it, if energy cost remained contained at current levels.
During the quarter interest cost remained fairly static with $65.5 million incurred, compared with $66 million in 2014 but depreciation charge climbed from $84 million to $93 million.
At the end of the period, cash increased from $178 million to $543 million. As impressive as the results are, the company has an operating deficit of $7 billion that will take years to wipe out, even at the level of profits now being generated. There are capital gains on the books of $1.4 billion, that can be used to offset the operating deficit, thus reducing the overall amount, nevertheless, the resumption of paying dividends is years away.
The stock which was elevated to BUY RATED in 2013 continues to hold that status and traded at $3 on the Jamaica Stock exchanged on Tuesday in response to the results.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Caribbean Cement, Dividends, Jamaican Stock

Kremi profit up 40%

April 14, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Kremi profit jumped 184% in the February quarter over that of 2014.

Caribbean Cream (Kremi) reported a 40 percent jump in profits for the full year to February of $49 million or 13 cents per shares and a 184 percent jump to 5 cents per share for the quarter for an impressive $18 million. Kremi reported $34 million profit for the twelve months to February 2014 and $6.3 million in 2014, February quarter.
Revenue increased 11 percent for the February 2014 quarter, reaching $274 million but most of that is due to price increase and 19 percent to $1 billion for the twelve months.
Gross profit margin climbed to 28.44 percent in the latest quarter from 25.9 percent in the 2014 period but for the full year, the margin was at 27.59 percent compared to 23.67 percent for the 2014 period. Going forward, the margin should improve even more with the blast freezer installed in November, which management says will reduce utility cost and create capacity for greater production to enhance sales volume.

Administrative cost rose by 37.7 percent to $168.8 million for the full year and by 6.9 percent to $44.5 million for the quarter. The slower growth in the latest quarter is an indication that cost increase in the area is normalising and that is a god sign going forward. The company should also benefit from lower marketing cost in 2015 with the upfront cost for the rebranding and advertising picked up last year repeating in the current year. The last quarter reflects the lower on going marketing cost at just $6 million compared to $11.4 million in 2014 and $37.8 million for the full year versus $27 million in 2014. Finance cost in the quarter jumped to $10 million from $4 million in the prior year and an average of just over $5 million in the prior quarters. Based on the funds borrowed the cost going forward should be around $5 million per quarter subject to repayments and changes in interest rates if any.
Going forward the benefits of blast freezer will be reflected for the full year, while it only partially impacted the last quarter of the just concluded fiscal year. They increased prices around 15 percent ahead of the Christmas period and may have seen some cut back in volume in the quarter as a result. They should be able to recover volumes going forward and even expand on it as the shock effect of the price increase wears off and more retail outlets are added.
Importantly, electricity cost will fall from two standpoints one is the lower electricity cost around 20 percent from the peak last year and lower cost due to the faster freezing of ice cream thus using less energy. The cost of milk or milk powder is down quite sharply as well. With all of the above earnings of 2015/16 could land at 60 cents.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results

AMG profit up 35%

April 13, 2015 by IC Insider.com

AMG Packaging, managed a 35 percent growth in profits of $31.7 million for the six months to February this year, the company’s latest financial report shows, thanks to a 194 percent jump in second quarter profit that reached $16 million up from only $5.5 million in 2014.
IC Insider’s forecast, is for profit of $85 million or 85 cents per share for this year and $1.50 for 2016. While profit surged, revenues rose a modest 8 percent in the February quarter and only 4 percent for the six months with sales volume having declined by 9 percent for the half year. The volume decline comes against the background of a 24 percent increase in units sold for the period to February 2014, resulting in a 42 percent jump in revenues. Helping to boost profit, was an improvement in the gross profit margin for the latest quarter to 24 percent versus only 16 percent in 2014 and 23 percent for the six months, compared to 19 percent in 2014.
Gross profit for the quarter amounting to $35.5 million, increased by a very strong 63 percent from 2014 and 27 percent for the six months, to near $70 million. Flat inventory cost and a reduction in other direct cost laid the foundation for the improvement in direct input cost and a swelling of the profit margins. Administrative cost rose 30 percent for the quarter and 29 percent for the year to date period well ahead of revenue growth, thus negating some of the top line improvement.
Cost got hit, with the Jamaican dollar losing value, resulting in 28 percent more Jamaican dollars having to be found to purchase one US dollar, since September 2012. The price of paper on the world market, increased by 22 percent, from US$720 per tonne at September 2012, to US$830 in August 2013 and to US$875, which it has been since June last year.
Receivables are down by $13 million from the amount of $81 million at the end of August last year and so too is amounts in payables by $10 million from $71 million. Cash funds fell slightly to $19 million from $22 million while inventory is up from to $118 million at August to $120 million, which is nearly 4 months supplies based on sales in the quarter and is up from just two and a half months back in 2013 and seems to be a hedge against devaluation of the Jamaican dollar. Borrowings fell from $97 million at February 2014 to $58 million with $14 million to be repaid during the next twelve months, the decline will help reduce cost with lower interest payments going forward.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results Tagged With: AMG Packaging

