16 stocks rise 5 down on JSE

May 12, 2015 by

JMMB Group closed at 52 weeks' high on Tuesday

JMMB Group closed at 52 weeks’ high on Tuesday

Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, continues to be bullish and resulted in the prices of 16 stocks rising, including 9 new closing 52 weeks’ highs, just 5 declining as 30 securities changed hands, ending in only 3,281,521 units trading, valued at a mere $13,621,699, in all market segments.
The JSE Market Index gained 413.98 points to end at 99,124.54, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 462.85 points to close at 109,544.13 and the JSE combined index gained 544.39 points to close at 101,253.09. The market broke through resistance on Monday, and seems to be moving away from the latest test. The next test at 115,000 points that is likely to challenge the rally with earnings almost fully in in a few days.JSE sum 12-5-15 The added factor is the short-term moving average is lagging by a large margin the current market level and they will need some time to catch up with each other, if a correction does not take effect to bring more in line with each other.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with offers that were lower.
Stocks trading include Barita Investments ending with 320,000 shares trading 6 cents higher, at $2.37, for a 52 weeks’ high. Berger Paints had 20,571 units changing hands 16 cents $2, Cable & Wireless had 727,789 actively trading at 48 cents as the price ended 2 cents higher, Caribbean Cement closed at a new 52 weeks high of $5.05 with the price rising 51 cents with 671,498 shares changing hands. JSE fn Qts 12-5-15Desnoes & Geddes closed with 15,000 shares to hit a 52 weeks’ high of $7.05 after posting a gain of 15 cents, Grace Kennedy traded 16,875shares to end at $65 but lost 49 cents, JMMB Group had 36,078 shares changing hands at 41 cents higher for a 52 weeks high of $9.50. National Commercial Bank traded 72,619 shares at $30, Sagicor Group exchanged 16,187 units at $12.10 with a gain of 10 cents, Salada Foods traded 5,910 units and put on 83 cents to $9.50, Scotia Group had 41,000 shares changing hands to close 1 cents higher at $25.03 after trading as high as $27, 81. Supreme Ventures traded 179,873 shares at a new 52 weeks; high of $3.95 by adding 6 cents. Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 42,000 units at $2.10 but ended 1 cent lower and the 8.75% preference share traded 376,500 to end at $3, after losing 2 cents.

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New record for junior market

May 12, 2015 by

Bottle heating machine at Lasco Manufacturing. The company's closed at a 52 weeks high.

Bottle heating machine at Lasco Manufacturing. The company’s closed at a 52 weeks high.

Lagging the performance of the main market for weeks, the junior market has quietly come into its own, posting new record highs on two consecutive days. Having surpassed the previous high on Monday, it went on to post a new high on Tuesday when it ended at 860.96 points up 16.66 points for the day.
Trading picked up on the Junior Market in the early hours of trading but slowed done considerable thereafter in the end it closed with 11 securities trading, and ended with 707,451 units changing hands valued at $2,017,008. The JSE Junior Market closed with the price of 5 stocks advancing and 3 declining including 4 that closed at 52 weeks’ highs.
At the close of the market, there were 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 3 securities closing with no bids to buy and 7 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Access Financial trading 39,172 units at $15.10, AMG Packaging ending with 7,830 shares changing hands to close at $3.30, Cargo Handlers finished with 500 units to close at a new high of $22.08, after adding 8 cents. Caribbean Cream with just 100 shares trading, gained 9 cents to close at a new JM 12-5-1552 weeks high of $1.05, Caribbean Producers with 248,000 closed at $2.88 but traded the bulk of them at $3, General Accident Insurance concluded trading with 26,000 shares changing hands, to close 23 cents higher, at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2.05. Honey Bun closed trading with 1,200 shares to gain 60 cents and end at $2.70, Knutsford Express closed with 1,000 shares trading at $6. Lasco Distributors ended with 227,498 shares trading, 1 cent higher, at $1.50, Lasco Financial Services finished trading with 55,531 units, the price slipped 7 cents to $1.37 and Lasco Manufacturing closed with 100,620 units at $1.40 to gain 3 cents and closed at a new 52 weeks’ high.

