Jamaica’s profit tax jumps 33%

August 1, 2017 by

Minister of Finance Audley Shaw rolling in increased taxes.

Corporate Jamaica paid in $11.15 billion in corporate taxes, to June 2017, a huge 32.9 percent more than the $8.39 billion budgeted, as companies continue to benefit from an improving local economy, with low inflation and increasing demand.
The 2017 intake, translates to a 32.6 percent more than the amount collected in 2016 as businesses post increased profit, from moderate growth in the economy. Government collected $8.4 billion from companies to June 2016, 24.6 percent more than the $6.75 billion projected. In contrast, tax collected from dividend payments surprisingly fell to $229.5 million versus $293.7 million budgeted and $369.2 million collected to June 2016. The reduction for the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year is likely to be purely one of timing. Dividends paid by NCB Financial Group and Scotia Group would translate to payment of over $400 million in dividend tax. Dividend paid by 4 of the largest listed companies during April and May, show that just over $800 million in tax on dividends should have been paid over to June this year.
The data shows that the budget forecast for the current Fiscal year for corporate tax revenue is in line with the intake for 2016.

Filed Under: Company News, Economy, Feature Stories, General Business News

Record & more record for JSE on Monday

July 31, 2017 by

The JSE main market has broken through resistance at 265,000 on the AJI but new resistance is not far away – see black line in upper right.

It was another record close for the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market index, which was joined by the All Jamaican Composite index surpassing the previous high reached in mid-May. At the All Jamaica Composite Index climbed 1,531.90 points to close at 266,708.84, the JSE Market Index surged 1,395.73 points to 243,001.95 for a third consecutive days of record close.
The JSE US dollar market index lost 4.65 points to close at 183.77 with 1 stock trading in the US dollar market. The market closed out July with gains of more than 26 percent for the year to date.
At the close of trading, 24 securities changed hands in the main market leading to 14 stocks advancing and 8 declining. The main market ended with 24,165,397 units valued at $225,427,641 changing hands compared to 2,406,199 units valued at $41,645,948 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 323,789 units valued at US$75,331 bringing the total of all trades to J$235,070,022.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 1,006,892 units valued at $9,392,818 for each security traded compared to an average of 96,248 units valued at $1,665,838. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438 compared with an average of 118,357 units with an average value of $2,356,369 on the previous trading day.

138 Student Living had the largest volume trading on Monday with 15M units.

The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints traded 70 cents higher, closing at $18.70 exchanging 21,998 shares, Caribbean Cement closed at $31.20, with a loss of 30 cents trading 509,604 shares, only 376 units of Carreras were traded but the shares of the sellers of cigarettes closed at $92.50, with an increase of $1.30. Lumbering conglomerate Grace Kennedy, gained 75 cents to close at $41.75, with an exchange of 67,541 shares. Chicken processors Jamaica Broilers close down 49 cents to $19.01 while trading 214,505 shares, Jamaica Producers food processors and wharf operators, gained 94 cents and closed at $15.92 with 36,928 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 39 cents exchanging 32,036 shares to end at $6.39, JMMB Group traded $1.30 higher to $20.95, with 97,100 shares traded, Kingston Properties closed at $8 exchanging 2,200 shares, Kingston Wharves closed lower by $1.91 to $27.10, with 1,118 units switching owners. Mayberry Investments lost 2 cents to close at $4.60 trading 3,333 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1 higher to a record close of $81, after exchanging 324,498 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $5.01, gaining 1 cent with 15,003,952 units having traded, PanJam Investment closed at $34 trading 111,124 shares, Pulse Investments gained 14 cents to close at $2.45, with an exchange of 7,425 shares, Radio Jamaica lost 4 cents, closing at $1.41 with 1,500 shares exchanged. Sagicor Group jumped $2.50 to $33.50, with 321,349 shares changing hands, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded $1.22 higher to $12.02, closing trading with 6,527,000 shares, Salada Foods gained 33 cents to close at $9.33, with 20,000 shares changing owners, Scotia Group closed at $44.98, gaining 18 cents with trades of 35,300 shares, Seprod closed at $30.01, with a gain of 1 cent exchanging just 100 units, Supreme Ventures lost 19 cents to close at $7.80 with 805,910 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 22 US cents, losing 2 US cents in trading 323,789 units, JMMB Group 7.50% preference share closed at $1.17, with a loss of 2 cents exchanging 500 units and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share lost 9 cents to close at $1.90 trading 20,000 units.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Net forex inflows end July at US$189M