JMMB profit down slightly but…

April 6, 2015 by IC Insider.com

JMMB Group posted a 14 percent fall in net profit compared to 2013, with profit after tax of J$1.85 billion. Earnings per share amounted to J$1.14 for the nine month period to December 2014, and $644 million after tax, for the December quarter or 40 cents per share, in line with the September quarter results of $651 million but just 8 percent below 2013. Operating expenses, however, rose by $220 million in the quarter above that of the September quarter, helping to keep profit down.
Earnings for the full fiscal year to March, should end around $1.60 per share, at a stock price of $7 and a PE of 3.5, the stock is undervalued. Profit before tax was higher for the latest quarter, a near $100 million increase in corporate tax provision resulted in net profit falling behind the December 2013 quarter. Operating revenues grew 18.1 percent over prior period, to J$7.8 billion, due mainly to acquisition of two subsidiaries and $2.8 billion for the quarter versus $2.45 billion for the December 2013 quarter.
The group’s Net Interest Income grew J$270 million or 7.1 percent year-over-year to J$4 billion. Management attributed the growth to “expanded business lines through the acquisition of Intercommercial Bank (IBL) in October 2013, coupled with effectively managing the group’s investment portfolio and cost of funds. Other operating revenues, namely, gains on securities trading, foreign exchange margins from cambio trading, and commission income also reflected increases of 25.2 percent, 78.5 percent and 30.7 percent respectively, these were driven largely by volume increases and taking advantage of market opportunities. Our operations in the Dominican Republic continue to produce positive results contributing J$508 million to the Group and IBL contributed J$162 million to the group’s earnings.”
Operating expenses increased from J$3.99 billion to J$5.45 billion. ”Expenses associated with the expansion of the group through the acquisition of IBL and AIC Securities accounted for J$796 million (54.6 percent) of this increase and the remaining J$662 (45.4 percent) is attributable to costs associated with integration, growth in subsidiaries in the regional markets, increase in asset tax and normal inflationary increases”, management advised shareholders.
One of the effects of the increase in operating costs was that the group’s efficiency ratio (administrative costs as a percentage of operating revenue) moved from 60.4 percent in 2013 to 69.9 percent. Management is taking medium to long-term measures to correct this increase, mainly through extracting synergies from its recent acquisitions through its integrated financial services model across regional territories, the company stated.
Concerns|Insider selling of the company’s stock has been high, raising concerns about the prospects going forward, with the likely impact on earnings that could arise with the restrictions being placed on repo trades that will see smaller amounts no longer acceptable to be booked directly by dealers. This change will affect margins on such funds, even if they are shifted to unit trust. The company made much income from foreign exchange trading which could be curtailed with what seems set to be greater stability in rate of the Jamaican dollar against the US dollar. IBL is operating in Trinidad where the economy is facing reduced income from the energy industry with the fall in the price of oil and gas, the country also is faced with high inflation, these developments are likely to see measures being implemented that could constrain business activities and so affect income and profits in the subsidiaries in that country.
Locally, Treasury bill rates have been falling since the first half of 2014 and seem set to decline some more, this can be both positive and negative, depending on the length of time, funds are placed on the asset and liabilities sides. Lower rates mean less income being earned by the company’s own funds, some investments will see an increase in values and greater activity in the stock market which can lead to more fee income as well as appreciation in any stock portfolio it may hold.
JMMB Group will replace shares in Jamaica Money Brokers shortly, and become the listed company. Shareholders of the group were paid 33 cents in dividend last year.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results Tagged With: AIC securities, Intercommercial Bank, JMMB Group

