Market activity ended on Friday with the value of stocks climbing 58 percent over Thursday volume, however, the volume of shares trading was a mere 6 percent higher as trading ended for the week on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market, with the All Jamaican Composite Index ending 3,249.75 points lower than at the close of last week.
At the close on Friday, the All Jamaican Composite Index popped 922.91 points to settle at 443,543.76, the Main Index gained 780.78 points to 403,871.30 and the JSE Financial Index popped 0.39 points to end at 98.83.
A total of 52 securities traded, down from 51 on Thursday, with prices of 17 rising, 22 declining and 13 ending unchanged. The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 15.5 based on ICInsider.com forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market ended with 11,341,314 shares trading for $94,854,280 versus 10,685,503 units at $226,729,653 on Thursday. Sterling Investments led trading with 46 percent of total volume after trading 5.21 million shares, followed by Transjamaican Highway 16.6 percent with 1.88 million units and Wigton Windfarm 7.5 percent with an exchange of 854,516 shares.
Trading averages 218,102 units at $1,824,121, compared to 209,520 shares at $4,445,679 on Thursday and month to date, an average of 301,309 units at $3,513,535, compared to 306,370 units at $3,616,283 on Thursday. 
August closed with an average of 480,039 units at $8,561,549.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows ten stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments advanced $2 to end at 52 weeks’ high of $99 with 25,427 shares clearing the market, Berger Paints shed 99 cents to $13.51 with an exchange of 36,113 stocks, Caribbean Cement lost 40 cents in closing at $100.50 with 15,907 units changing hands. Eppley fell $1.70 to $38 in transferring 100 stock units, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund climbed $3.75 to $41 in switching ownership of 200 units, First Rock Capital rose 89 cents to $13.48 in exchanging 11,708 stocks. GraceKennedy traded 242,724 and fell 19 cents to close at $99.19, Guardian Holdings fell $4 to $581 with a transfer of 2,127 shares, Jamaica Broilers rallied 95 cents in closing at $28.45 after exchanging 12,080 stock units, Jamaica Producers advanced $1 to $21 in trading 129,320 stocks. Jamaica Stock Exchange popped 55 cents to close at $17.55 with 33,349 shares crossing the exchange, but only after trading at an intraday 52 weeks’ low of $15.02. JMMB Group jumped $2.75 to $38.95 with 565,258 units changing hands, Kingston Wharves declined $1 to end at $45 with the swapping of 53,929 stock units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy declined $5 to $115, with 108 units crossing the market, NCB Financial lost 49 cents to settle at $129 in switching ownership of 23,011 shares, Palace Amusement dropped $10 to $900 in trading 164 stocks. 
PanJam Investment shed $1.77 to close at $62.01 in an exchange of 52,360 stock units, Sagicor Group lost 52 cents to end at $53.50 in trading 60,107 shares, Seprod dipped 39 cents to $63.11 with 11,833 stocks crossing the market and Wisynco Group fell 35 cents to $15.65 in exchanging 93,661 units.
In the preference segment, Eppley 7.50% preference share declined by $4.30, ending at $8 in exchanging 1,233 stock units. In the corporate bond segment Caribbean Producers rose $1 to $101, trading 30,000 units and Colassal 4.25% fell $4.11 in trading 150 million units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Market activity led to 33 stocks trading own from 36 on Thursday and ended, with 14 rising, 12 declining and seven closing unchanged.
At the close, Access Financial fell 25 cents to $18.75 in exchanging 1,100 shares, AMG Packaging popped 21 cents to $2.01, with 297,747 stock units crossing the market, Caribbean Assurance Brokers dropped 13 cents to $1.66 in an exchange of 21,335 units. Caribbean Cream climbed 30 cents to end at $6.60 with the swapping of 51,785 stocks, Caribbean Flavours rose 6 cents to $1.90, with 554,064 shares clearing the market, Elite Diagnostic shed 7 cents to $2.95, after 28,016 units crossed the market. Everything Fresh rose 11 cents to 97 cents in trading 44,082 stocks, Express Catering rallied 80 cents to $5.20 after exchanging 174,433 stock units, Fontana gained 35 cents to end at $6.60 trading 60,007 stocks. GWest Corporation popped 10 cents to 95 cents while trading 1,200 shares, Honey Bun spiked 29 cents to close at $7.90 with an exchange of 302,351 units, Indies Pharma advanced 19 cents to $3.39 in trading 21,865 stock units. Jamaican Teas lost 18 cents in closing at $3.52, trading 146,265 stock units, Jetcon Corporation spiked 22 cents to $1.27, with 337,712 stocks changing hands, Lasco Financial popped 17 cents to $3.15, in exchanging 20,014 shares. 
Lasco Manufacturing declined 32 cents to $4.51, with 32,907 units crossing the exchange, Lumber Depot climbed 19 cents to close at $2.99, after exchanging 1,666,179 stocks, Mailpac Group dropped 11 cents in closing at $3.54 in an exchange of 284,989 units. Main Event declined 57 cents to $3.63, with 45,098 stock units clearing the market, SSL Venture popped 6 cents to end at 69 cents in switching ownership of 997 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies shed 14 cents to end at $5.76, with 2,582 stock units changing hands.