July 31, 2017 by

Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market on Monday resulted inflows of US51 million in contrast to US$44.4 million on Friday and outflows of US$39.7 million compared to US$30.4 million of all currencies on previously and resulted in net inflows for July ended at US$189 million.
In USA dollar trading, inflows ended at US$45 million versus US$37.9 million on Friday, with outflows of US$35.7 million compared to US$25.5 million.
The value of the Jamaican dollar rose modestly in value against the US dollar, with the selling rate for the US dollar ending at J$128.22 from J$128.39 previously. At the end of June dealers were selling the Jamaican dollar at J$128.62 to the US dollar. Dealers bought the US currency at an average of J$126.99, down from J$127.26 on Friday.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar declined to J$103.09 from J$103.34 at the close on Friday, while the British Pound was more costly at the close, with J$167.54 buying the British currency versus J$166.90 and the euro, rose in value against the Jamaican dollar, with it taking J$151.38 to buy the European common currency, versus J$150.66 previously.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, FX Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

GOJ runs at surplus for fiscal Q1

July 31, 2017 by

Minister of Finance Audley Shaw carried on from where Phillips left off.

An increase of $7.76 billion in revenues and grants and $1.5 billion fall in expense payments resulted in Government of Jamaica running the country’s finances at a surplus for the 3 months to June, this year.
The surplus of $1.6 billion is $9.3 billion better than the deficit projected at $7.67 billion.
The cost of interest fell $3 billion below forecast to end at $29 billion versus projections of $32 billion. Company profit tax delivered $2.76 billion more revenue than the $8.4 billion forecasted but PAYE brought in $952 million less than the $13.9 billion budgeted. Production and consumption taxes brought in $4.3 billion more than the $41.4 billion planned but imports delivered $478 million less than the $43.96 billion projected, due mainly to a drop of $2.5 billion in Special Consumption tax.
The primary surplus set at $24.4 billion is now at $30.6 billion. Although, the fiscal is running at a surplus ahead of forecast the government borrowed $5.5 billion more than planned and pay back $6 billion less than originally projected.

Filed Under: Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: , , ,

Trading up on Junior Market

July 31, 2017 by

Trading in the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with a number of stocks declining just edging out those rising and led to a small fall in the market index. At the close the volume of stocks and value of stocks traded increased compared to that on Friday.
Trading ended with 4,581,201 units valued at $21,905,678 changing hands, with the market index falling 7.65 points to close at 3,155.46. On Friday, trading closed with 3,193,325 shares changing hands valued at $14,765,053.
A total of 22 securities traded, versus 20 on Friday with 7 stocks gaining and 8 declining and trading closed with 10 stocks having bids higher than the last traded prices and 2 closing with lower offers.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 208,236 units for an average value of $995,713 in contrast to 159,666 units for an average value of $738,253 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 536,395 units valued at $1,905,441 compared to 552,021 units valued at $1,948,762 previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, stocks trading with their last traded prices are: AMG Packaging closed at $3.50 with 18,840 units changing hands, CAC 2000 traded 30 cents higher to $7 with a 32,193 shares being exchanged, Caribbean Cream had a loss of 15 cents, to close at $6.85 with a 731,500 shares trading, Caribbean Flavours closed at $12 with a 3,500 shares trading, Caribbean Producers rose 10 cent to $3.35 with a 618,208 shares traded, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2.62 with a 15,000 shares being exchanged. C2W Music shed 1 cent to close at 39 cents with a 8,000 shares being switched, Express Catering fell 20 cents and closed at $5 with 1,302,903 shares being swapped,General Accident closed at $2.90 with a 61,215 shares traded, Honey Bun closed at $5.56 with a 2,000 shares changing hands. Iron Rock Insurance ended trading with a loss of 20 cents, at $3 with a 327,174 shares traded, ISP Finance closed at $16 with a 4,582 shares being traded, Jamaican Teas closed 25 cents higher to $4.50 with a 12,000 shares changing hands, Jetcon Corporation traded 15 cents higher, to close at $5.20 with a 442,571 units being swapped. Knutsford Express declined 5 cents, to close at $14.95 with a 5,184 shares switching owners, Lasco Distributors traded 30 cents higher to close at $6.80 with 325,195 shares changing owners,  Lasco Financial rose 40 cents in trading 79,365 units to close trading at $4.20, Lasco Manufacturing traded with a lost 47 cents, and ending at $4.33 with a 6,963 shares being transferred, Main Event declined by 10 cents to close with 34,541 shares trading, to close at $5.50. Medical Disposables closed 45 cents higher at $5.95 with a 5,000 shares traded, Paramount Trading lost 49 cents to close at $2.50 with a 537,401 shares changing hands after the company posted a sharp fall in profits for the year to May and tTech lost 6 cents and closed at $9 with 7,866 shares trading.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NCB Q3 profit jumps 33%

July 30, 2017 by

NCB Financial Group HQ.