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

JSE back at August 2008 levels

May 11, 2015 by

Scotia rose to $27 during trading to help push market on Monday

Scotia rose to $27 during trading to help push market on Monday

The Jamaica Stock Exchange closed Monday at a 82 months’ high, taking it back to August 2008, just before the market tanked, ahead of rising interest rates locally.
Today’s trading resulted in the prices of 13 stocks rising, 9 declining as 32 securities changed hands, ending in 3,376,261 units trading, valued at $34,457,428, in all market segments with the market indices continuing to record gains. The market closed with 6 new 52 weeks high in the junior and main market.
TheJSE Market Index gained 1,291.03 points to 98,710.56, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 1,443.44 points to close at 109,081.28 and the JSE Combined Index closed at 100,708.70 with a gain of 1,293.92 points. JSE sum 11-5-15The JSE All Jamaican Composite index closed at the highest level since it closed on August 28, 2008 at 109,877.58. Based on Monday’s close, the market has now crossed over the resistance trend line, just below today’s close. With Scotia Group pulling back from today‘s high of $27, there is no certainty that it will remain above resistance at the close on Tuesday, even if it does not pull back, the 115,000 mark, just 6,000 points away, is likely to be a real test as most first quarter results would have been released this week.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
Stocks trading include, Berger Paints trading 2,705 shares at $1.80 after shedding 15 cents. Cable & Wireless ended with 196,631 JSE qts 11-5-15shares to close up 3 cents at 46 cents, Caribbean Cement ended with 15,074 units with the price falling 49 cents to $4.50, Carreras traded just 2,000 shares and declined 85 cents to $48.10, Desnoes & Geddes traded 252,106 shares $6.90 while adding 30 cents, Gleaner finished trading 886,808 units at $1, Jamaica Broilers ended trading with 7,634 shares at a new 52 weeks’ high of $5.25 after posting a gain of 45 cents. Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 607,587 units and lost 3 cents at $2.90, JMMB Group closed with 35,677 shares at $9.10, for a gain of 39 cents. Mayberry Investments had dealing in only 1,669 shares to close at $2.80, to gain 5 cents, while National Commercial Bank contributed 845,891 shares at $30. Radio Jamaica traded gained 19 cents while 25,185 shares traded at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2.19, Sagicor Group completed trading with 191,940 units at $12, with a 10 cents loss. Scotia Group traded 16,348 shares to close at $25.02 to lose 98 cents compared to Friday’s close but traded at a new intraday high of $27. Scotia Investments had 10,000 units trading at $24.60 to gain 10 cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 50,000 units at $2.11.

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Are Proven & NCB buying 36% of Guardian?

May 6, 2015 by

Investment banker Proven Investments and National Commercial Bank, Jamaica’s number one banking group, are lining up to acquire some large blocks of shares in Guardian Holdings, the Trinidad & Tobago company. IC Insider has confirmed that the targets are – Tenetic Limited block of 35.84 million, which, amounts to 15.46 percent of the company and Arthur Lok Jack’s direct holding of 6.29 percent or 14.59 million units. Arthur Lok Jack’s is listed as having a beneficial interest in Tenetic. Royal Insurance Trinidad holds 22.33 million units or 9.63 percent and RBC Trust T&T controls 4.99 percent or 11.57 million shares.
Lok Jack wants out, as various sources indicate that his holdings were partially funded by borrowings and he now needs to liquidate the debt. Royal Bank, according to our sources, is moving completely out of the Caribbean region. This sale would be another aspect of their exiting. RBC sold the Jamaica operations last year to Sagicor Group and the Suriname operation to Republic Bank of Trinidad, slated to be sold the Cayman operation.
Guardian HoldingThe acquisition of Guardian would be a complete reversal, returning the company to its Jamaican roots. Guardian was once majority owned by Jamaica Mutual life, but Mutual sold out their holding sometimes before they ran into Jamaica’s problems and folded. The Jamaican entities consider the company to be clean, well run and considerably undervalued. Part of the plan is to increase the dividend payments, which is just a third of profits and relist the shares on the Jamaica Stock exchange once more. No time frame was given when the deal will be sealed, but Proven has just raised approximately US$30 million in a rights issue of shares, so they are well prepared to take up their share with borrowings being a part it of the funding.
Guardian traded in Trinidad at TT$14.26 or U$2.23 on Wednesday. This would mean that the sale to Proven and NCB stands at a whopping U$$188 million, representing approximately 84.33 million units or 36.37 percent of the current share capital of 231.9 million units.
Guardian is primarily a Life Insurance company but also owns a general insurance arm. NCB operates the well known OMNI Life Insurance Company. Part of the likely synergy in future would be a merger of general insurance companies with Omni to be sold to the Life Insurance arm, enjoying economies of scale. The possibility exists that and the expanded general Insurance company could be listed on the stock exchanges within the Caribbean, thus spreading the risk associated therewith.
Guardian reported total revenues of TT$4.8 billion in 2014 and profit to shareholders of TT$401 million. Total shareholder equity stood at TT$2.9 billion and net asset per share TT$2.65. Dividends paid was 57 cents, covered by profits to the tune of just over three times.
NCB MbayLast year Proven acquired a block of shares in Knutsford Express bring their total holdings to 20,000,002 units or 20 percent of the company and 49 percent of Access Financial Services.Proven Investments is chaired by the leading Jamaican Lawyer, Hugh Hart, a former senator and minister of government under the Jamaica Labour Party regime of the 1980s. Some of the top shareholders include directly, or through companies they are connected to are Hugh Hart, Garfield Sinclair, CEO of Cable & Wireless Jamaica, Christopher Williams, President, Proven Investments and former manager of NCB Capital Markets, an NCB subsidiary; Senator Mark Golding, Justice Minister; Peter Bunting, Security Minister and Paula Kerr-Jarret. Transport and Works Minister Omar Davies is also a holder of shares in the company.
Patrick Hylton, President of NCB, is a director of Massy Holdings, of which Lok Jack is the Chairman.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Company News, Feature Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

