Company News — Page 149

Dividends galore coming

December 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

It should be a Merry Christmas for investors in the companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as several companies have either announced dividend payments or have announced plans to make one.

Sagicor Investments Jamaica Limited declared an interim dividend in the amount of 91 cents per stock unit payable on January 28, 2014 to stockholders on record as at January 7, the ex-dividend date of January 3. The company paid an interim dividend of 12 cents per stock unit on October 31, 2013 and 48 cents per stock unit on March 27, 2013. In 2012, Sagicor paid a dividend of 57 cents per stock unit on October 29, 2012 to stockholders and 74.3 cents per stock unit on April 27, 2012.

Jamaica Producers Group Limited has declared an interim dividend of $0.20 per share payable on January 28, 2014 to shareholders on record as at December 31. The ex-dividend date is December 27.

Supreme Ventures Limited has declared a dividend of $0.03 per share payable on January 8, 2014 to shareholders on record as at December 20. The ex-dividend date is December 18.

Jamaica Public Service Company Limited has declared quarterly preference share dividends payable on December 31, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 13, as follows:

JPS 5% “C” – $0.025 per share, JPS 5% “D” – $0.025 per share, JPS 6% “E” – $0.030 per share
JPS 7% “B” – $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date is December 11, 2013.

FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited declared a final dividend for the year ended October 31, 2013 of US$0.015 per share payable on January 30, 2014 to shareholders on record as at December 19. The ex-dividend date is December 17.

Kingston Wharves has declared an interim dividend of 8 cents per share payable on December 20, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 13. The ex-dividend date is December 11. This brings the payment for 2013 to 16 cents per share compared with 12 cents in 2012. The company paid a final dividend of 2 cents per share in respect of the financial year ended December 2012 and an interim dividend of 8 cents per share in respect of the current year, on Thursday, March 28. On December 21st last year, a dividend of 10 cents per share was paid.

Hardware & Lumber declared an interim dividend for the year 2013 of 30 cents per stock unit payable on January 17, 2014 to stockholders on record as at December 20. The ex-dividend date is December 18, 2013. The company last paid a dividend of 12.5 cents per stock unit on January 31, 2013.

The Board of Directors of Scotia Group Jamaica announced a final dividend of 40 cents per stock unit payable on January 13, 2014, to stockholders on record at December 18, 2013. Scotia Investments also declared a final dividend of 45 cents payable on January 13 next year. Both companies have been paying 40 and 45 cents per share from the last quarter of 2012.

Salada Foods Jamaica declared a dividend of 40 cents per share payable on December 19, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 3. The ex-dividend date is November 29, 2013. The company last paid a dividend of 40 cents per share on January 8, 2013.

Paramount Trading declared an interim dividend of 13.5 cents per share payable on December 10, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 29. The ex-dividend date is November.

Lasco Distributors is to pay an interim dividend of 2.3 cents per share payable on December 10, 2013 to shareholders on record at November. The ex-dividend date is November 22. The last dividend paid was of $0.25 per share payable on July 31, 2012 based on the number of shares in existence then in June this year the company split the stock into 10 shares for each one already issued..

Jamaica Money Market Brokers declared a 16 cents per share dividend payable on December 18, 2013 to shareholders on record on November 27. The ex-dividend date is November 25. This is a 23% increase over the prior period. The last dividend paid was 10 cents per share on March 28, 2013. Last year December a dividend of 13 cents per ordinary share was paid.

Pan-Jamaican Investment Trust declared a third interim dividend of 50 cents per share payable on December 20, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 27. The ex-dividend date is November 25. PJAM paid 45 cents on September 20, $1.10 on March 25, and 55 cents on December 20 last year.

Carreras declared an interim dividend of $1.00 per share payable on December 11, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 20, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November18, 2013. The company last paid a dividend of a similar amount in August. The amounts represent a cut from $1.50 that investors had become accustomed to. A slide in profits from a drop in sales have resulted in the cut.

Grace Kennedy declared an interim dividend of $0.70 per share payable on December 11, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 22, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 20, 2013.

