10 to 1 stock split for Derrimon

July 4, 2018 by

Staff at Derrimon Trading.

Investors continue to be poorly served in a number of cases in the Jamaica Stock Market with inconsistent observance of rules and regulation.
Under the Jamaica Stock Exchange rules a listed company is to report to the JSE ahead of a meeting to consider a divined or changes to the share capital structure and to report within 48 hours of the meeting, the decision reached.
Derrimon Trading directors are recommending to shareholders a stock split but there has been no notice on the JSE website about the consideration at a board meeting or the results of the meeting. Yet in the annual report the company places a resolution to effect a split of the stock.
According to the annual report the company proposes to increase of authorised share capital from 800,400,000 shares to 8,200,400,000 shares by the creation of an additional 7.4 billion ordinary shares and to sub-divide the issued share capital of the Company into 10 ordinary shares with effect from the close of business on August 22, resulting in the total issued shares being increased from 273,336,067 to 2,733,360,670 ordinary shares. The company last traded at $16 with the bid closing at $18.40 on Tuesday.
Derrimon reported strong first quarter results gains from $35 million to $52 million or 21 cents per share to March this year.

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10 to 1 stock split for Blue Power

July 4, 2018 by

Blue Power 10 for 1 stock split coming.

Shareholders of Junior Market listed Blue Power, are set to see much more liquidity in the shares as the board is recommending a 10 to 1 stock split to be voted on at the upcoming general meeting in August.
Approval of shareholders will be sought, for the board’s recommendation to be put to the Annual General Meeting to be held on August 14, to increase the authorised share capital of the company from 90 million units to 900 million shares of no par value and to split each existing share of the company into 10 shares of no par value, thus increasing the issued share capital to 564,990,000 shares.

Blue Power Group will pay a dividend of 19 cents per share on July 30, to shareholders on record at July 16. The stock will start trading ex-dividend on July 13.

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Stock split for Blue Power?

June 20, 2018 by

Blue Power stock split to be considered by the directors.

A stock split could be coming for Junior Market listed Blue Power Group that is currently selling at $30. The directors of the company advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
The company also advised that a meeting of their Board will be held on July 2, will consider the declaration of a dividend and Whether the Board should recommend a stock split to the shareholders. IC Insider.com gathers from unconfirmed sources that the although the wording suggest that there could be a decision not to split the stock there is a strong possibility that the decision end up being being a 10 to 1 split.
Blue Power reported full year earnings to April with a fall from $122 million to $102 million as other income dropped from $8 million to $3.4 million and net finance income nosedived from $21 million to just $66,000, after revenues grew 8 percent from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion and gross profit fell from $327 million to $323 million. The company reported strong growth in export sales of soap but say they are gearing for increased completion within the region including new soap plant in Jamaica. The increase in export sales over the previous year was 34% from $70 million to $94 million Dhru Tanna stated in his report accompanying the audited financial statements.
Earnings per share was $1.81 for the just concluded 2018 fiscal year.

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

Q2 profit doubles at CAC

June 12, 2018 by

CAC closed at a new high on Monday.


After a poor first quarter, profit at CAC 2000 more than doubled in the April quarter, to $59 million from $23 million in 2017. For the six months to April, profit was just ahead of the 2017 results and ended at $54 million from $51.4 million in 2017.
Sale revenues rose 45 percent for the quarter, to $384 million from $266 million and rose 10 percent for the year to date, to $623 million from $568 million in 2017.
Improvement in profit margin in the first half of the year, increased from 36 percent to 40 percent and in the April quarter to 43 percent from 37 percent in the 2017. The effect, gross operating profit rose a sharp 68 percent in the quarter to $167 million from $99 million and increased 23 percent for the year to date, to $249 million from $203 million in 2017.
Administrative expenses jumped a sharp 68 percent to $101 million in the quarter and increased 39 percent in the six months period to $179 million. Steve Marston, Managing Director, stated in his report accompanying the quarterly that the increase in administrative cost was primarily related in salaries, professional fees, including cost related to the recent preference share issue and travel related expenses.
Selling and distribution expenses declined by 11 percent to $9 million and fell by 9 percent to $17 million for the half year. Finance cost rose 33 in the quarter, to $5.5 million from $4.1 million in 2017 and rose 41 percent from $8 million to $11 million for the six months period.