NCB Financial Group delivered net profit of $14.7 billion for the nine months ended June 30, 2017, an increase of 48 percent over the prior year’s nine months profit of $9.9 billion. For the June quarter net profit climbed from $3.94 billion to $5.25 billion in 2016 for the group.
The overall performance resulted in earnings per share of $2.14 for the latest quarter and $5.98 for the nine months. Loans and advances, net of provision for credit losses, increased by $32 billion or 18 percent to $212.0 billion at June 30, 2017. The growth was primarily driven by a 23 percent increase in the Retail Banking portfolio. Non-performing loans totaled $5.6 billion at June 2017, representing 2.6 percent of the gross loans compared to 4.8 percent at the end of June 2016 amounting to $8.8 billion.
The board of directors in their report on the nine months results stated that, “Operating income increased by $6.2 billion or 16 percent over the prior year, to $44.2 billion. The improved revenues were primarily driven by: Net fee & commission income growing by 31 percent or $2.4 billion. The growth stemmed from our continued focus on sale effectiveness, improving the penetration into our Investment Banking services, and growing the Unit Trust portfolios, coupled with increases in pension management fees. Additionally, our focus on providing our customers with non-branch channel and digital options has led to volume growth in point of sale and e-commerce transactions. Gains on foreign currency and investment activities growing by $2.5 billion or 80 percent. Net interest income increasing by 5 percent or $1.2 billion, as a result of growth in the loan portfolio.”
“Operating expenses of $28 billion grew by 9 percent or $2.3 billion over the prior year, driven by:  Staff costs increasing by $1.9 billion or 18 percent mainly as a result of the negotiated increases in salaries, wages, allowances & benefits. Other operating expenses growing by $1.1 billion or 11 percent primarily as a result of increased asset tax charges, property and ABM maintenance expenses and professional fees resulting from the execution of strategic initiatives.”
The banking group segments delivered strong gains in revenues and profit except for General Insurance. Retail and SME segment enjoyed an increase of 13 percent in net revenues to $13.86 billion and segment profit rising 33 percent to $1.6 billion.

Advantage General suffered a fall in profit for the NCB Group.

Payment Services recorded an increase of 15 percent in net revenues to $5.2 billion with segment profit rising 31 percent to $1.75 billion, Corporate Banking net revenues grew 39 percent to hit $3.6 billion with segment profit climbing a very strong 64 percent to $2.47 billion. Treasury and Correspondent Banking net revenues increased 35 percent to $6.98 billion and segment profit rose 41 percent to $5.67 billion, Wealth, Asset Management and Investment Banking saw an increase of 25 percent in net revenues to $6.6 billion and segment profit rising 27 percent to $4.6 billion, Life Insurance and Pension Fund Management net revenues grew 14 percent to $5.6 billion, with segment profit rising 22 percent to $3.48 billion. Revenues at the General Insurance segment fell 7 percent to $4.4 billion with segment profit slipping 7 percent to $893 million and Other contributed an increase of 34 percent in revenues to $195 million and segment profit rising 55 percent to $126 million.
The Board of Directors, declared an interim dividend of $0.60 per ordinary stock unit payable on August 29, for stockholders on record as at August 15, 2017. The NCB stock closed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $80 on Friday having traded earlier the day at $81 after the release of the results.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Feature Stories, Street News & Views Tagged With: , , ,

Express Catering volumes settling?

