Jamaican Teas buys property

May 31, 2013 by

Jamaican Teas advised that they signed an agreement to purchase a property located at 2 Bell Road in Kingston. The property previously housed the operations of Beal Industries which manufactured Comet  Matches, which closed some time ago.

The property will be used to house the manufacturing operations of Jamaican Teas as the current facility rented at Norman Road in Kingston is inadequate to meet the company’s growth.

The property is approximately 1.5 Acres and the building is 17,000 square feet. The company expects to move in later this year after the necessary renovations are completed.

The acquisition will be funded by a combination of internally generated funds and external funding.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With:

Scotia Group’s profit surprise

May 29, 2013 by

Scotia Group Jamaica was the one exception of the financial institutions to buck the trend of lower profit resulting from the write-off of fair value investments gains from the debt swap of Government of Jamaica bonds in February.

The banking group reported improved results for the second quarter of the 2013 financial year to April, with net income of $2,930 million, $210 million above the previous quarter and $214 million above the quarter ended April, 2012. For the six months ended April, 2013, net profit was $5,651 million compared to $5,364 million for the same period last year. Profit available to shareholders was $5.47 billion, resulting in earnings per share of $1.76, this is after the group took a one time charge of $397 million for the write-off of fair value securities gains.

Net interest income | After impairment losses for the period, Net Interest Income was $11.13 billion, up $341 million or 3%  compared to the same period last year. For the quarter, interest income and interest cost declined but net income fell compared with the January 2013 quarter by $470 million and was marginally up on the similar quarter for 2012 by $48 million. The reduction in interest rates that obtained after the debt swap would have been a major contributing factor to the decline. A partial switch in the portfolio from Jamaican dollar denominated investments to foreign currency ones would also be a contributing factor as foreign exchange gains climbed to $955 million versus $526 million in the first quarter.

scotiabankBuilding150x150Other Revenue | For the six months Other Revenue was $5.5 billion, up $858 million or 18.6% compared with prior year due to increased insurance revenue and fee income gains on securities trading as well as higher gains on foreign currency trading and investments.

Operating Expenses | $9.11 billion for the quarter, an increase of $1 billion or 13% over prior year. Staff related costs represented $439 million (10.2% increase), other operating expenses increased by $606 million reflecting primarily inflationary increases, devaluation of the Jamaican dollar and the impact of new tax measures.

Non-performing loans | (NPLs) at April stood at $5 billion, $440 million less that at April 2012, an increase of $270 million over January this year, the increase is a charge against the income for the year to date. During the six months period in 2012, the bank recovered a large corporate loan that was classified as non-performing during 2011, resulting in a net charge in 2012. Total NPLs is down to 3.88% of total gross loans compared to 4.83% last year and 3.82% as at January 2013 due greatly to the growth in the loan portfolio.

Balance Sheet | Total assets increased year over year by $33 billion or 9.46% to $382 billion as at April this year. Loans grew by $16.2 billion to $127.26 billion. Customer liabilities (deposits, repo liabilities and policyholder’s funds) grew to $294 billion, an increase of $28 billion over last year. As per the management report, “This growth was mainly reflected in the deposit portfolio as we continued to acquire new customers and see increased balances from existing customers.”

scotiabanklogo150x150Bruce Bowen, President and CEO said, “Scotia Group generated strong results for Q2 with continued growth in all of our key business lines. Our culture of prudent risk management and strong liquidity enabled us to weather the challenges in the market during the quarter. Looking forward, the National Debt Exchange (NDX) has reduced margins and recent tax measures have increased operating costs. To offset these effects we are focused on deepening our relationship with clients and growing our customer base, while improving operating efficiencies and maintaining tight control of expenses.”

Bowen went on to say, “In times of turmoil in the financial sector Scotiabank is known for providing Jamaicans a safe place to bank. With the addition of Scotia Investments, Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance and Scotia Jamaica Building Society, and our commitment to providing a great customer experience, I believe that we can truly help our customers be financially better off. If we focus on our customers we are in an excellent position to build market share during this difficult economic period.”