Steven Marston,
Chief Executive Officer

Gross cash flow brought in $60 million but growth in receivables and inventories amounting to $109 million less a $33 million increase in amounts owing to creditors pushed cash flow into an outflow which was funded by net new borrowings leaving cash on hands at $261 million at the end of April. Cash funds on hand is expected to fall when $148 million in preference shares is repaid in July.
At the end of April, shareholders’ equity stood at $477 million with borrowings at $365 million. Net current assets ended the period at $1.1 billion inclusive of trade and other receivables of $591 million, cash and bank balances of $261 million. Current liabilities of ended the period at $489 million.
Earnings per share came out at 43 cents for the quarter and 42 cents for the half year could end the fiscal year ending to around $1.30 if the current trend continues. The stock traded at $9.05 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Tuesday in reaction to the improved results and now boast a PE ratio of 7 times 2018 earnings. Net asset value is $3.70 with the stock selling at 2.45 book value.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results

Lower Q2 profit for Scotia Group

June 7, 2018 by

Scotia Group reported a 19 percent rise in half profit to $6.76 billion after tax, but that clouds the fall in profit for the second quarter to April that fell marginally thanks to a big jump in loan provisioning of $560 million compared to a small recovery of $6 million in the January quarter.
The half year earnings are bolstered by a gain on sale of subsidiary of $753 million.
Shareholders don’t have much to cheer about except that loan losses are within the range of that of 2017 along with a few other good developments. Net interest income fell to $6.2 billion from $6.5 billion in April 2017 quarter, Insurance revenues fell from $1.1 billion to $707 million. Cost were contained well, with salaries and benefits declining from $2.84 billion in 2017 to $2,46 billion in the April quarter while other operating costs, rose marginally from $1.76 billion to $1.86 billion.
Year to date, net interest income moved from 13.17 billion to $12.82 billion while loan impairment fell sharply from $975 million to $564 million. Net fee income declined from $4.4 billion to $4.1, but gains from foreign exchange trading activities delivered $1.66 billion versus $1.1 billion in 2017. While the half year figures show a bit of positive signs, investors should be focused on more recent developments, as these are more likely to point the way forward.
The group made modest progress in increasing loans, the most important asset for a bank. At the end of April, loans grew to $171 billion from $166.5 billion at the end of 2017 fiscal year, the increase is twice the growth rate between April last year and the year end. Investment securities rose from $120 billion at the end of October in 2017 to $131.6 billion and cash resources from $116.5 billion to $126.2 billion, at a  much faster pace than increased in lending. Deposits by the public moved from $260.6 billion to $383 billion.

David Noel new Scotia Group’s CEO.

Scotia ended with earnings per share of $1.08 for the quarter and $2.17 for the half year, including the one-off capital gains from sale of the former subsidiary. A dividend of 48 cents per share was declared by the board, payable on July 18.
The strongest positive for the group is that they currently lend out just about 52 percent of deposited funds by its customers, leaving much room to grow loans whenever that time comes around.
The stock traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and closed at $53 but with these results, further movement up is going to be very challenging in the short term and leaves NCB Financial as the banking group of choice for investors seeking growth in stock price.

