Total remittance inflows for December last year rose 6.7 percent to US$321.6 million compared to US$301 million generated in 2020 as total inflows for 2021 ended at $3.5 billion an increase of 20.4 percent or $600 million more than the $2.9 billion in 2020 bank of Jamaica report shows.
Total inflows are up by $1.09 billion over the inflows of $2.4 billion in 2020. The growth in the last two years has been the best since going back to 2007. The rate of increase in the last seven months of 2021 grew at an average of 9.5 percent over the same period in 2020 an indication that growth in 2022 is unlikely to be the average of 20.4 percent for 2021 or the 20.8 percent in 2020 over 2019. If the rate falls to say seven percent which is slightly above the increase in last year’s December total inflows would be in the order of $3.75 billion or $250 million more than for 2021.
Jamaica’s remittances hit US$3.5B in 2021
More declines for Trinidad stocks
Price movements were mostly down at the close of trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Thursday as the volume of shares exchanged surged 293 percent valued 38 percent more than on Wednesday.
The number of securities traded remained 16 as was the case on Wednesday, with two rising, six declining and eight remaining unchanged. The Composite Index slipped 1.40 points to 1,515.09, the All T&T Index declined 6.39 points to end at 2,120.41 and the Cross-Listed Index rose 0.55 points to settle at 121.57.
A total of 3,682,320 shares traded for $12,609,856 up from 937,553 units at $9,155,489 on Wednesday. An average of 230,145 units traded at $788,116 compared to 58,597 shares at $572,218 on the previous day, with trading month to date, averaging 105,529 units at $707,865 versus 53,059 units at $674,075. The average trade for January amounts to 39,943 units at $369,498.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Agostini’s lost $1 to end at $45, with100 shares changing hands, Angostura Holdings ended unchanged at $19.99 with the swapping of 64 units, Ansa McAl dropped 25 cents in closing at $58.75 after ownership of 550 stock units was shifted. Clico Investment Fund remained at $29, with 256 stocks crossing the market, First Citizens Group declined $1 to $63 trading 269 units, FirstCaribbean International Bank rose 14 cents to $6.14 after 100 stocks changed hands. 
GraceKennedy finished at $6.10 with an exchange of 48,271 shares, Guardian Holdings shed 25 cents to close at $29.75 after 7,980 stock units cleared the market, JMMB Group ended at $2.30 after exchanging 3,381,000 units. Massy Holdings remained at $106 while exchanging 18,240 stock units, NCB Financial Group finished at $8 in swapping 186,740 stocks, One Caribbean Media rallied 10 cents to $4.20 after exchanging 20,200 shares. Republic Financial Holdings finished at $143 in an exchange of 2,128 stock units, Scotiabank ended at $72.01 after trading at 475 stocks, Trinidad & Tobago NGL fell 49 cents to $19.50 with an exchange of 300 shares and West Indian Tobacco shed 54 cents to $26.06 in trading 15,647 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading picks up in Trinidad
Market activity picked up on Monday on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, resulting in 140 percent more shares trading, with a 156 percent higher value than Friday, as the market closed with falling stocks beating rising ones on a two to one ratio.
A total of 21 securities traded up from 12 on Friday, with four rising, eight declining and nine ending unchanged. The Composite Index gained 0.48 points to end at 1,520.63, the All T&T Index fell 0.89 points to close at 2,129.00 and the Cross-Listed Index added 0.27 points to settle at 121.88.
Overall, 2,793,605 shares traded, for $10,485,578 compared to 1,164,654 units at $4,097,849 on Friday. An average of 133,029 units traded at $499,313 up from 97,055 at $341,487 on Friday, with trading month to date averaging 43,264 units at $263,655 versus 21,087 units at $205,435. The average trade for December amounts to 21,703 units at $306,768.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one stock with a lower offer.