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

Lasco companies splitting up shares

May 27, 2013 by

Lasco Manufacturing, Lasco Distributors and Lasco Financial Service will be holding extraordinary general meetings starting between 10 and 11 o’clock Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at the Knutsford Court Hotel, 11 Ruthven Road, Kingston for shareholders of the companies to consider the recommendation to split the shares of the companies by subdividing each share into ten (10) new shares. Each company will convene separate meetings on the morning.

The release to the stock exchange did not state the reasons for the move. The shares, which are trading between $8 and $12.50, have had limited supply in recent months as the supply of shares in the local market gets tighter as more investors opt for stocks as a better investment.

LascoPills150x150The stock split will only give the shares a semblance of liquidity but it won’t really change things as the current price of the three companies are not high. Ultimately, what will be needed is for more of the existing shares to be sold to the market. In reality, 20 percent of small capitalized companies will not create much liquidity and it will worsen if the companies perform well and investors hold on to their investments to reap the benefits of future growth.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends Tagged With: ,

Dividends coming

May 27, 2013 by

Scotia Group | Scotia Group Jamaica approved a second interim dividend of 40 cents per stock unit payable on July 4, 2013, to stockholders on record at June 14, 2013. The ex-dividend date is June 12, 2013. The group previously paid its first dividend of 40 cents per stock for the fiscal year at the end of March. In 2012, the group paid 37 cents in each quarter but it was raised to 40 cents commensurate with a payment that was made in January this year. The group pays dividends on a quarterly basis.

Scotia Investments | Scotia Investments Jamaica approved a second interim dividend of 45 cents per stock unit payable on July 4, 2013, to stockholders on record at June 14, 2013. The ex-dividend date is June 12, 2013. The company previously paid its first dividend of 45 cents per stock for the fiscal year at the end of March. In 2012, the group paid 40 cents in each quarter but it was raised to 45 cents with a payment that was made in January this year. Scotia Investments, which is majority owned by Scotia Group Jamaica, pays dividends on a quarterly basis. 

JSE Pref | The Jamaica Stock Exchange Limited approved quarterly preference share dividend of $0.0290 per share payable on May 31, 2013 to shareholders on record as at May 24, 2012. The ex-dividend date is May 21, 2013. This will be the last dividend for these shares as they will be redeemed by the end of May.

Proven consideration | The Board of Directors of Proven Investments Limited will consider making a dividend payment to both its ordinary and preference shareholders at a meeting to be held on May 29, 2013.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends Tagged With: , , ,

General Accident’s profit up 65 percent

May 27, 2013 by

Junior market listed company General Accident had a strong first quarter but only because higher investment income more than compensated for a decline in underwriting profit. Can we expect the same trend for the full year’s results? Based in the key factors contributing to the increase, the answer is no.

Profit | Net profit for the quarter was $97.6 million or $0.09 per share an increase of 65 percent over the prior year results. Last year, the reported profit was $59.3 million or $0.06 per share for the same period. The quarterly results have benefited from significant foreign exchange gains.

Premium income | Gross written premiums grew to $1.15 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the first quarter last year while net earned premiums grew by 5 percent to $257 million. Management stated, “The premium income growth was driven both by the organic growth of our core commercial property and motor businesses as well as a rise in large facultative transactions.”

GeneralAccident_logo150x150Management further stated in their report, “Despite increasing our net earned premiums, our combined ratio worsened from 93 percent in the first quarter of last year to 96 percent in the first quarter of 2013. This was driven mainly by an increase in our loss ratio which deteriorated from 53 percent in the first quarter last year to 60 percent this year. As a result, our underwriting profit declined from $17.6 million to $10 million”.

Investment Performance | Investment income grew 96 percent to $92.4 million. Last year, the company made $47 million of investment income for the first quarter. The returns, the company says, “represent an annualized return on our average investment portfolio of 18 percent. When unrealized losses on our available for sale investments are included, our total annualized return was 14 percent. Increases in our investment income are the result of efforts to diversify our holdings. This decision also limited our losses in the National Debt Exchange to less than $2 million.”

During 2012, the company’s investments returns was 9.58 percent including foreign exchange gains. With the exchange rate of the local currency stabilizing, large scale gains from this area could be limited going forward.