Proven Investments declared a dividend of US$0.0022 per ordinary share payable on December 3, 2013 to shareholders on record at November 19, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 15, 2013. The also declared a preference share dividend of $0.10 per share payable on December 23, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 9, 2013. The ex-dividend date is December 5, 2013.

Dolphin Cove declared an interim dividend of $0.10 per share payable on December 4, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 15, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 13, 2013.

Dividends for consideration | The Board of Directors of Barita Investments Limited will consider (and if thought fit), recommend the payment of an interim dividend for the financial year ended September 30, 2013 at a meeting to be held on Friday, December 20, 2013.

The Board of Directors of Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited will consider a dividend payment at a meeting to be held on Monday, December 23, 2013.

AMG Packaging & Paper Company will consider the payment of an interim dividend at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2014.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends Tagged With: AMG Packaging, Barita Investments, Caribbean Producers (CPJ), Carreras, Dividends, Dolphin Cove, First Caribbean, Grace Kennedy, H&L, Jamaica Producers, JPS, JSE Company, Kingston Properties, Kingston Wharves, Lasco, Pan Jam, Paramount Trading, Proven, Sagicor, Salada, Scotia, Supreme Ventures

Neal & Massy profits up

December 16, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Neal & Massy one of IC Insider’s Buy Rated companies, delivered slightly better results at the end of the fiscal year to September 2013 than our forecast, due primarily to reduction in corporate taxes in the final quarter.

The Trinidad based group reported profit after tax of $142 million in the 2012 September quarter and recorded an increase of 19 percent $168 million profit in the September quarter of 2013. However, taxation in the quarter fell from $98 million in 2012 to only $58 million in 2013 and was the only reason for the improved bottom-line in the quarter as profit before tax of $243 million in 2013 was virtually flat with $241 million earned in 2012.

Full year Profit | For the twelve months to September, profit before tax moved from $544 million to $611 million, an increase of 12 percent from continuing operations. Profit after tax for the same period moved from $496 million to $556 million from all operations and excluding losses in a discontinued business which was sold. Earnings per share is $5.73, making the stock more attractive than IC Insider’s forecast of $5.40. Profits were generated on sales of $2.34 billion versus $2.17 billion in the last quarter of 2012 and $9.4 billion for the year compared with $9.15 billion in 2012. This is not much change at all, leading to nearly flat pretax profit and suggests challenges in moving profit forward in 2014.

Image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tough environment | The reality is that the group operates in economies that are undergoing no growth or slow growth except for Guyana where GDP growth was 4 percent during the period. Neal & Massy was able to eke out a 7 percent growth in revenues in Trinidad but suffered declines of 4 percent in Barbados and Jamaica while Guyana rose by 4 percent. Profit from the region shows mixed performances with Barbados showing increase of 6.5 percent in spite of a fall in revenue, Trinidad recorded an increase of 4 percent but less than that of revenues while Jamaica’s profit fell worse than the decline in revenues at 24 percent, due partially to devaluation of the local currency. Guyana grew by 13 percent.

Plans | “Throughout 2013, the group made major strides in implementing its strategy. Its business unit successfully executed acquisitions, such as Caribbean Insulation Services, implemented innovative retail concepts, initiated projects to expand into new sectors such as petrochemicals, and launched new products and services, Furthermore the group made good progress in diversifying into new territories in Central and Latin America with specific acquisition currently underway,” management stated in their report to investors.

Neal & Massy declared a dividend based on the results, bringing the total dividend for the year to $1.75 up from $1.50 paid in 2012.

Outlook | “In light of the improved results and the strong outlook for the group” is how management described the group’s performance when declaring the dividend. Regardless, based on its dominance in their main market of Trinidad and with Barbados being put through greater austerity in 2014 than in 2013, growth is likely to be slow even as the Jamaican market is expected to emerge from recession with no new major taxes expected during the coming year. Earnings could grow 30 percent for the 2014 year thus putting profit at around $710 million or $7.33 per share. The forecast is in line with growth in profit after tax in 2012 and 2010. In 2011, profits got hit with a $300 million one-off charge, which resulted in a fall in after tax profit. The forecast is also consistent with growth level between 2004 and 2008, the year when the world-wide economic crisis commenced.