At the close, Agostini’s gained $1 to end at $35, after 300 shares crossed the market, Angostura Holdings ended unchanged at $20, with 5,451 stock units changing hands, Ansa McAl remained at $59.50 in an exchange of 45 units. CinemaOne shed 5 cents to close at $4.20 in trading 250 stocks, Clico Investment Fund finished at $30 after exchanging 7,180 units, First Citizens Group dipped 1 cent in closing at $66.99 after an exchange of 200 stock units. FirstCaribbean International Bank closed at $6.15 in exchanging 3,000 stocks, GraceKennedy fell 4 cents to $6.20 in switching ownership of 931 shares, Guardian Holdings lost 25 cents to end at $29.75 trading 7,338 shares. 
JMMB Group dropped 3 cents to close at $2.27 with the swapping of 2,435,193 units, Massy Holdings finished unchanged at $106.50 with an exchange of 4,819 stocks, National Enterprises advanced 35 cents to $3.76 trading 10,122 stock units. National Flour Mills ended unchanged at $1.95, with 5,385 stocks crossing the exchange, NCB Financial Group popped 1 cent to end at $8.01 after trading 274,066 shares, One Caribbean Media ended unchanged at $4.44 while exchanging 18,010 stock units. Republic Financial Holdings plunged $4.76 to $140.22, with 8,574 units clearing the market, Scotiabank dropped $1 to $69 after the trading of 1,563 stocks, Trinidad & Tobago NGL slipped 1 cent in closing at $19.99 after exchanging 10,508 units. Trinidad Cement rose 1 cent to $3.75 trading 325 stock units, Unilever Caribbean finished unchanged at $16.19 in exchanging 245 shares and West Indian Tobacco remained at $28.50, with 100 shares crossing the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
JSE majors slip on Monday
Market activity ended on Monday, with the volume of shares trading rising moderately and the value nose-diving 75 percent from Friday trades on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market leading to declining stocks beating out those rising.
The All Jamaican Composite Index fell 1,704.02 points to close at 432,000.32, the Main Index fell 1,466.39 points to 390,763.90 and the JSE Financial Index slipped 0.40 points to end at 95.65.
Trading ended with 50 securities compared to 48 on Friday, with 18 rising, 23 declining and nine ending unchanged.
The PE Ratio, a formula for computing appropriate stock values, averages 15.8. The PE ratio for the JSE Main and USD Market closing quotes are based on earnings forecasted by ICInsider.com for companies with financial years ending between the current year and August 2022.
A total of 46,377,442 shares traded for $108,050,479 versus 40,219,894 units at $438,749,529 on Friday. QWI Investments led trading with 88.6 percent of total volume for an exchange of 41.1 million shares followed by JMMB Group with 2.4 percent for 1.1 million units and Transjamaican Highway with 2.1 percent after trading 952,806 units.
Trading averages 927,549 units at $2,161,010, compared to 837,914 shares at $9,140,615 on Friday and month to date, an average of 483,933 units at $4,995,646, compared to 427,920 units at $5,353,555 on Friday. 
November closed with an average of 233,949 units at $2,695,416.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Berger Paints rose 44 cents to $13.20 in trading 1,347 shares, Eppley slipped 70 cents to $35 with the transfer of 1,807 stocks, First Rock Capital fell 59 cents to $10.01 in switching ownership of 12,970 units. GraceKennedy rallied 98 cents to $98.98, with 5,974 stock units changing hands, Guardian Holdings shed 95 cents in closing at $520.05 after trading 966 stocks, Jamaica Broilers gained 35 cents in closing at $31.40 after an exchange of 1,297 units. Jamaica Stock Exchange dipped 34 cents to $18.15 with 1,418 shares changing hands, JMMB Group slipped 28 cents to $38.11 in transferring 1,097,799 shares, Kingston Wharves rose 49 cents to $43.99 in an exchange of 3 units. Mayberry Investments advanced $1.50 to end at $9 with 11,530 stocks changing hands, Mayberry Jamaican Equities rose 57 cents to finish at $9.07 in switching ownership of 900 stock units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy fell $1 to close at $100 trading 9 units. 