18 gains 10 new highs – Tuesday

May 5, 2015 by

H&L gained 35% or $2.65 to $10.15 on Tuesday

H&L gained 35% or $2.65 to $10.15 on Tuesday

The closing main market indices do not tell the full tale of activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Tuesday, as the day closed with 10 new at 52 weeks’ high and with advancing stocks out numbering declining stocks, by a wide margin as 60 percent of stocks trading increased in price. During the early morning, trading in two stocks was halted having exceeded the 15 percent circuit breaker maximum price movement initially.
Hardware and Lumber one of the stocks after an hour freeze in the trade went through with a gain of 29.70 percent but Radio Jamaica price of $3 that the stock had attempted trading at, was well over the 30 percent allowed and was cancelled. Ciboney price gained more than thirty percent from the last price but the bid on the previous day was such that the trade could take place unimpeded as the benchmark for the 15 percent was the bid price in the case. The market closed with the prices of 18 stocks rising, 5 declining, with 30 securities changing hands, ending in 7,028,882 units trading, valued at $46,086,343, in all market segments.
JSE sum 5-5-15 Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained just 11.21 points to 95,493.85, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 12.53 points to close at 105,484.85 and the JSE combined index gained 181.45 points to close at 97,599.81.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with offers that were lower.
In trading, Caribbean Cement ended with 50,000 units to close higher by 80 cents to end at $5, a new 52 weeks’ high, Carreras closed with 18,000 shares trading as the price jumped $2.82 to $50, a new 52 weeks’ high. Ciboney finished with 500,000 units and put on 2 cents to close at 9 cents, Desnoes & Geddes finished trading with 500 shares and gained of 2 cents to end at a new 52 weeks’ high of $6.51. Grace Kennedy concluded trading with just 10,193 units, 11 cents higher at $64.12, Hardware & Lumber had trading of 4,000 shares, the price climbed $2.65 to end at $10.15, Jamaica Broilers contributed 176,408 shares but the price gained by 9 cents to $5, JMMB Group finished trading with 1,026,000 units to close at $8.30, for a new 52 weeks’ high. Mayberry Investments had dealing in 120,581 units with a gain on 1 cent to end at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2.80, JSE cl qts 5-5-15National Commercial Bank contributed 275,391 shares to trading and ended higher by 51 cents at $30.50, Pan Jamaican Investment ended with 169,314 units trading, 51 cents higher at $57.51. Sagicor Group closed with 160,357 shares traded with a gain of 20 cents to $12.20, a new 52 weeks’ high. Scotia Group finished with 30,305 shares as the price ended at $25, Seprod finished trading with 64,600 units to close at $18.50, Supreme Ventures concluded trading with 755,156 shares as the rice rose 39 cents to end at $3.90, a new 52 weeks’ high. Proven Investments had trading in 25,994 units with the price falling .001 us cents to end at 20.99 us cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share finished trading with 180,097 units with a decline of 20 cents to $3 and Proven Investments 8% preference share closed with 64,240 units as the price slipped 5 cents to $5.