Finances | The group is financially strong with shareholders’ equity at $3.85 billion at the end of the financial year against borrowed funds of $1.3 billion and cash and equivalents of $1.1 billion. Current assets of $4.4 billion was adequate to fund current liabilities of $3.1 billion.

TheGroup’s stock, which last sold on the Trinidad market at $60, is undervalued based on its peers, the overall market valuation and its prospects for increased profit in 2014. One caution for investors is the tendency for conglomerates to be hit with surprises that can affect the profit markedly. The group got rid of the loss-making hotel operation in 2012 and so far, there is no mention of any major areas of concern.

Neal & Massy is an IC Insider’s Buy Rated stock.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: TTSE

JMMB Q2 profits jumps 56%

December 16, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) reported continued strong growth in profits attributable to shareholders in the September quarter of $697 million or a 24 percent increase over the September quarter last year.

The performance is even better than first appearance as there was a gain relating to the acquisition of Capital & Credit Group of $117 million in the September 2012 quarter. Without this gain, profits for this year’s quarter would have been up by 56 percent. This comes against the background of a big jump in profits from ongoing operations for the first quarter to June this year with profit after tax and due to shareholders of $753 million. Earnings for the six months hit $1.45 billion compared to $2.5 billion. The latter includes the booking of the difference between the purchase price and net asset of Capital & Credit Group, which was acquired in the June quarter 2012 amounting to $1.6 billion; excluding this item, profits would be up an impressive 59 percent.

Earnings per share of 43 cents for the latest quarter is up to 89 cents for the six months. The investment bank continues on track to rake in profits of around $2 per share for the year to March 2014, which makes the stock cheap at the last selling price of $8. However, this depends on a number of factors, the most of which is the level of investments and foreign exchange gains they are likely to book in the next two quarters.

Net Interest | For the September quarter, net interest income grew slightly to $1.23 billion from $1.196 billion in 2012 and from $1.178 billion in the 2013 June quarter. For the year to September, net interest income is up to $2.4 billion from $2.18 billion in 2012. Gains on securities trading almost doubled to $646 million from $333 million for the quarter compared with 2012 and from $633 million in 2012 to $1.3 billion in 2013. Net operating income was up strongly to $2.09 billion in the quarter from $1.7 billion in 2012 and for the six months $4.16 billion versus $3.1 billion in 2012. Operating expenses remained fairly stable at $1.2 billion in the latest quarter compared with to $1.13 billion in the first quarter and $1.1 in the 2012 September quarter. Year to date expenses climbed to $2.34 billion from $1.88 billion in 2012.

Regionally, Dominican Republic contributed J$754.6 million to the Group, driven mainly by growth in Net Interest Income and gains on securities trading compared to J$390.9 million in the first quarter. The Trinidad & Tobago based IBL Group, an associated company, contributed a loss of $$24.3 million due mainly to additional provisioning for loans. The Group has already stated that they have agreed to acquire the shares held by the other shareholder in the bank.

Financial Strength | Shareholders’ equity declined from $18.7 billion at the end of June to $16.5 billion at the end of September as a result of a fall in the value of investments. The group’s total assets under management fell to $172.4 billion at the end of September versus $175 billion at the end of June. Loans having increased by 17 percent to $12 billion to June, contracted slightly in September to $11.7 billion. Loans are a relatively small part of the asset base but could be one of the more profitable and fastest growing areas of its operations if lending is done smartly to minimize losses. Importantly, the full ownership of IBL will increase loans sharply when the group reports results for the December quarter.

JMMB is a financial conglomerate with the principal activities being securities brokering, securities trading, commercial and merchant banking, dealing in money market instruments, operating foreign exchange cambio and managing funds on behalf of clients.

JMMB is an IC Insider Buy Rated stock.

Related posts | JMMB grows assets $125B to $200B | JMMB big bump in profits |

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: JMMB, JSE Company, TTSE

Marked changes for Buy Rated stocks

December 13, 2013 by IC Insider.com

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Friday 13th December 2013 | There were a number of noticeable price changes to Jamaican stocks on the IC Insider Buy Rated Stock list, while the prices of the Trinidad stocks were fairly stable with the exception of Trinidad Cement (TCL) that slipping by 7 percent by the end of the week. However, TCL is still the star performer with a 118% increase since being added to the Buy Rated stock list.