NCB Financial shed 90 cents to $119 with 14,714 stocks clearing the market, PanJam Investment declined $1.10 to $66.90 after an exchange of 31,304 units, Proven Investments gained 40 cents in ending at $33.90 in 16,308 shares switching owners. Sagicor Group spiked 40 cents to $52.40 in exchanging 7,501 stock units, Scotia Group shed $1.48 to close at $37 with the swapping of 135,945 stocks, Seprod popped 55 cents to end at $63.06 in transferring 19,824 shares. Stanley Motta fell 50 cents to $5 in trading 897 stock units and Sygnus Credit Investments lost 50 cents ending at $15 with 13,167 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Two changes to ICTOP10 listings
The two major Jamaica Stock Exchange markets meandered all week, closing the past week with the Junior Market rising moderately and the Main Market recovering 5,228 points of the more than 12,000 lost on the last two trading days in the previous week as prices of Caribbean Cement, NCB Financial and Scotia Group rose.
Against the above backdrop, there were few changes to the ICTOP10 stocks at the week’s close. Scotia Group jumped 9 percent to end at $37.97 for the week and gave way to Carreras to return to the Main Market TOP10 after a long absence, with the price at $8.10 and projected earnings at 80 cents. The Junior Market lost Medical Disposables with the price closing at $6.72, up 29 percent for the week, allowing General Accident came in to replace it with the price at $6.60 and just edging out Fontana, with both having similar potential gains of 97 percent.
Big TOP10 movers for the week are AMG Packaging lost 6 percent in closing at $2.25 from $2.40 last week, Caribbean Cream fell 4 percent to $5.60, Elite Diagnostic dropped 8 percent to $3.20, Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 6 percent to $2.47 and Dolphin Cove rose 3 percent to land at $12.90 after it a 52 weeks’ high of $14 on Thursday, new coronavirus making the news seemed to have induced selling on Friday. In the Main Market, Caribbean Producers jumped 15 percent to close at $10, up from $8.61 and Radio Jamaica gained 8 percent to $3.30.
The top three Main Market stocks are Guardian Holdings, Caribbean Producers and JMMB Group, projected to gain between 214 to 254 percent expected versus last weeks’ 212 to 283 percent.
The top three stocks in the Junior Market are AMG Packaging, followed by Caribbean Assurance Brokers and Access Financial Services. All three can gain between 150 and 211 percent, down from 154 percent and 207 percent previously.
There are many undervalued stocks in the market, with the average gains projected for the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks moved from 145 percent last week to 142percent and Main Market stocks moved from 163 percent to this week’s 159 percent.
The Junior Market closed the week with an average PE 14.5 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and is currently well below the target of 20 and the March 2020 historical average of 17, based on 2020 earnings. The TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of a mere 8.4, with a 42 percent discount to that market’s average PE.
The Junior Market can gain 38 percent to March next year, based on an average PE of 20 and 17 percent based on an average PE of 17. Ten stocks representing 25 percent of all Junior Market stocks with positive earnings are trading at or above this level, down from seven last week, indicating that many others will rise towards the 17 mark in the weeks ahead.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market is 16.1, which is 18 percent less than the PE of 19 at the end of March and 24 percent below the target of 20 to March 2022. The Main Market TOP 10 average PE is 8, representing a 50 percent discount to the market and well below the potential of 20. A total of 14 stocks or 30 percent of the market trade at or above a PE of 19, with most over 20, for an average PE of 25.5, suggesting that the accepted multiple could be around 25 times the current year’s earnings.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners; accordingly, the list may or may not include the best companies in the market. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings to highlight winners from the rest, allowing investors to focus on potential winning stocks and helping to remove emotional attachments to stocks that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2022 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on the possible increase for each company, considering the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Jamaica’s vaccination rate doubles in October
The vaccination rate is highest since the coronavirus vaccination program started earlier this year. In Jamaica, data from the country’s Ministry of Health show, counter to the popular view that the program is slowing.
Chart showing an increasing number of vaccinations shots administered per day in Jamaica.
In July, approximately 50,000 Jamaicans or an average of 1,700 per day, got some level of vaccination during the month, which more than doubled to 120,000 persons in August, with 131,000 vaccinations being given in September. The numbers in October are surging, with an addition of 121,000 so far and seems on track to hit 240,000 persons for the month, that would bring the total to just under one million at 980,000 or 45 percent of the eligible population who are fully or partially vaccinated by the end of October.
If the October pace continues for a few months, the country will get to 1.3 million persons or 59 percent of the targeted population by the end of the year.
