Junior Market blast pass 3,500 to record

August 2, 2019 by

New record high for the JSE Junior Market.

Investors pushed most prices higher on the Junior Market in trading on Friday with the vast majority of companies contributing to market activity as the market index rocketed to cross the 3,500 mark for the first time.
The Junior Market Index jumped 74.67 points to close at a record 3,537.21 on a day when 35 securities changed hands, up from 32 on Wednesday, as prices of 21 securities rose, 9 declined and 5 remained unchanged.
At the close, Limners and Bards ended at a record close of $3.75, Elite Diagnostic closed at a record high of $6.22, Jamaican Teas ended at a record close of $7.26, but Caribbean Cream closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.25.
Market activities resulted in an exchange of 6,412,413 units valued at $28,100,938 compared to 16,230,256 units valued at $62,517,388 on Wednesday.
Trading ended with an average of 183,212 units for an average of $802,884 in contrast to 479,173 units for an average of $2,057,215 on Wednesday. July ended with an average of 138,412 units with a value of $563,215 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 3 stocks closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 closed with lower offers.
Stocks ending with price changes|Access Financial gained $1.45 to end at $47.95, trading 500 shares, AMG Packaging rose 3 cents to end at $2.30 with 19,256 stock units trading, Blue Power shed 50 cents to settle at $12.50 with 125,315 shares changing hands. CAC 2000 gained 10 cents to end at $16 with 30,300 stock units trading, Caribbean Cream dived $1.06 to settle at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $4.25 with 9,376 shares changing hands, Caribbean Flavours climbed $1.06 to settle at $17.16 with 50,301 shares changing hands. Cargo Handlers gained 97 to end at $10.97, trading 100 shares, Caribbean Producers ended at $4.80, trading 28,075 shares, Consolidated Bakeries rose 10 cents to end at $2.30 trading 50,536 stock units Derrimon Trading gained 20 cents to end at $2.80, in exchanging 466,558 shares. Dolphin Cove fell 5 cents to end at $12 with 100 stock units trading. Express Catering climbed 20 cents to settle at $6.70 with 69,027 shares changing hands, Everything Fresh gained 4 cents to end at $1.35 with 165,730 stock units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic rose 52 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $6.22, trading 158,926 shares. Fosrich Group added 20 cents to settle at $4.90 with 12,025 shares changing hands, Fontana dropped 15 cents to settle at $8.60 with 311,145 shares changing hands, General Accident climbed 35 cents to $4.90 trading 102,460 shares, GWest Corporation traded 15,899 shares at $1.54. Honey Bun fell 35 cents to end at $5, with 434,837 shares changing hands, iCreate exchanged 68,780 shares to close at 70 cents, Indies Pharma gained 20 cents to end at $3.30 trading 58,782 stock units, Jamaican Teas gained $1.61 to end at a record close of $7.26 trading 39,035 stock units changing hands. Jetcon Corporation climbed 23 cents to settle at $1.93 with 103,043 shares trading, Knutsford Express shed 50 cents to end at $12 with an exchange of 2,643 stock units, Key Insurance dropped 65 cents to settle at $3.25 with 200 shares changing hands, Limners and Bards gained 60 cents to end at record close of $3.75 with 3,292,680 stock units trading. Lasco Distributors added 7 cents to end at $3.40, trading 48,900 stock units. Lasco Financial rose 35 cents to $5.50, in trading 83,035 shares, Lasco Manufacturing inched 5 cents higher to settle at $4.25 with 306,360 shares changing hands, Main Event climbed 95 cents to end at $7.95, trading 50,790 shares, Medical Disposables gained 50 cents to end at $8 with 18,200 stock units trading. Paramount Trading fell 2 cents to $2.38, trading 102,000 shares, Iron Rock Insurance rose 5 cents to settle at $4.05 with 23,679 shares changing hands, Stationery and Office Supplies fell 45 cents to end at $12.20, in trading 17,920 shares and tTech closed at $6, trading 145,900 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

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$45 for Barita Investments rights

August 2, 2019 by

Barita Investments headquarters

Barita Investments will offer 116,845,955 ordinary shares to its ordinary stockholders by way of a renounceable rights issue of 11 shares for each 100 own as of August 20.
The exercise price will be $45 per share with the last date for renunciation will be September 10. Shareholders will have up to September 15, to accept the amount of their offer but can apply for additional shares from amounts not taken up by allottees, up to September 20.
The current offer is the second rights issue to purchase additional shares in the company, in less than a year. The stock traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday to close at $91.50, for a rise of 72 percent for the year to date. but it has gained 862 percent in the last twelve months, not including gains from the issue of rights in March.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Company News, General Business News