A dividend of $50 million amounting to $0.0485 per share was paid in March this year. The company says it intends to maintain the dividend policy for the remainder of the year. The policy is set out in the prospectus that was published in 2011 and states that they  pay no less than 25 percent of distributable profits per year as dividends.

Book value | General Accident ended the quarter with a book value of $1.31 billion and generated a return on average equity for shareholders of 31 percent. The company also has cash and investments amounting to $1.74 billion plus loans receivables of $384 million. Amounts that was due to reinsurers and coinsurers amounted to $790 million but amounts that are due to this same group was $1.04 billion and for clients and brokers $41 billion. Insurance reserves stood at $2.4 billion at the end of March.

Investing600x250Stock outlook | Looking forward, the rate of return generated on investments is high in an environment when rates on investments were less than 10 percent on most short term instruments. What clearly took place is that a large portion of the gains came from foreign exchange rate movement. The big question is, will they be able to maintain such returns going forward and if not, will the insurance claim experience be better? Last year the company earned 28 cents per share for the full year. With 9 cents already in the bag it’s quite possible to exceed last year’s earnings. Fortunately the stock is now priced quite well. Even a little disappointment on the earnings front will still allow room for some more appreciation in the stock price.

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

Pan Jam’s profit dented too

May 26, 2013 by

Pan Jamaican investment trust reported net profit of $224 million, down 55 percent on 2012 earnings of $502 million for the quarter ending March.  The results were impacted significantly by Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited (SLJ) participation in the Government of Jamaica National Debt Exchange in February. SLJ recorded a realised loss on the exchange of bonds tendered in the NDX of $1.1 billion. Associated and joint venture companies contributed less profit for the quarter, declining by $136 million compared to the 2012 1st quarter amount of $373 million. The share of SLJ’s earnings, decreased by $175 million (47%) to $194 million.

The earnings per stock come out at $1.05 (2012: $2.36).  The fall in earnings from the associates is temporary and will not affect the company’s operations in a major way going forward. The effect is a reduction in interest income as the bonds swapped carry lower coupon rates than the original ones.

Increased cost | The group incurred an increase in finance costs of $179 million and a decrease of $136 million in the share of results of associated and joint venture companies, this was partly offset by increased investment income of $67 million resulting from foreign exchange gains on our US$ investments. Property income was flat year on year, as a $10 million improvement in rental income was offset by reduced net lease recoveries and property appreciation. Operating expenses increased 13 percent or $28 million, driven principally by a 27% increase in general and administrative costs as a result of staff realignment and increased professional fees.

Sagicor150x150As per the company’s report: “Finance costs increased by $179 million to $195 million for the quarter, resulting from increased debt used to fund the purchase of an additional 8% of SLJ’s shares in July, 2012 and the drawdown of the remainder of the US$17.5 million IFC loan in December, 2012. We have, however, retained a net long position in US$ to ensure that our stockholders’ equity is appropriately protected against devaluation risk. Rentable properties enjoyed occupancy levels exceeding 95% for the 1st quarter, while segment operating profit of $184 million for the quarter was $26 million, 16%, better than last year. Our investment management segment posted operating profit of $28 million for the quarter, more than double last year’s 1st quarter segment operating profit of $12 million.”

Associate & Joint Ventures | “Associated companies consist principally of our 32.8% investment in SLJ. We also hold minority positions in New Castle Co. Limited (owners of the Walkerswood and Busha Browne lines of sauces and seasonings), Mavis Bank Coffee Factory Limited (“Mavis Bank”), Hardware & Lumber Limited (“H&L”), Caribe Hospitality Limited (developers of the planned New Kingston Marriott Courtyard Hotel) and Chukka Caribbean Adventures (“Chukka”) acquired in April 2012.”

PamJamChukkaCove150x150H&L reported net earnings of $9.9 million for the 1st quarter, compared to $3.9 million for the same period last year. Revenue and gross margin both increased compared to last year. The investments in Chukka and Mavis Bank produced solid results.

Total assets amount to $21.7 billion and stockholders’ equity increased to $16.5 billion, equating to a book value per stock unit of $78.