Jamaica’s vaccination rate close to 20%
Just under 40 percent of eligible Jamaicans have received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine to date, data from the Ministry of Health shows, with the total of over 860,000 or 30 percent of the overall population.
The figure is vastly different from the lower level generally bandied about. The official data compares those vaccinated with the total population, but only individuals 12 years and over are eligible for the vaccine at this time as such, comparing the data with the total population distorts the vaccination progress made. The ministry’s data also does not appear to include persons vaccinated overseas, which would increase the level of vaccination in the country. The total number of single doses include those getting two does and that would reduce the overall numbers of persons vaccinated below 40 of the target.
In August, 120,000 persons got a least one vaccine shot, which climbed to 131,000 in September, with October pointing to a further increase, data out of the Ministry shows.
Trading spike on JSE USD market on Monday
Eight times more money passed through the JSE USD market on Monday with the volume of shares trading surging 5,076 percent over Friday’s and resulted in more stocks rising than falling after trading cooled down.
Six securities traded down from seven on Friday with four rising, one declining and one ending unchanged. The JSE US Denominated Equities Index rallied 4.68 points to 187.89. The PE Ratio, a measure that computes appropriate stock values, averages 11.8 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
Overall, 31,764,409 shares traded for US$389,704 up from 613,698 units at US$47,818 on Friday. Trading averaged 5,294,068 units at US$64,951 compared to 87,671 shares at US$6,831 on Friday and month to date averages, 397,483 at US$13,035 versus 91,447 units at US$9,791 on Friday. August ended with an average of 210,413 units for US$12,959.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with the bid higher than its last selling price and two with lower offers.
At the close, First Rock Capital remained at 7 US cents after 884,883 shares traded, Proven Investments gained 0.29 of a cent to end at 23.49 US cents with an exchange of 5,665 stocks, Sterling Investments lost 0.05 of a cent to end at 2.09 US cents with 150,632 units changing hands. Sygnus Credit Investments USD gained 0.1 of a cent to finish at 13 US cents with a transfer of 86,783 stock units and Transjamaican Highway advanced 0.18 cents to settle at 1 US cent with 30,628,178 shares crossing the exchange.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 6% popped 1 cent to close at US$1.04 with 8,268 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Tourist arrivals eyeing 80% of 2019 numbers
Two and a half months after the end of June the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is just reporting stopover arrivals for that month, that came in at 166,046 visitors, this compares with 160,000 this publication suggested in its July report.
By now the public ought to know how many visitors came into the country for July and possibly August. The long delay in reporting the data is unacceptable. The JTB needs to switch the manner of reporting by releasing the arrival numbers shortly after each month finishes and then release the full analysis at a later time.
At the same time, ICInsider.com had indicated that the numbers for July were set to end up around 170,000, but based on the outturn for June it is now likely to be 180,000 stopover arrivals or 67 percent of July 2019 arrivals, that saw 270,462 stopover arrivals. Arrivals for last year were just 41,941 in July and 43,813 in August shortly after the country reopened its borders. The latest available data suggest that August arrivals will be around 170,000 or 79 percent of the 214,780 stopover arrivals in 2019.
Tourism is one of Jamaica’s major earners and employers of labour. A lot rides on the fortunes of this sector and Jamaicans need timely and up to date information for planning and decision making. It cannot be that the JTB sits on valuable information while the rest of the society has to wait at their pleasure to release the data.
Dominican Republic expects 4.8m tourists
Growth in tourism expected in 2021
The Dominican Republic will receive 4,840,376 tourists by the end of this year, just 75 percent of the 6,446,036 non-resident foreigners who arrived on the island in 2019, the country’s Minister of Tourism stated.
On Wednesday, September 8th, the Minister of Tourism David Collado said that between January and August 2021, 2.94 million tourists arrived in the country and the projected that, from October to December, “if everything continues normally within the pandemic,” a further 1.55 million visitors will arrive in the Dominican Republic.
“We are going to end the year at 4,840,376 non-resident arrivals, which is a number that we could never imagine we would be able to have in 2021. We are giving clear signals that tourism is recovering in a sustainable way in the Dominican Republic.” Tourism Analytics reported the information.