Carib Cement 2019 profit mixed

July 31, 2019 by

Carib Cement silos

Caribbean Cement revenues climbed 5.6 percent in the June quarter to $4.68 billion and 4 percent year to June, with $9.13 billion booked.
The company reported lower profit the June quarter than in 2018, due mainly to $485 million incurred as foreign currency losses and ended up with profit after tax at $368 million versus $674 million in 2018. Or the half-year profit after tax grew 48.6 percent to $15 billion. The company reported earnings per share of 43 cents versus 79 cents in the similar quarter in 2018 and $1.76 compared to $1.18 in the 2018 six months period.
Expenses excluding depreciation and finance grew 2.7 percent for the quarter to $2.94 billion and fell 21 percent for the half-year to $5.47 billion. The sharp reduction in cost results from the termination of an equipment lease agreement with the parent company and the purchase of those assets. The acquisition of the assets drove depreciation charge for the quarter to $405 million from $340 million in 2018 and $796 million from $467 million for the six months periods. Finance cost including foreign exchange losses rose to $688 million from $412 million for the quarter and $856 million versus $386 million for the half-year.
The results boosted shareholders’ equity to $7.9 billion from $6.4 billion at the end of December last year as the company wiped out accumulated losses of $994 million at the end of 2018 leaving a surplus of $493 million. Borrowing amounts to $9.8 billion while cash funds amount to $394 million and net current assets stood at negative $759 million.
The stock trades at $80 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market. IC Insider.com projects earnings for the full year to December at $5 per share that would place the PE ratio at 16, just around the markets PE of 17. With the economy doing well and increased construction activities, investors should have their eyes focused on increased future earnings.

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Sagicor Group Q2 profit up 40%

July 30, 2019 by

Sagicor Group & PanJam hit new closing highs.

Sagicor Group is reporting profit attrib8uutabel to shareholders for the June quarter of $3.69 billion up from $2.70 billion in the first quarter this year and 40 percent higher than the $2.64 billion in the 2018 second quarter.
For the six months to June net profit of $6.39 billion attributable to stockholders rose 21 percent over the similar period in 2018. Earnings per share come out at $1.64 per share for the half-year and 95 cents for the quarter.
According to the report accompanying the results, “the current year-to-date results benefited mainly from overall good new business and portfolio growth which were both better than the prior year. The 2018 numbers included large impairment charges on Government of Barbados and other bonds. There were other factors that influenced the outcome for the period, these include, The fluctuating rate of the Jamaican dollar to the US dollar which reached a decline of 5.5 percent in April compared to the rate at December 2018 and by June bounced back to a 2.9 percent decline. The Group picked-up both realized trading gains and unrealized revaluation gains for higher US dollar positions. Appreciation of the Jamaica Stock Exchange main index which grew by 23 percent during the six months period. The Group picked-up good trading gains and increased bond prices on USA stock markets.”
Sagicor Bank enjoyed an excellent period contributing net profits of $1.04 billion for the current period, versus $772 million recorded in 2018, from revenues of $6.36 billion, 18 percent more than the prior year.
The stock traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Tuesday at $58.

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FX losses cut Wigton 2019 profit

July 26, 2019 by

Wigton shares are still the most heavily traded on the JSE.

Profit before tax at Wigton Windfarms fell from $768 million in 2018 to $727 million in 2019 from sales revenue of $2.44 billion for 2019 compared to $2.36 in 2018.
The 2019 results include a net loss of foreign exchange of $177 million. The company retired loans that were denominated in US dollars and swapped them for loans in local currency at interest rates that were higher than the prior loans but removing the risk of exchange rate adjustments.
Costs are relatively stable as well as income. Depreciation accounts for $665 million of the total administrative and operating cost of $1.17 billion. The audited financial statement had finance expenses of $1.05 billion but that figure includes foreign exchange losses of $663 million, partially offset by foreign exchange gains of $486 million.
Taxation charge for the year came out at $173 million. It will be difficult for the company to earn much more for the current fiscal year to March 2019, than the 5 cents per share recorded in 2019.
Wigton ended the year with shareholders’ equity of $2.9 billion, borrowings of $6.3 billion and cash and equivalent of $1.38 billion. Current liabilities were relatively insignificant.
The stock has been trading around 90 cents on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 17 times earnings.

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Pretax profit up 18% at the Lab

July 26, 2019 by

Limners and Bards (the Lab) reports pretax profit of $72 million half year to April, up 18 percent versus $61 million last year on revenues of $334.5 million compared to $261 million in 2018.
After-tax profit for the six months ends at $57 million, up 9 percent against $53 million in 2018. For the quarter to April revenues brought in $145 million and delivered pretax profit of $30 million against revenues of $136 million and pretax profit of $24.5 million.
The data suggest seasonality in earnings with full-year’s income of $483 million for the year to October last year and profit before tax of $76.5 million. The 2018 half year’s revenues amounted to 54 percent of income. Of significance is a sharp fall in operating expenses from $100 million in the second quarter of 2018 to $88 million in the 2019 period even as revenues rose resulting in gross profit rising from $36 million to $57 million. For the six-month period, gross profit moved from $100 million to $125 million. Partially offsetting the gross profit improvement is a $15 million in the second quarter is a rise in administrative expenses to $26 million in the quarter but was only up by $11 million for the half-year to $51 million.
The stock was listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange today at traded a small amount at $1.30 but closed with bids to buy at $1.65.