Stock outlook | A dividend of $1.10 per stock unit was paid March 2013.  The company will not pay the usual quarterly dividend in June, having doubled up on the one paid in March.The stock which traded on Wednesday, 22nd May at $54 is considered to be severely undervalued and is a good long term investment.

To read IC Insider’s latest report “Sagicor undervalued despite $B NDX hit” , click here.

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

SVL: Revenues down, big profit increase

May 26, 2013 by

Supreme Ventures Limited posted net profit after tax for the first quarter of $301 million, a 64 percent increase over $184 million for the comparative period in 2012. The improvement was directly attributable to low lottery game payments for the quarter and a huge change to taxation charge on profit. While pretax profit climbed by $38 million, the tax on profit fell from $162 million in 2012 to just $82 million in 2013. The reduction in taxation is not sustainable. The rate used in the quarter was 25 percent, going forward it will be 30 percent. In all likelihood the charge for the first quarter may also have to be adjusted upwards to 30 percent as well.

“We continue to remind our investors that volatilities in game liabilities can adversely impact profitability in any financial quarter. The overall profitability of the company was also positively impacted by a $791.3 million reduction in direct expenses, reorganization of the company’s operating structure and interest income”, a management statement said.

SupremeVenturesSVLlogo_150x150Challenges | The second quarter onwards is poised to be a very challenging, as new tax measures for the sector took effect in April 2013. The tax package aims to collect a further $1.5 billion from the gaming industry.

The measures increase the tax rate for each lottery game from 17 percent to 20 percent and 23 percent to 25 percent respectively. The Company has taken the decision to absorb the fees for 2013, in light of what they see as uncertainty with the implementation process for this new licensing regime. They also speak of the elimination of the unclaimed prize allocation previously retained by the company. This allocation now has to be paid over to the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission. The effect of these new tax measures will no doubt affect the Company’s ability to achieve the levels of profitability projected over 2012.

SupremeVenturesSVLAcropolislogo150x150Revenues | Revenue for the quarter was down 9 percent to $7.4 billion compared to $8.15 billion for the corresponding quarter in 2012. The gaming company management indicated that the decline was mainly due to decreases in lottery and VLT revenues of 11 percent and 39 percent respectively when compared to the same period in 2012. The significant decline in VLT revenues was directly attributable to closure of the Coral Cliff gaming lounge in Montego Bay for refurbishing which was rebranded and reopened as Acropolis Montego Bay on 7th March. Acropolis Portmore was also temporarily closed in January for refurbishing and new layout of the gaming floor. It is yet to be reopened. The Odyssey Gaming Lounge opened on 7th February and is enjoying early market support.

The Earnings per Share was $0.11, compared to $0.07 for the corresponding period in 2012.

The company has equity of $4 billion and borrowed debt of only $324 million. Cash was $1.45 billion at the end of March, more than enough to cover short term liabilities.

SupremeVenturesSVL_150x150A dividend of $0.10 per share amounting to $263.725 million was paid in March. The company says it continues to execute an aggressive dividend payment policy, of quarterly payments based on the company’s performance.

During the quarter, the company commenced a scheme of amalgamating the betting, gaming and lottery operations of its subsidiaries into a single operating entity called Prime Sports (Jamaica) Limited.

The Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission renewed the lottery license which has been issued to Prime Sports (Jamaica) Limited and will expire in January 2033. The company’s Bookmaker’s Permit was also renewed and issued to Prime Sports (Jamaica) Limited with the next renewal date being 31st March 2015.

Stock outlook | The stock traded on Monday, 2oth May at $3, up from $2.80 before the release of the results and is up from $2.60 at the start of May. Investing in the stock with the hope of short-term gains seem to be a bit of a gamble at this time.

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

Pulse looking better

May 23, 2013 by

Pulse Investments disclosed earnings in the March quarter of $45.4 million a slight improvement over the $44.3 million generated in the 2012 period. For the nine months to date, earnings are up to $148 million against $136 million in 2012. The company generated revenues of $210 million and $171 million for the nine months to March 2012. While the net earnings are close to 2012 figures, the quality this year is better with $99 million being earned to date before a $51.5 million appreciation in investment property (2012 $82.5 million) was booked as income thus boosting the net profits.