Profit looking up at Broilers

March 25, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica Broilers recorded profits of $406 million for the quarter to January 2015, a 115 percent increase against the $188 million in 2014. Results for the third quarter was better than the amount earned in the first two quarters of the fiscal year combined.
Profit of $622 million was earned for the nine months, 21 percent above the $512 million for the 2014 period. Earnings per stock amounted 33.8 cents for the quarter, up from 15.7 cents for the corresponding period in 2014 and 51.86 cents per stock unit versus 42.71 cents, for the nine months period. IC Insider is forecasting $1 per share earnings for the year to April and $1.50 for the next fiscal year. If the forecast is met, the stock would be selling at at PE ratio of only 4.
The group should benefit from lower cost of inputs for feed, energy and fuel cost with the decline in the price of oil. Contributing to the gains so far, is the Group’s revenue increase of 15 percent for the quarter to hit $9 billion from the $7.8 billion in the corresponding period last year. Gross profit jumped 38 percent in the quarter to $2.2 billion, $600 million above the $1.60 billion of the corresponding quarter of 2014. For the nine months, gross profit came in at $5.7 billion versus $4.4 billion, an increase of 29 percent. It was the improvement in Gross profit margin that contributed most to the improvements in profit with $370 million for the quarter coming from the increased margin.
“In this quarter, the segment reporting was changed to reflect the new geographical perspective on the Group’s operations, being Jamaica, US and Other which includes Haiti,” the company’s management informed shareholders.
Management went on to state that “the growth in the US Operations continues. The segment results reflect the improvement in year to date performance; now at $773 million compared to the year to date of $283 million last year-a 173 percent increase. The Operations in Jamaica have performed as anticipated, given the market environment which has resulted in depressed consumer demand and lower disposable incomes. The year to date segment results at $1.297 billion therefore reflects only a 2 percent increase over the $1.270 billion recorded last year. Revenues from the fuel terminal operations at Port Esquivel were booked in this quarter in respect of a short-term contractual arrangement. A long-term agreement is being negotiated and prospects look good due to the current shortage of storage capacity for petroleum products. In this quarter, the segment reporting was changed to reflect the new geographical perspective on the Group’s operations, being Jamaica, US and Other (which includes Haiti). Distribution, selling and administrative costs, quarter -over –quarter, essentially reflect inflation increases along with costs related to organizational strengthening and increased activities in the US Operations.”
Borrowed funds increased to $6.9 billion and cash funds also increased to $1.76 billion, while equity stands at $11.3 billion.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results

Access joins tax line

March 2, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Access Financial will pay only $4.7 million in taxes for 2014, having enjoyed tax free profit for most of the year. The tax charge left $306.7 million in net profits or $1.12 per shares up from $270 million in 2013. But Access suffered a big increase in bad loans amounting to $229 million, more than doubling the $95.7 million in 2013. Not reflected in the bad debt figure is $14.4 million listed in the financial as recoverable, in 2013 the amount was $12.78 million. Gross interest revenues were up by 29.5 percent to $938 million and net income of lending moved to 990 million an increase of 29.7 percent. Other expenses rose by 18.3 percent.
For 2015 and the following 4 years, less a quarter, the company will be subject to tax on profit at 12.5 percent or 50 percent of the regular tax rate.
The stock sells at a high premium to net asset value of $2.96 per share compared to the stock price of $9.60 but that is partially explained by the rich 43 percent return on equity. At the end of the year loans advanced fell to $1.085 billion from $1.12 billion in at the end of 2013 while loans received fell from $543 million to $317.7 million and cash funds increased to $127.9 million from $49 million.
IC insider forecast earnings of $1.60 for the current year after tax at 12.5 percent. The stock remains Buy Rated for long term growth.