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Over 21,500 apply for Sagicor Select

July 26, 2019 by

Investors plunked down $6 billion in more than twenty-one thousand five applications, to buy the 5 billion shares recently offered by Sagicor Select Funds in an initial Public Offer, information reaching IC Insider.com confirmed.
The heavy subscription by retail investors strained the resources of Sagicor Investments in coming with the allocation within six business days specified by the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
In a release on the delay in the allocation, the broker for the issue advised that Sagicor Financial Select Fund are unable to submit the details and basis of allotment pursuant to its IPO that closed its subscription list on Tuesday, July 16th within the prescribed time. “The reason for the abovementioned delay is the unexpectedly high volume of applications received in the IPO which we estimate, as at the date of this letter, to be approximately twenty thousand.”
The broker advised that they continue to process applications and expects to be in a position to submit the details and basis of allotment by July 30, with refunds to applicants to be done by August 2.
At the same time investors in Limners and Bards share issue that closed on the same day of opening, last week had their account at the JCSD credited on Thursday, with the shares allocated to them.

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Trading picks up on TTSE – Thursday

July 25, 2019 by

Trading activity rose on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Thursday, with 1,052,606 shares trading for $6,701,584, compared to 167,098 shares traded for $1,432,757, on Wednesday. 
Market activity ended with 12 securities changing hands against 17 on Wednesday, at the close, 4 advanced, 1 declined and 7 remained unchanged.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.32 points to close at 1,382.58. The All T&T Index added 0.69 points to end at 1,778.61 while the Cross Listed Index lost 0.01 points to close at 133.45.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended at 3 stocks with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
Gains| First Citizens Bank rose 1 cent and completed trading of 10,080 units, at $40.01, Massy Holdings closed with a gain of 3 cents and settled at $55.08, with 35 units crossing the exchange. Sagicor Financial gained 9 cents and concluded trading of 296,335 stock units at $10.10 and Scotiabank rose 24 cents to settle at $59.75, with 330 units changing hands.
Losses| West Indian Tobacco closed with a loss of 2 cents at $110.25, with investors exchanging 6,606 shares.
Firm Trades| Angostura Holdings closed at $15.79, with investors exchanging 500 shares, Clico Investments traded 100 units in closing at $24.20, First Caribbean International Bank exchanged 900 shares and ended at $8.34, while Grace Kennedy settled at $3.30, in swapping of 705,000 shares. JMMB Group completed trading of 30,200 shares, at $2.50, Prestige Holdings ended at $9, in trading 1,249 units and Republic Financial settled at $121.01, with 1,271 units changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those at which the last trade took place.

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JSE profit jumps 36%

July 25, 2019 by

Profit climbed 36 percent in the June quarter, to $122 million from $90 million in 2018 at Jamaica Stock Exchange, from a 36 percent rise in revenues to $429 million, from $316 million in 2018.
For the six months to June, profit after tax climbed a robust 28 percent to $245 million from a 31 percent rise in revenues to $874 million compared to $666 million in 2018.
Administrative other expenses rose 37 percent to $262 million in the quarter and increased 32 percent in the six months period to $524 million. Staff cost rose 23 percent to $105 million for the quarter and 24 percent for the half-year, to $212 million. Advertising and promotion expenses were 192 percent higher in the quarter to hit $26 million and more than doubled in the half-year to $63 million from $31 million in 2018.
Earnings per share came out at 17 cents for the quarter and 35 cents for the six months and should end the year around $1.
The growth in 2019 is consistent with that from 2014. With the continued increase in the number of listings on the exchange and increasing trading activities, the immediate future looks promising for increased revenues and profit.
Gross cash flow brought in $400 million and after paying dividends of $175 million ended up with cash and equivalent of $151 million and investments of $413 million. Shareholders’ equity stood at $1.2 billion up from $1 billion at the end of June last year. Net current assets ended the period at $404 million.
The stock traded at $40 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 40 times 2019 estimated earnings.

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Sunshine Palace opens tomorrow

July 23, 2019 by

Palace Amusement latest cinema house – Sunshine Palace, opens its doors tomorrow Wednesday, July 24 to moviegoers in the Portmore community.
IC Insider.com was informed, that the opening is highly anticipated by persons in the community. Sunshine Palace is located at 7 Braeton Parkway in the prime commercial district in Portmore area.
Sunshine Palace is said to boast silver screens, improved legroom, reclining seats, VIP service, improved concession stands, and laser projection that creates a brighter light for picture and is also environmentally friendly.
The Disney blockbuster, The Lion King, featuring Beyonce, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Earl Jones, will be integrally tied to the history of Sunshine Palace as it will be the opening movie that will be the showcase event of the season.
Sunshine Palace comprises 4 movie auditoriums with seating for 674 patrons.

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