JSE Junior Market | Access, which is up 21 percent since being selected as a Buy Rated stock, gained a bit during the week based on the bid price which is above the last selling price. Blue Power lost 7 percent to end at $9.38, Caribbean Producers moved up to $2.50 during the week for a gain of 23 percent but Lasco Financial lost 15 percent during the week to sit on a 28 percent loss and Lasco Manufacturing is still down 16 percent after losing 1 percent during the week.

JSE Main Market | Barita gained 13 percent during the week to break even since being added to the Buy Rated list. According to stockbroker Mayberry Investments, Barita reported 2013 profits to September of $70.3 million versus $255 million in 2012. On the surface this seems disastrous but when the one-off loss of $240 million gross arising from the swapping of government bonds for new lower yielding ones is factored in, earnings would have been around $230 million for the year. The data for the year end results suggest a small loss was picked up in the last quarter as the company had reported a profit of $78.6 million up to June and the figures indicate a loss of $79 million on disposal of investments in the last quarter. Going forward, Barita should not encounter another debt exchange charge and has been able to recover from the reduction in interest rates obtained on the government debt. IC Insider will have a full analysis of Barita’s results with a forecast for 2014 when they are available.

Caribbean Cement gained 7 percent during the week but is under water 14 percent; Grace gained 7 percent for the week and is up 9 percent; Hardware & Lumber is up 14 percent based on the bid; National Commercial Bank is down 4 percent for the week and 12 percent from selection with the market reacting negatively to the company’s year end results; Sagicor Life lost 5 percent for the week and 15 percent since selection and Scotia Group fell 9 percent in the week and 11 percent since being selected; Scotia Investment gained 4 percent for the week and is up 3 percent so far.

On the Trinidad Exchange, Republic Bank earnings was upgraded to $9.50 based on 2014 prospects and is therefore a more attractive Buy Rated stock now that the 2013 results are out.

Of great note is that many of the Jamaican stocks, particularly those on the junior market, have very limited supplies and therefore could move significantly in the medium term. The message from the market is buy now while supply can be easily had.

Related posts | Profits up at Barita | NDX hits out Barita’s profit

Filed Under: Company News, JSE Main Market, Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: JSE Company, TTSE

JSE ticker tape

December 13, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Medical Disposables IPO closed | Medical Disposables IPO closed this morning just after 9:00am and shortly after the official opening, IC Insider have been informed. The company placed 63.157 million shares on offer at $1.83 to raise $115 million.

Guardian leaves us | Guardian Holdings will no longer be available to trade on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as the company has applied for the shares to be delisted effective end of December. The stock is still available for trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange where the company is mainly listed. The delisting means less listing fees for the JSE come 2014.

Sagicor Group list by year end | Sagicor Life is expected to be delisted from the JSE by year end. IC Insider gathers that the JSE gave approval for Sagicor Group the direct parent company for Sagicor Life and Sagicor Investments to be listed and Sagicor Life to be delisted. Existing shareholders of Sagicor Life will receive shares equal to their existing holdings in the new company.

Related posts | Medical Disposables, OK not great

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Guardian Holdings, Medical Disposables, Sagicor

TCL likely to lose shareholder’s battle

December 13, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) has been in a battle with some local shareholders who want representation on the company’s board of directors. This group of minority shareholders requested that the annual general meeting (AGM), which should have been held on Friday, July 12, 2013, to be put off pending a court hearing as to whether a resolution to nominate them should be put on the agenda for consideration.

The request by the minority shareholders to seek to nominate directors and have their names included as such on the notice calling the annual general meeting is reasonable, but that would have to be done ahead of the notice period, which is usually 21 days ahead of the meeting. Information from the Guardian suggest that the company was formally informed of the request well ahead of the deadline date and the shareholders seem well within their right to prevent the AGM from going ahead. In all probability, the minority shareholders will win their initial battle with the company but it’s left to be seen if they will succeed at the AGM which now seems likely to be held in 2014 instead.