July 28, 2017 by

Trading in Express Catering shares declined sharply lower on the Junior Market on Friday, with just 1,663,796 units trading compared to 71,508,426 units traded on Thursday. The stock climbed 60 cents to close at a record of $5.20 with 368,228 on the offer at the closing price.
There is still a large number of bids to buy the stock in the high $4 range up to $5. At this price its valued at 20 times estimated 2018 earnings. Based on the behaviour of investors in Main Event it could well be pushed higher and then settle back lower, only time will tell.
Trading elsewhere on the Junior Market remained subdued on Friday with 3,193,325 shares changing hands valued at $14,765,053, from 72,244,997 shares valued at $309,765,128 traded on Thursday. At the close, the market index rose 36.68 points to 3,163.11.
Twenty (20) securities traded, versus 21 on Thursday with 7 stocks gaining and 3 declining and closed with 3 stocks having bids higher than the last traded prices and 4 closing with lower offers.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 159,666 units for an average value of $738,253 in contrast to 3,440,238 units for an average value of $14,750,720 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 552,021 units valued at $1,948,762 compared to 571,639 units valued at $2,009,287 previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, Access Financial Services closed at $46.50 in trading 500 units, AMG Packaging fell 25 cents and closed at $3.50 with 4,000 units changing hands, Cargo Handlers ended trading 5,612 shares to close at $13.20, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $7, after trading 41,257 shares, Caribbean Producers shed 14 cents to close trading with 24,986 units, at $3.25, General Accident added 20 cents, closing trading with 340,315 shares at $2.90, ISP Finance closed with 6,633 units changing hands at $16, Jamaican Teas rose 20 cents in trading 655,573 shares to close at $4.25, Jetcon Corporation traded 200,930 shares to end at $5.05, after gaining 8 cents, Key Insurance traded 16,750 units to close at $3.85 after rising 80 cents, KLE Group ended at $2 with 30,044 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express traded 9,497 shares to end at $15 Lasco Financial rose 25 cents and ended with 46,624 shares changing hands at $3.80, Main Event gained 10 cents to close with 127,049 shares trading at $5.60, Paramount Trading rose 4 cents and ended with 3,000 units changing hands at $2.99, tTech traded 6,500 units to close at $9.60 and Eppley 9.5% preference share jumped $1.10 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $7.20, with 645 units trading.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JSE index at new record close Friday

July 28, 2017 by

NCB stock traded at a high of $81 on Friday, helping to fuel another record clsoe for the main market.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index climbed another 655.78 points on Friday to another record close of 241,606.22, the second consecutive day of record close.
The All Jamaica Composite Index closed within 212 points of the record close of May 17, this year, with the index advancing 719.76 points to close at 265,176.94.  The JSE US dollar market index closed at 188.42 with 1 security trading in the US dollar market.
At the close of trading, 25 securities changed hands in the main market leading to 15 stocks advancing including two new highs and 9 declining. The main market ended with 2,406,199 units valued at $41,645,948 changing hands compared to 4,006,769 units valued at $51,512,263 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 9,113 units valued at US$9,113 bringing the total of all trades to just J$41,925,899.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 96,248 units valued at 1,665,838 for each security traded compared to an average of 166,949 units valued at $2,146,344. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 118,357 units with an average value of $2,356,369 compared with an average of 119,521 units with an average value of $2,389,059 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints gained $1 at the end of trading to close at $18 with 36,598 shares changing hands, Cable and Wireless added 3 cents to close at $1.05, with 254,868 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement traded $1.50 higher to close at $31.50 exchanging 26,431 shares, Carreras closed at $91.20 with a loss of 41 cents trading 10,417 units, Grace Kennedy closed at $41, after losing 95 cents in exchanging 26,799 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $19.50, gaining 50 cents with trades of 51,000 shares, Jamaica Producers gained 1 cent, closing at $14.98 with 29,677 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 30 cents to close at $6 exchanging 34,820 shares, JMMB Group was down 35 cents, closing at $19.65, with trades of 774,521 shares, Kingston Properties closed at $8 with gains of 80 cents trading 2,394 shares, Kingston Wharves closed 99 cents lower to $29.01, with 1,786 units switching owners. Mayberry Investments added 1 cent to close at $4.62 trading 51,333 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $3 higher to a record close of $80, after exchanging 120,834 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $5, gaining 45 cents, trading 948 units, PanJam Investment climbed $1, closing at $34 in trading 31,062 shares, Portland JSX lost 50 cents, closing at $9.50 while exchanging 81,517 shares, Pulse Investments traded 18 cents lower to $2.31, with an exchange of 404,166 shares, Radio Jamaica gained 15 cents to close at $1.45 with 17,772 shares exchanged. Sagicor Group lost 50 cents, with 13,171 shares traded, to close at $31, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 30 cents, closing at $10.80 and trading 202,621 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44.80, after losing 19 cents with 103,886 shares traded, Supreme Ventures gained 31 cents to close at $7.99 with 126,504 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents trading 9,113 units, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share closed at a record $1.60, with gains of 5 cents exchanging 248 units, JPS 7% preference share traded 1,326 units at 45 cents and JMMB 7.5% preference share gained 14 cents to close at $1.99 trading 1,500 units.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Best week for forex inflows in July