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Buy PanJam get Sagicor shares free

June 2, 2018 by

Stephen Facey Chairman & Paul Hanworth Chief Operating Officer

The market value for PanJam Investment at the end of Friday was $48 billion or just $1 billion more than the value of the group’s 31.56 percent investment in Sagicor Group.
In other words, investors can get all the real estate owned by PanJam along with the other assets for just $1 billion assuming the Sagicor shares were disposed of, an investment in PanJam becomes a great value play as investors are not valuing the company for much more than the profit contributed by Sagicor Group.
But the PanJam shares may become even more appealing as the group expand on an investment spree of sorts. In 2018, the group bought out its partners half holdings in the Oceana property in downtown Kingston and now owns it fully. It acquired property at Olivier Road, that neighbours the Manor Park Plaza owned by them. It acquired 6 acres in Montego Freeport and increased its investment portfolio of equity from $1.76 billion to $2.4 billion.
The company generated gross cash flow of $2 billion for 2017 and with such healthy annual inflows is not stopping the investment train anytime soon, especially with interest rates on Jamaican debt so low currently.
The group delivered flat profit attributable to shareholders of PanJam Investment for the quarter ended March 2018 of $827 million versus $830 million for the similar quarter in 2017. Net profit attributable to owners for the 2017 calendar year amounted to $4.1 billion, up from $4.05 billion in 2016, $3.19 billion in 2015 and $2.84 billion in 2014. Share of results from associated and joint venture companies continue to grow and dominate the group’s earnings with an increase of 6 percent in 2017 to $3.9 billion, from $3.7 billion in 2016. Sagicor accounted for $3.8 billion of the 2018 profit.
“During 2017, we increased our investment in Jamaica through a number of transactions, including our purchase of the Olivier Road property, the assumption of our former partner’s interest in Oceana, our increased stake in New Castle from 25 percent to 33 1/3 percent and the additional capital deployed in equity securities of locally-listed companies.”
“Our support for the development of local venture and private equity capital markets continues through our involvement in the First Angels Jamaica investor group and our participation in the Development Bank of Jamaica’s Jamaica Venture Capital Programme and National Business Model Competition,” the company’s management stated in their report to shareholders.
Investment assets at December 2017 stood at $4.8 billion up from $4.1 billion at the end of 2016. The 2017 portfolio mix reflected an increase in equity holdings, from 43 percent to 50 percent of the total portfolio, and in repurchase agreements and deposits, from 17 percent to 34 percent.
According to PanJam’s management, “Our equity portfolio is diverse, with investments in North and South American and Caribbean markets across a broad range of industries. The Company maintains a majority of its investment assets in foreign currency, mainly USD, though this has reduced in line with our view of improved prospects for Jamaican investments and the local currency. Looking ahead, we will focus on growing the size of our trading portfolio, with particular focus on the Jamaican markets and the increased number of new offerings. As always, we will leverage the expertise of our Investment Committee and adhere to the guidelines they provide.”
The acquisition of the Montego Freeport property is to house a business hotel, retail shops geared to the tourism industry and office spaces, Stephen Facey told shareholders at the recently held annual general meeting.

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

Jamaica Broilers in share buy back

June 1, 2018 by

Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) has effectively bought back just over 165 million units of its issued shares in a deal that was funded by the group and placed in a shareholders’ trust.
The Company advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange that it entered into an Agreement prior to the 28th day of April, 2018 to lend to JBG Stockholders Nominee Limited (“the Shareholder Trust”) a sum not exceeding J$4.35 billion. A portion of the loan was used to purchase a total of 165,452,446 shares. This block of shares was held by family branches of one of the Founders of the Company and the trustees and entities connected to them; none of whom are currently involved in the management of the Company. The block does not involve shares held by the Chairman Robert Levy and President Christopher Levy who still maintain their shareholdings.
The block of shares were traded on the stock exchange on Thursday. According to the report released by the company, the directors of JBGL saw this as an opportunity to provide a substantial benefit to the shareholders of the Company. Accordingly, the Directors of the Company approved the loan to the Shareholder Trust to purchase the available Company shares.
The Shareholders Trust will hold the shares purchased, and all benefits derived will be for the benefit of all shareholders of the Company. The Shareholders Trust will service the aforesaid loan from dividends and/or distributions paid upon the shares and from the proceeds of the sale of the shares.

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Flat profit for Ansa McAl

May 27, 2018 by

Ansa Mcal profit stable after a big fall in 2017.