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

JPS costly power losses

May 4, 2015 by

Kelly Tomblin - CEO JPS

Kelly Tomblin – CEO JPS

Jamaicans are paying a dear price for the huge system losses at Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS). The cost amounts to US$27 million last year, but that is only the direct cost.
The cost to the wider society the loss in business opportunities and jobs lost due to higher operating cost, that makes some entities not as competitive as they ought, have not yet been quantified, but is likely to be far greater than the $27 million mentioned above. According to data from JPS, system losses increased by just over 1 percent last year, ending the year at 26.65 percent. That is huge, and is well over the 10 percent experts say it should be. JPS in a recent report to its shareholders said “Electricity theft resulted in a net penalty of US$18.4 million to JPS on the cost of fuel used in electricity generation.”
Faced with the massive theft of electricity, the company began curtailing the hours of service to certain communities where according to the company more than 70 percent of the electricity provided was being stolen. The move irritated the Office of Utilities Regulation and some politicians forcing the company to back off. Unfortunately, the issue of theft has been a longstanding problem which the government who have responsibility for keeping order in the society have failed to address, forgetting that it has wider implications for economic growth and development.

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

NCB whips Alibaba in stock gains

May 3, 2015 by
NCB stock beat Alibaba street and lane

NCB stock beat Alibaba street and lane

One aspect of successful investment is not to go after every fad that’s out there. Since the US stock market bottomed after the 2007 collapse and started moving up and the FED kept pushing interest rates lower, the rage has been the gains to be made in this market.
But investors ought to note some elements of successful investments. Markets don’t go up or down for ever. The role interest rate plays in market movement don’t seem to be fully appreciated by many. This applies to real estate, stocks and bond investing alike.
Some feel that Jamaican real estate is cheap, because of crime but that is only a fraction of truth. The undervaluation is tied to high interest rates that require a higher rate of return on investment to compensate, hence a lower valuation of properties. The US stock market has been fueled a great deal by super low interest rates, not unlike what happened in the real estate boom prior to the fall in 2007.
When rates start reversing there is going to be some shake out. Rising interest rates and uncertainty drove down stocks value in Jamaica since 2013. Last year Interest rates started to fall and the local stock market started to respond by June last year, slowly at first, but it gradually gathered momentum and by October really started to move up and accumulating in a rise of 36 percent in the main market stocks since.
Jamaica has undergone a very long bear market, possibly the longest in history, having peaked in 2005, but more so since 2009, when the market fell in response to higher local interest rates. It was the sort of market that causes some investors to want to give up. On the other hand the US market gave the impression that one cannot go wrong by investing therein. The chart below tells why one should be careful when entering markets after several years of strong gains and to focus on investing in stocks that are severely undervalued instead. The payout in one, is highly risky and there are huge payoff for investing in undervalued ones. Its will just be a matter of time for the break out to take place.
Around November last year, an investors sold out National Commercial Bank shares to invest in the newest investing fad at the time – Alibaba. At the time Alibaba was around US$100 and NCB was sold around J$17. The chart below tells how wrong the investor was. NCB shot up 79 percent in Jamaican Dollar terms. Dividends payable adds to the NCB returns less the effect of devaluation of the Jamaican dollar which still leaves a huge gain. On the other hand, Alibaba is now at US$81 and looks like it may well head lower while NCB is definitely heading higher. the details above indicates that all that glitters is not gold, but it indicates how tough a lesson some investors have to learn to make money.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, Investment Tips Tagged With: ,

Juniors near all-time high

May 1, 2015 by

JM 1-5-15 indx Activity on the Junior Market closed with 6 securities trading and ending with 680,118 units changing hands valued at $867,840. The JSE Junior Market Index declined 25.07 points to close at 811.00, with the price of 3 stocks advancing and 4 declining, two stocks reached new 52 weeks high, with one hitting an all-time high.
The index is just 29 points from the all-time high of 840.18 reached in July 2013, this level is likely to be history once the Lasco companies report earnings, which should be the end of May, based on past reporting time frame. With nearly a third of the market closing with bids ahead of the last traded price, the all-time high should be easily taken out in a matter of days. The junior market is lagging the gains of the main market Jamaican stocks with gains of just 14 percent in 2015 and 33 percent from the low of July 2014, compared to 26 percent for the Main market and 39 percent respectively.
At the close of the market, there were 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 2 with lower offers. The junior market ended with 3 securities closing with no bids to buy and 9 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.JM cht 1-5-15Stocks trading in the junior market are, AMG Packaging with 37,855 shares at $3, Cargo Handlers with 3,700 units at a new all time high of $20.11, after putting on 1 cent, Caribbean Producers had 501,000 shares trading at $3.10 with a gain of 10 cents, with the offer at the close, was $2.99 to buy 100,000 units. Lasco Distributors with only 1,285 shares trading, closed at $1.43, Lasco Financial Services had 134,913 units trading and ended at $1.30 with a gain of 10 cents and Lasco Manufacturing traded just 1,355 shares with a gain of 14 cents to $1.35, for a new 52 weeks’ high.