July 28, 2017 by

Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market resulted inflows for week being the highest for any other week in July. Inflows ended at US241 million some $21 million more than for the second week. Outflows of US$183 million were just US$1 million more than for the previous week.
With one day of the month to go the net inflows of all currencies for July is now at $178 million. For the week net US dollar inflows amounted to $56.6 million and $163.4 million for the month.
Inflows into the Jamaican foreign exchange market rose slightly on Friday to US$44.4 million from US$44.2 million on Thursday with outflows of US$30.4 million down from $35 million on Thursday.
In USA dollar trading, inflows into the system ended at US$37.9 million on Friday versus US$35.80 million on Thursday, with outflows of US$25.5 million compared to US$27.1 million.
The value of the Jamaican dollar declined modestly in value against the US dollar on Friday, with the selling rate for the US dollar ending at J$128.39 from J$128.28 previously. Dealers bought the US currency at an average of J$127.26 the same as on Thursday.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar declined to J$103.34 from J$103.77 at the close on Thursday, while the British Pound was more costly at the close, with J$166.90 buying the British currency versus J$166.22 and the euro, rose in value against the Jamaican dollar, with it taking J$150.66 to buy the European common currency on, versus J$149.30 previously.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, FX Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

54% Express Catering IPO shares trade

July 27, 2017 by

Starbucks one of the brands Express Catering will sell at the Montego Bay Airport.

Investors traded 71.6 million of Express Catering shares in Junior Market activity on Thursday. The day’s trade brings the total since the company’s shares were listed in the previous week, to 176,255,281 units, a very high 54 percent of the 327,500,000 units sold in the Initial Public Offer (IPO).
“A number of the large investors in the stock who had planned to hold them for a while, decided to take profit in light of the sharp uptick in the stock price,“ Gary Peart of Mayberry Investments, brokers to the IPO, advised IC Insider.com. Peart also stated that there was strong institutional demand for the stock as well. The stock traded over 70 million units for the second day running having traded 71,996,755 units on Wednesday. Express Catering’s stock price closed with a rise of 30 cents to end at a record closing high of $4.60 with 71,508,426 units traded.
Trading on the Junior Market remained high on Thursday with 72,244,997 shares changing hands valued at $309,765,128, from 73,477,574 shares valued at $263,785,025 traded on Wednesday. At the close, the market index rose 30.21 points to 3,126.43.
A total of 21 securities traded, versus 20 on Wednesday with 11 stocks gaining and 5 declining and closed with 3 stocks having bids higher than the last traded prices and 4 closing with lower offers.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 3,440,238 units for an average value of $14,750,720 compared to 3,673,879 units for an average value of $13,189,251 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 571,639 units valued at $2,009,287 compared to 420,660 units valued at $1,338,685 previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging rose 5 cents and closed at $3.75 with 10,000 units changing hands, Blue Power fell 90 cents, to close at $44 with only 213 units changing hands, CAC 2000 rose 20 cents with 200 shares trading to end at $6.70, Cargo Handlers shed 55 cents and ended trading 2,500 shares to close at $13.20, Caribbean Cream rose 20 cents, closing trading with 50,962 units at $7, Caribbean Producers gained 24 cents to close trading with 14,777 units, at $3.39, Dolphin Cove ended at $17.50 with 204 shares changing hands, Eppley lost 62 cents in trading 100 shares at $12.38, General Accident added 13 cents and closed trading with 6,500 shares at $2.70, Honey Bun gained 1 cent with 5,000 shares changing hands and closed at $5.56, ISP Finance closed with 367 units changing hands at $16, Jamaican Teas rose 20 cents in trading 427,263 shares to close at $4.20, Jetcon Corporation traded 32,162 shares to end at $4.97, after gaining 27 cents, KLE Group ended at $2 with 4,591 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express traded 8,340 shares to end at $15, Lasco Distributors closed at $6.50 after trading 300 units, Lasco Financial lost 5 cents and ended with 107,166 shares changing hands at $3.55, Main Event gained 10 cents to close with 50,700 shares trading at $5.60, Medical Disposables closed at $5.50 with 14,000 units trading and tTech traded 1,226 units, rising 10 cents to close at $9.60.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,