Trinidad’s conglomerate, Ansa McAl reported flat profits of $216 million before corporate tax for the quarter to March 2018, up marginally from the $214 million in 2017.
Profit after tax attributable to shareholders’ of the group, rose 4 percent to $138 million for the period. The results, although modestly higher than for 2017, marks stability compared to a big decline in the full years results for 2017 when they reported a decline from $691 to $544 million.
Improved profit was achieved from a 7.7 percent rise in revenue to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion for the March 2017 quarter. Growth in revenues drove profit before finance cost up to $219 million from $216 million as profit margin remained at 15 percent in both periods. Finance cost rose from $9.9 million to $11.4 million, taxation was flat at $59 million in both periods.
Segment results show progress, except for Insurance and Financial Services that reported flat revenues and a 35 percent fall in profit and the Media business where revenues declined 3 percent but had a 33 percent rise in profit. Manufacturing, Packaging and Brewing increased revenues by 16 percent and profit by the same level

Carib Beer brewed in Trinidad by Ansa McAl Group

while Automotive trading and distribution enjoyed a mere 6 percent increase but that was enough to drive profit up by a strong 35 percent.
Earnings per share amounted to 79 cents, giving it a PE ratio around 18. Net book value per share is $39 while the stock trades at 1.5 book with the last price of $59.
Ansa is one of Trinidad’s major conglomerate, owning media houses, Carib Beer brewery, and now Berger Paints and other paint brand out of Trinidad to name a few of the entities it is involved in. At the end of March, shareholders equity stood at $6.86 billion.

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

Angostura Holdings Q1 profit jumps 76%

May 20, 2018 by

Angostura Holdings aged rum.

Profit at Trinidad’s Angostura Holdings surged 77 percent in the March quarter, to TT$41 million before tax and up 76 percent to TT$28.4 million after tax resulting in earnings per share of 14 cents.
Sale revenues climbed 15.5 percent to TT$129.5 million but a 10 per cent fall in direct operating cost took cost down by to $37.7 million and boosted gross profit margin to 71 percent form 63 percent in 2017 and gross profit by 31 percent to $92 million.
Profit declined sharply from 2015 when the company posted $164 million after tax compared to TT$153 million in 2014 and then TT$122 million in 2016 and $111 million last year.
Marketing and sales expenses rose 11 percent to TT$37 million while administrative expenses rose just 2 percent to TT$14.6 million from TT$14.3 million in 2017. Finance cost was negligible.
Cash flow resulted in an increase of TT$61 million in cash pushing cash to TT$214 million as of March and investments of $218 million. At the end of March, shareholders’ equity stands at TT$1.01 billion with borrowings at just TT$20 million. Current assets ended the period TT$795 million well ahead of current liabilities of TT$96 million.
The stock traded at TT$15.75 on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange. Based on 2017 earnings the stock was selling at a PE ratio of 29 times. If the trend in earnings for the first quarter is held for all of 2018 the PE would fall 17 times earnings. Net asset value is TT$4.9 with the stock selling at 3.20 book value.
This one needs watching to see if the improvement deepens. It is worth noting that the company is amassing cash and could well be after a takeover target.
Angostura is one of the Caribbean’s major rum producers and producers of Angostura Bitters.

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Profit rise at T&TNGL

May 20, 2018 by

T&T NGL closed at $29 on TTSE on Friday.


Trinidad and Tobago NGL reported higher income from share of joint venture profit in the March 2018 quarter.
The company’s share rose to TT$61.4 million from $57 million in 2017 and $217 million for the twelve months to December 2017.
The company owns 39 percent of shareholding in Phoenix Park Gas Processors and ended with profit of TT$61.8 million after tax in the March 2018 quarter up from $57 million in 2017. Profit for the 2017 fiscal year was $234 million after tax.
Earnings per share amounted to 40 cents and $1.51 for the 2017 fiscal year. Shareholders’ equity $3.26 billion with net book value per share of $21. The stock trades at $29 on the Trinidad Stock Exchange.

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