The most recent offer of CDs on Wednesday, September 22, fetched an average interest rate of 2.15 percent, with the highest rate of a successful bid being 2.99 percent and the lowest 1.75 percent. These rates are up from the previous auction, earlier in the month.
At the beginning of August, when the total amount of CDs was $35 billion, BOJ offered just $8 billion into the market and resulted in bids of $20.22 billion and resulted in an average interest rate of 0.59 percent, with the highest successful bid ending with a yield of just 0.62 percent, just higher than the banks overnight rate of 0.50 percent.
The All Jamaican Composite Index slipped 295.03 points to 442,620.85, the Main Index fell 101.04 points to 403,090.52 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.06 points to end at 98.44.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with higher bids than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
Mayberry Investments lost 20 cents to end at $5.50 in exchanging 301,484 units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities fell 55 cents to $8.20 in exchanging 794 units, NCB Financial Group rose $1.49 to $129.49 in trading 179,455 stocks. Palace Amusement rallied $8 to $910 with a transfer of 236 stock units, PanJam Investment popped $1.78 to end at $63.78 with 931,362 shares crossing the market, Scotia Group declined $1 to $39 after dropping to a 52 weeks’ low of $37 in 69,473 units changing hands and Wisynco Group rose 21 cents to $16 in an exchange of 65,458 stocks.
Similar to Wednesday 36 stocks traded ending with 15 rising, 13 declining, with eight unchanged.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Lasco Manufacturing increased 32 cents to $4.83 after exchanging 10,148 shares, Lumber Depot shed 14 cents to $2.80, with 1,021,891 stock units changing hands, Mailpac Group climbed 10 cents to $3.65 in an exchange of 110,396 stocks. Paramount Trading advanced 5 cents in closing at $1.10 after exchanging 20,075 units, SSL Venture fell 11 cents to close at 63 cents with an exchange of 907,939 shares and Tropical Battery popped 7 cents to $1.34 in exchanging 51,488 stock units.
The All Jamaican Composite Index dropped 1,575.15 points to 442,915.88, the Main Index shed 1,499.07 points to 403,191.56 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.14 points to end at 98.50.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Scotia Group popped 45 cents to $40 with an exchange of 90,230 units, Seprod lost 35 cents to close at $63.65, with 291,051 stock units clearing the market, Supreme Ventures rose 85 cents in closing at $18.85 after switching ownership of 115,950 units and Sygnus Credit Investments gained 38 cents in ending at $15.88 and exchanging 38,335 stocks.
The volume of stocks traded on Wednesday declined by 44 percent and the value 46 percent from Tuesday’s levels, with 6,071,422 shares traded for $19,121,644, down from 10,904,334 units at $35,164,246 on Tuesday. Future Energy Source led trading after taking 43.3 percent of the volume with 2.63 million shares, followed by Caribbean Flavours 9.6 percent, with 585,245 units and Derrimon Trading with 424,600 units for 7 percent market share.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows seven stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
Limners and Bards shed 20 cents to $3.45 in trading 196,098 units, Mailpac Group fell 13 cents to $3.55 after exchanging 181,170 stocks, Medical Disposables shed 50 cents to close at $4.50 after 88,417 stock units crossed the market. Paramount Trading declined 5 cents to $1.05 in switching ownership of 3,925 shares, SSL Venture gained 10 cents to end at 74 cents after exchanging 23,154 stocks and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 88 cents in closing at $5.90, with 3,282 stock units changing hands.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
Palace Amusement popped $50 in closing at $1,050 in trading four shares, Proven Investments gained 27 cents to end at $32.37 after clearing the market with 15,512 stock units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund fell 50 cents in ending at $8 with an exchange of 14,870 stocks, Salada Foods lost 43 cents to $6.50 in switching ownership of 28,135 shares, Scotia Group declined 45 cents to close at $39.55 after exchanging 19,323 stock units. Seprod shed $2 after ending at $64 in trading 83,383 shares and Sygnus Credit Investments lost 39 cents in closing at $15.50, with 102,675 shares crossing the market.
Market activity ended with 38 securities trading similar to Monday after 16 stocks rose, eight declined and 14 ended unchanged. The Junior Market Index rose 1.69 points to 3,218.89. The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate values for stocks, averages 12.1 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
At the close, Access Financial lost $1.48 in ending at $20.01 with 22,295 shares clearing the market, Blue Power spiked 62 cents to $3.37 with the swapping of 5,947 units, CAC 2000 gained 60 cents in closing at $9.10 after trading 5,000 stock units. Cargo Handlers increased 10 cents to $7.40 in an exchange of 3,999 stocks, Caribbean Assurance Brokers popped 4 cents to $1.79 with an exchange of 14,957 stock units, Consolidated Bakeries shed 20 cents to $1.60, with 7,360 shares changing hands. Everything Fresh dropped 6 cents in closing at 90 cents in switching ownership of 128,541 units, Express Catering rallied 60 cents to $4.90 while exchanging 4,635 stocks, Fontana fell 5 cents to end at $6.10 after 298,234 shares changed hands. Honey Bun declined 20 cents to close at $8 in trading 58,950 stocks, Lasco Financial fell 15 cents to $3 after exchanging 35,012 stock units, Limners and Bards rose 35 cents in closing at $3.65, after 4,761,862 units crossed the exchange. 