TCL latest advisory | TCL has just advised that, further to its Notice to Shareholders and Employees dated October 22, 2013 in relation to TCL v. Wilnet Holdings Limited & Ors., the injunction, which restricted TCL from holding its 2012 Annual Meeting, was upheld by the Court of Appeal on November 20, 2013. The Case Management Conference for the substantive matter was held on December 2, 2013 and has been put to January 20, 2014 for directions.

Prior to this latest release, Trinidad Cement stated in a June release to the T&T Stock Exchange that “On 14th June, 2013 TCL received a Shareholders’ Proposal from a group of eleven shareholders holding 5.68% of TCL, and includes Wilnet Holdings Limited, Stephen Espinet, MASA Investments Limited, Brimont Limited, Kamal Ali, Alescon Readymix Limited, Bourne Investment Inc., Tatil Life Assurance Limited, Nicholas Development Limited, Helen Bhagwansingh and Issa Nicholas Holdings.”

The matter went to court and was put off for hearing to Friday, 4th October, 2013 in spite of various representations made to the court for a speedier hearing of the matter by both sides.

TCL stated that “Based on facts that have come to light in this matter including the statements and admissions made by Wilfred Espinet in his affidavit filed in Court, and having regard to the circumstances surrounding the involvement of Republic Bank, Ian De Souza and Wilfred Espinet in the orchestration of the Shareholders’ Proposal, TCL has lodged the following:

A complaint to the Central Bank, requesting that De Souza be disqualified from the status of being a fit and proper person to be concerned with the management of a financial institution, under the Financial Institutions Act, 2008; and
A complaint to the SEC against Republic Bank, Ian De Souza and Wilfred Espinet pursuant to Section 92 (b) of the Securities Act, 2012;
A request that the SEC undertake an investigation pursuant to Section 150 of the Securities Act into whether or not Messrs. De Souza and Espinet have contravened the insider trading provisions contained in Sections 100 to 101 of the Securities Act.”

There is no indication that any action have been taken against the persons mentioned above. The TCL board has been opposed to adding directors to the existing ones.

What happened | From information gleaned from the Guardian Newspaper, “According to their fix date claim form, which was obtained by the T&T Guardian, the group is challenging a decision by TCL directors to refuse to attach the group’s proposal and statement to the management proxy circular which accompanied the notice of the annual meeting. The proposal and statement related to the group’s proposed nomination of five directors to TCL’s board that were submitted on June 14. In the lawsuit, the group is seeking a declaration, which would render the board’s June 24 decision unlawful, null, void and of no effect. Before filing the lawsuit, it wrote to the board members on June 20, asking them to reconsider their decision. The group informed the board it was the perogative of the shareholders to decide and vote on the composition of the board. “Our nominees would have to be elected at the annual meeting by the shareholders and they are not automatic of the directors, who may wish to put themselves up for re-election and therefore the suggestion with respect to proportionality of board representation and contest for directorships seems misplaced,” the group said.

Included in the lawsuit, is a 12-page affidavit, sworn by Espinet, in which he detailed the dealings between the two parties which led to the legal action being filed. Espinet said he became concerned over TCL’s financial position after the company failed to declare a dividend between 2008 and 2012. “As a result of my concerns and the fact that I held investment in TCL as a shareholder, I had conversations with a number of people about the state of affairs at TCL,” Espinet said. He said the group joined together this year in an attempt to nominate five experienced persons to the board to replace five current board members whose terms were due to expire at the meeting. Espinet said after the meeting was first announced on May 18, the group submitted its proposal to TCL’s corporate secretary on June 14. He claimed that ten days later, TCL’s chairman Andy Bhajan communicated with the group and informed them of the board’s decision to refuse its proposal”.

Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) is a IC Insider Buy Rated stock

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: Shareholders, TCL, TTSE

Profit up 22% at Jamaica Broilers

December 12, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Profit after tax due to the Jamaica Broiler’s shareholders, which was up 10 percent in the first quarter to August, is up 22 percent in the October quarter.