Administrative expenses declined in both the quarter and for the nine months this year versus 2012. Earnings per share is put at 16 cents in the quarter and 53 cents year to date suggesting that around 70 cents earnings per share for the full year to June is possible.

Pulse280X150The company’s statement of financial position is undergoing a slow metamorphic change as loan liability is down to $24.4 million from $26 million in 2012. Cash funds are up to $13.3 million from $9.9 million in March last year. Trade receivables are down from $50 million at the end of March last year to $22 million this year. Payables are up from $38.3 million to $45.5 million.

Pulse shares last traded at $1.60 but there haven’t been any serious takers for them with an offer in place for several months at $1.60. The stock is undervalued but there is not likely to be any strong demand for a while. All that could change, if the stock market continues to push the prices of the better quality stocks upwards forcing investors to look elsewhere for stocks to invest in. Pulse could come into its own.

Pulse Investments’ business is focused on grooming models and contracting them out to the trade, staging Caribbean Fashion Week, ownership of shops and other property for rent.

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

Carreras gives 15.3% return

May 23, 2013 by

Carreras Limited has declared an interim dividend of $1.30 per share and a special dividend of $0.94 per share payable on June 20, 2013 to shareholders on record as at June 6, 2013. The ex-dividend date is June 4, 2013.

This latest dividend brings the total paid since June last year to $7.64. Shareholders who bought shares around the $50 level when Lascelles sold a block of the Carreras shares last year, have enjoyed a 15.3 percent dividend income return. The stock closed today at $60, making a total gain of 35 percent within a year.

Carreras paid an interim dividend of $1.40 per share and a special dividend of $1.20 per share on March 13, 2013, an interim dividend of $1.30 per share was paid on December 11, 2012 and another of $1.50 per share was paid on August 23, last year.

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

C&W: Less jobs, more capital spend

May 22, 2013 by

As the Cable & Wireless worldwide operations strive to adjust to changes in market forces and consumer demand, the group has been undergoing changes. Within the Caribbean region, stiff completion and tight economies as well as changes in the way people communicate have forced changes in their businesses in the region.

In an effort to improve results for the future, Cable & Wireless Caribbean incurred net exceptional items (excluding impairments) of US$50 million relating to redundancy and restructuring programmes in the Caribbean. The prior year charge of US$66 million was primarily in respect of restructuring activities in The Bahamas and Panama.

What about Jamaica? |  Cable & Wireless Caribbean incurred US$26 million as an exceptional charge for cash payouts for redundancy and restructuring programmes. This charge was related to Jamaica and the eastern Caribbean but our calculations suggest that the bulk relates to Jamaica. Cable & Wireless Jamaica had indicated that it was making 300 persons redundant earlier this year and outsourcing the field force technician services to Erickson. The redundancy charge will wipe out any hope that may have existed for the Jamaican operation to return to profit in March 2013. In addition, the Jamaican operation would have picked up a large exchange rate adjustment charge on its foreign currency denominated debt. The stage should, however, be set for it to return to profitability in the 2013/14 year.

cable-and-wireless280x150There was also exceptional impairment and depreciation charge of US$86 million in the year ended March 2013. This was mainly due to the difficult environment in the Eastern Caribbean. The prior year charge consisted of a non-cash impairment and accelerated depreciation charge of US$244 million primarily due to poor financial performance in Jamaica.

Capital spend continues | C&W continues to spend on capital improvements within the Caribbean basin which includes Panama. Capital investments continued to be in 4G/HSPA+ mobile data networks supporting smartphone sales in Panama, The Bahamas, Barbados, BVI, St Lucia and Cayman, selective pay TV investments, and improvements to the fixed broadband network. These fixed broadband investments include continuing the fibre roll-outs in the Caribbean and completing the Next Generation Network in The Bahamas. They have also pursued strategic investments in transmission capacity and cable systems to support both retail and carrier sales asa well as advancing billing and customer relationship management systems.

They have completed the second year of investment in the Bahamas having invested around US$100 million in capital projects during that period.

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