Lumber Depot climbed 8 cents to $2.98, with 353,242 stock units crossing the market, Mailpac Group rose 8 cents to $3.68 after trading 77,351 stocks, Medical Disposables advanced 53 cents to $5 in an exchange of 100 units. Stationery and Office Supplies rose 88 cents in closing at $6.78 after an exchange of 6,569 shares and tTech lost 15 cents to end at $4.35 with 30,100 stock units clearing the market, but after trading at a 52 weeks’ intraday low of $3.60.
Shocking 4 years of Cargo Handlers errors
The number of shares issued by publicly listed companies is very important information for investors to know, but investors would not think so when examining interim financial statements in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago of some of the companies.
There have been so many occasions one has to search high and low to find it if at all it is reported in the interim numbers. This is such a simple matter and the stock exchanges in the region could cure it easily, by making it one of the items that must be included in quarterly reports. It should be included as a part of the statement of movement in Shareholders’ equity.
Take the matter of segment reporting. Some companies report it quarterly and some only annually. Most correctly report the current period and the comparative previous year’s period. Why can’t the JSE insist on some minimum standards for the benefit of investors so they get information consistently? Limners and Bards is the latest company to provide a quarterly report with no segment results yet they report it in the audited report albeit just one year forcing investors to have to go back to the previous year’s report for the comparison. Seems if that is the approach they should just report the current year’s figures and let investors go back to the previous year’s reports for profit and balance sheet information.
Communication with investors is a subjective matter but there are some simple matters that it just takes some thinking or consulting to get right.
The latest shocking reporting is that of Cargo Handlers that shows the number of shares issued as a part of the statement of shareholders’ equity. The oddity is the company reporting only 37.466 million issued shares since 2018 when it increased to more than 374 million units. The Jamaica Stock Exchange website shows them as having 416.25 million shares issued and the audited accounts show that the change took place in 2018 the numbers moving from 37.485 to 374.653 million shares. One wonders why no one discovered this glaring error when the list of top 10 shareholders show four of them having more shares than what they list as issued. The error goes back to 2018 for all of the quarterly reports.
This is such a glaring error and neither the Stock Exchange, the Financial Services Commission the directors of the company or its accounting staff have found out.
Our reporting standards are not up to scratch and some persons in the financial system love to talk about best practices globally.
The vast majority of listed companies report profit results with direct and indirect costs and gross profit. But others do not. The group shockingly includes GraceKennedy, 138 Student Living, Knutsford Express. It is full time that companies lift the standard of reporting so that investors can get pertinent information to use in their investment decision making. In response to a question put to Don Wehby about the bulking of all cost on the profit statement suggest that they are in compliance with accounting standards, but that is such a lame and shocking excuse from a company of such standing in the country. Seprod produces it, Jamaica Broilers does it and several other listed companies so why not Grace. Are grace directors suggesting that their shareholders are lesser persons than those of other companies? The case of 138 Student Living is shocking when one considers that the Chairman, Ian Parsard is also Group Senior Vice President – Finance & Corporate Planning at Jamaica Broilers.
AMG Packaging is in a class by itself when it comes to poor communication. The company has embarked on a major capital project, but the directors appear to be of the view that minority shareholders are best kept in as much darkness as possible about it. The audited accounts for 2020 are silent on any commitment to the project.
The latest quarterly the only capital spend, is shown as work in progress on the balance sheet in the amount of $57 million, with no comments on the progress, the total commitment and when it is expected to be complete and be in use. Worse there are no comments on its use. It is noted that the purpose has moved from a warehouse to a factory between 2018 and now.
In the 2018 annual report, the Chairman stated that “the Company recently took an option to purchase an adjoining property. If the transaction is completed, the additional space will be used to alleviate some of the space constraints in the existing facility, making operations more efficient.”
In the 2019 annual report “The Company completed the acquisition on the property at 12 Retirement Crescent which will allow us to expand our operations and to better serve our customers.” The company also stated that they “obtained funding from Proven Wealth Limited to assist with the development of 12 Retirement Crescent. The KSAC is in the process of reviewing the architectural drawings for 12 Retirement.”
The 2020 annual report states, “the company plans on utilizing the strong cash and cash equivalents position into developing 12 Retirement Crescent. The pandemic had caused the development of 12 Retirement Crescent to delay from 2020 to 2021. A contractor has been chosen and the building of an additional 11,370 square feet is set to begin in February 2021.”
In the results to February this year, the only comment made about the development is “that the new steel frame warehouse purchased from China arrived and construction commenced. The financial statement shows WIP at $49 million, with a zero balance in the November quarter.”