Profit was flat in the first quarter, before taking out losses due to outside shareholders of a subsidiary, and was 15 percent ahead of the 2012 second quarter period. The improved results flowed from increased revenues of 20 and 21 percent respectively in each quarter. For the half year, profit hit $324 million or 27 cents per share and in the October quarter, the company reported $184 million versus $151 million in 2012 or 15 cents per share in profits. With the Christmas period ahead, they are now into the best period for revenues and profit. IC Insider’s forecast is now at $1.50 earnings per share for the year, down from an earlier forecast, but cost savings are expecting from the acquisitions, particularly the US based one. Earnings should exceed $2 by 2015 fisscal year. The stock still remains Buy Rated.

The group enjoyed improved gross margins in the second quarter to 29 percent versus 23.4 percent in the first quarter and 26 percent for 2013 fiscal year that ended in April.

The group completed the acquisition of Hamilton Smokehouse and England Farms Inc. during the latest quarter, which resulted in increased income as well as increased cost. Administrative cost rose by 33.5 percent in the October quarter to $923 million and 23 percent for the year to October to $1.43 billion; distribution cost jumped in the last quarter by 39 percent to $335.7 million and 33 percent for the two quarters to $615.6 million. Those were not the only costs to rise, finance cost jumped by 20 percent in the last quarter to $88 million and by 35 percent in the year to date to hit $167 million.

Segments | Poultry sales rose 15 percent to $7.2 billion over 2012; Hi Pro sales which includes feeds was down 1 percent for the half year but ethanol fell 39 percent to $445 million; other operation category is up 75 percent while US operations show a 221 percent jump to $2.15 billion, partially reflecting the new acquisition in the quarter. Other income rose from $68 million to $86 million. Segment results came out at $436 million for poultry, up from $350 million in 2012; Hi Pro recorded $310 million down from $501 million in 2012; ethanol recorded $27 million, in 2012 a loss of $7.5 million was recorded; and the US operations recorded an impressive $202 million compared to only $19 million in 2012.

Balance Sheet | Fixed assets increased by $700 million net of depreciation charge over April due mainly to the acquisitions noted above; intangible assets increased by $455 million and goodwill by $133 million all due to the US and the Hamilton Smokehouse acquisitions. Inventories rose $300 million over the position as of April this year; biological assets moved up by $640 million and receivables and prepayments by $560 million. Cash funds are down $1.1 million at the end of October to $1.1 billion; loans however climbed by $400 million to $5.8 billion, this compares with equity of $10.3 billion. Current assets amounted to $9.2 billion and is well ahead of current liabilities of $5.3 billion, which is a slight deterioration from the level of $8.8 billion in April to $4.2 billion in current liabilities.

Jamaica Broilers Group is an IC Insider Buy Rated Stock.

Image courtesy of Amenic181/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Jamaica Broilers, JSE Company

Republic growth struggle

December 11, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Trinidad’s Republic Bank recorded profit attributable to shareholders of TT$1.17 billion for the year ended September 2013, an increase of only $11 million over 2012.

The performance reflects an operation that is highly influenced by the poor state of some of the economies the group operates in. While profit inched up in 2013, it is still below the $1.2 billion generated in 2008 and $1.34 in 2007 but well above $948 earned in 2009. Recovery has been slow as the main income generator, loans have been growing slowly. Things could pick up somewhat as its main market, Trinidad, has returned to positive growth but Barbados should continue to be tight with high fiscal constraints in place.

“Profit declined by $23.3 million or 29.6 percent in Barbados and a loss of $18.2 million was recorded in Grenada, mainly due to higher level of provisions for loans and investments and a general decline in business activities in both islands. In addition, a loss of $75.7 million was recorded on our investment in Eastern Caribbean Financial Holdings Limited. Improved performance in the commodity-exporting economies of Trinidad and Guyana off-set these declines.”

Republic saw losses for non-performing loan drop from $103 million to $57 million in the 2013. Net interest income barely moved ending at $2.18 billion up from $2.14 billion in 2012. Other income performed more robustly, moving from $1.1 billion to $1.26 billion in 2013. Operating expenses climbed 7.5 percent to $1.74 billion, a faster rate than revenues. The tax charge went up by 25 percent or $76 million to $383 million, well ahead of the pretax profit that increased by $46 million.