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

JSE on a gallop to 31/2 year high

May 1, 2015 by

Bull2_150X150As if to make up for lost time the Jamaica Stock Exchange is now on a gallop, putting in another day of outsized gains. The market unlike most of the past 5 days, shot out of the box with a number of trades within 5 minutes of opening. By the close the prices of 16 securities rose with 8 of them closing at 52 weeks’ high and pushing the market to its highest level since mid-November 2011.
The prices of only 2 stocks declined as 23 securities changed hands, ending in 3,992,674 units trading, valued at $35,124,269, in all market segments. Even the junior market that has been a laggard this year, moved up sharply on Friday and is now just 29 points away from its all-time high reached in 2013. JSE sum - 1-5-15
The JSE Market Index gained 2,824.66 points to 96,089.09, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index jumped 3,158.10 points to close at 106,150.35, just below the level reached on November 11, 2011 and the JSE Combined Index leaped 2,890.21 points to close at 97,932.95.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and with offers that were lower.
In trading, Cable & Wireless ended with 1,037,588 units to close lower by 4 cents at 48 cents, Caribbean Cement with 902,807 shares changing hands, closed higher by 15 cents to $4,in continued response to excellent Q1 results. Carreras finished with 8,774 shares trading with a gain of 42 cents to a new 52 weeks’ high of $47.50, Desnoes & Geddes finished trading with only 28,000 shares, gaining 47 cents to a new 52 weeks’ high of $6.49, Grace Kennedy concluded trading with 172,590 shares but the price dropped 39 cents to $63.60, Jamaica Broilers ended up trading 66,500 units to close with a gain of 35 cents to $5.10. Jamaica Producers finished trading with just 2,812 shares, with the price rising $1.25 to $18.50.JSE fn qts 1-5-15 There was dealing in 168,500 units of Mayberry Investments as the stock put on 5 cents to close at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2.65, National Commercial Bank contributed 433,054 shares to end with an increase of 42 cents to close at a new 52 weeks’ high of $30.50, the stock traded as high as $31. Sagicor Group ended with 212,335 units changing hands and put on 52 cents, to a new 52 weeks’ high of $11.53 after trading as high as $12.20. Scotia Group closed with 8,627 units and put on $2.26 to a new 52 weeks’ high of $25.49, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 140,900 units to end at $2.30 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share had 80,000 units changing hands at $3.20.

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

Unemployment worsens

April 30, 2015 by

cementblocks150x150Jamaica’s unemployment worsened in December last year compared with a year ago according to the main findings of the Labour Force Survey, conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) between December 14 and 20, last year.
According to Statin, the Unemployment Rate for December 2014 was 14.2 percent compared to 13.4 in December 2014 leaving the Employment Rate at 85.8 percent, a fall from the 86.6 percent in December 2013.
A total of 188,100 persons were unemployed in December last year, an increase of 13,100 when compared with 175,000 in December 2013. The deterioration did not stem from less persons being employed as the number of persons in the Labour Force rose to 1,320,800, or 15,700 higher than the 1,305,100 recorded in December 2013. The Employed Labour Force for December 2014 was 1,132,700, or 2,600 more than the 1,130,100 recorded in December 2013.

At the last election his party promised jobs and more jobs but tight economic policies won't deliver them in the short term

Jamaica’s Minister of Finance. At the last election his party promised jobs & more jobs. Tight economic policies won’t deliver them in the short term

Employment in the Occupation group ‘Clerks’ increased by 9,100 persons to 110,500 in December 2014, Professionals, Senior Officials and Technicians’ also increased moving from 247,800 persons in December 2013 to 263,100 persons. Service Workers, Shop and Market Sales Workers declined from 228,800 persons to 218,400 while Elementary Occupation fell from 143,800 to 137,200.
The number of persons employed in the group ‘Manufacturing’ increased by 7,200 persons or 10 percent, while ‘Transport, Storage and Communication’ increased by 5,500 persons (7.7 percent). Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry & Fishing’ declined by 7,400 persons (3.6 percent) followed by ‘Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities’, which declined by 6,100 persons or 8.6 percent.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, Feature Stories