Based on the results, a final dividend of $3 per share and $1.25 interim dividend was paid for the year.

Investments | During the year, the remaining 34.86 percent minority shareholding in Republic Bank (Barbados) was acquired and a 40 percent shareholding was acquired in HFC Bank (Ghana). “Republic will continue to look at opportunities in the African continent that meet our risk profile as we seek to expand from this initial investment,” the company stated.

Financial Position | The Group’s total asset base stood at $57.6 billion with equity at $8.3 billion. Total liquid assets, which was fuelled by increase in deposits of $5.0 billion or 13.5 percent, stood at $19.8 billion at year end, an increase of $3.3 billion or 20.2 percent from 2012. Loans and advances grew by $1.9 billion or 8.2 percent to reach $25.2 billion following a growth of 6.6 percent in 2012. All territories achieves growth, led by Trinidad and Tobago with an increase of $1.6 billion or 10.2 percent, which accounted for 84.5 percent of the increase compared to the prior three years of flat growth.

Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) is at 1.4 percent for Trinidad and Tobago, the best in the Group and below the industry average in Trinidad and Tobago of 4.7 percent. However, Trinidad and Tobago which accounts for 68.9 percent of the Group’s net interest income, increased this category by 3.1 percent in 2013, after declining by 8.7 percent in 2012, primarily because of increase in loans and investments balances.

NPLs in Barbados at 11.7 percent and Grenada at 8.2 percent respectively are high and reflective of the poor economic conditions, leading to a higher overall Group NPLs of 3.7 percent.

Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) to gross loans stood at 3.7 percent. The NPL ratio rose by 4 basis points, mainly as a result of increased NPLs in Barbados and Grenada, but down from the 4.6 percent in 2009. Total specific provision as a percent of total NPLs is 37.2 percent, down from the 50 percent in 2012, mainly because of the higher level of collateral held for loans downgraded resulting in lower provisioning requirement.

Outlook | “We expect that economic conditions will be tough going forward. Nonetheless, barring any unforeseen event, we are confident that the current level of profitability will remain robust. The commodity exporting economies of Guyana and Trinidad are expected to drive our performance while tourism dependent economies of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean are expected to face ongoing challenges with little or no growth. We remain cautiously optimistic that these economies will achieve growth in the near term as global economic conditions improve.” management concluded.

The group has much capacity for increased lending with only 60 percent of deposited funds lent out and is at the lowest level since 2003 when only 61 percent was lent and is well down from 72 percent lent out in 2008. Loan growth in the September quarter suggest that lending could increase around $3 billion for the current year. A faster pace than in 2013 and would help grow income at a level to beat the rise in costs. On the basis of the likely growth in loans, IC Insider is forecasting earnings of $9.50 cents per share for the 2013/14 fiscal year.

Republic Bank is an IC Insider Buy Rated stock

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Republic Bank, TTSE

Caribbean Energy Finance

December 11, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Companies are said to be lining up to get onto the Junior Market to lock in the tax gains and raise funding for expansion or to pay off debt. Many of the companies have little name recognition outside of their narrow customer and supplier base.

One company that is now being worked on and is said to be near ready to go is Caribbean Energy Finance Corporation that wants to raise around $450 million. The plan, IC Insider understands, will be to fund energy related investments such as equipment, which will be leased by the company.

The company is trying to have the listing before year end and the promoters are currently having road shows with potential investors. The broker is MVL Stockbrokers.

Image courtesy of Graur Codrin/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News Tagged With: Caribbean Energy, JSE Company

Cargo Handlers announces acquisition

December 10, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Cargo Handlers Limited advised that a resolution was passed by the Board of Directors at a meeting held on November 28, 2013 to invest in the Bulk Liquid Carrier Petroleum Limited. The company transports petroleum products across the island. CHL advised that this investment is expected to add $150 million in revenue.

Cargo Handlers just reported earnings of $85 million for the year ended September this year and ended up with cash of $131 million.