Monday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was very moderate, as the prices of 3 stocks rose, 6 declined and 18 securities changed hands, resulting in 1,001,293 shares trading valued at a mere $4,627,847.
Main Market| By the close of trading the JSE Market Index inched up by 71.70 points to 70,259.21 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up 80.17 points to close at 77,270.76.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market, are Grace Kennedy with 7,725 units as the price gained 99 cents to $55, Pan Jamaican Investment traded only 1,558 shares but gained 25 cents, to land at $48.26 and Scotia Group with 94,278 units changing hands, gained a cent to close at $18.51.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price, are Carreras with 10,224 shares closing at $33.60. Mayberry Investments traded 3,943 units and closed at $1.55, Seprod traded 5,000 units and ended at $10.50 and Supreme Ventures traded 11,500 units to close at $1.95.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 2,000 units at $2.
Declines| The number of stocks declining in the main market, are Cable & Wireless with 502,916 shares, while losing 2 cents to end at 25 cents, Jamaica Broilers with 76,626 shares, lost 3 cents to close at $4.57, National Commercial Bank with 8,475 units, closed with a 2 cents loss at $18, Sagicor Group in trading 115,510 shares lost 5 cents to close at $9.05 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund, exchanged 4,500 units for 10 cents lower at $6.30.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 8.99 points to close at 679.40 as 5 securities traded, with none advancing and one declining.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before, are Caribbean Cream with 38,240 shares to close at 70 cents, Jamaican Teas with only 698 units at $3.25, Lasco Financial Services with 29,100 shares to close at $1 and Medical Disposables & Supplies with 86,000 shares at $2.
Declines| The only stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading is Lasco Distributors with 3,000 units to close down 10 cents at $1.20.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Lousy Monday trading on JSE
Moderate price changes on JSE Friday
In Friday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 5 stocks rose, 7 declined as 20 securities changed hands, resulting in 2,619,479 shares trading, valued at $11,003,465.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index declined by 346.05 points to 70,187.51 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 386.94 points, to close at 77,190.59.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market, are Grace Kennedy with 21,000 shares as the price improved by a cent to close at $54.01, Jamaica Producers traded 233 shares to close with a cent gain, at $17.51 and Sagicor Group traded 73,000 shares in closing at $9.10, for a 3 cents gain.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market, are Cable & Wireless with 2 cents loss while trading 697,629 units, to close at 27 cents, Carreras with 7,535 shares closed 30 cents lower at $33.60, Hardware & Lumber traded 600 shares to close with a 35 cents loss at $9.15, Kingston Wharves with 100,000 units closed with a 25
NCB & Paramount plan dividend payments
Times may be tough for many Jamaicans but the majority of listed companies continue to distribute dividends to their shareholders.
The latest announcement of plans for dividends are from National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Paramount Trading.
NCB advises that the Board of Directors will consider the payment of an interim dividend to stockholders at a meeting to be held on Thursday, July 24, 2014. National Commercial Bank approved an increase dividend payment of 35 cents per share paid on May 22 and a dividend of 32 cents per ordinary stock was paid on February 20 this year.
Paramount advised that Board Meeting to be held at 8 Bell Road East on Thursday, July 24, 2014 receive the audited financials and consider a dividend. Paramount paid an interim dividend of 13.5 cents per share payable on December 10, 2013.
Insiders buy more shares
Inside trades continue apace with the latest once more in Sagicor Group Jamaica who advised that an Executive purchased 571,696 shares under the group’s Executive Long Term Incentive Scheme on July 16, 2014.
Pan-Jamaican Investment that owns more than 30 percent of Sagicor also advised that a director purchased 5,000 shares on July 14, 2014.
Blue Power Group advised that a Director sold 687,285 ordinary shares to a connected party of Guardsman Group on July 11, 2014.
Grace Kennedy has advised that on June 26, 2014 GK Capital Management acquired by way of a trade across the floor of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), 10,200,000 ordinary stock units in the JSE from PWL Transition Ltd (formerly First Global Financial Services (FGFS)). The transfer of the stock units in the JSE was part of the larger transaction whereby all the shares in FGFS were sold by First Global Holdings a subsidiary of Grace to Proven Investments Limited and the price agreed took into account the overall deal.
More stocks fall than rise but main indices up
In Thursday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 4 stocks rose, 7 declined as 16 securities changed hands, resulting in 2,965,442 shares trading, valued at $16,295,528.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 168.74 points to 70,533.56 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up 188.68 points, to close at 77,577.53.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Berger Paints trading 2,955 shares to close with a 2 cents gain at $1.62, Carreras 7,535 shares closed 10 cents higher at $33.90, Desnoes & Geddes 21,750 units traded to close 5 cents higher, at $4.25, National Commercial Bank gained 5 cents to close at $18.20, with 900 units changing hands, Sagicor Group traded 1,137,827 shares in closing at $9.07 for a 2 cents gain and Scotia Group traded 11,881 units to close 9 cents up, at $18.60
Firm| Kingston Wharves with 511 units closing at $5.25 was the only stocks in the main market to close without a change in price.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 439,700 units to close at $2,
Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share with 523,950 units closed at $3.01 and Jamaica Public Service 5% D preference share with 23,675 units closed at 35 cents.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market are Cable & Wireless that lost a cent with 6,758 units to close at 29 cents and Grace Kennedy with 25,000 shares as the price slipped $1 to close at $54.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 15.40 points to close at 670.67, only 4 stocks traded with none advancing and 3 declining.
Firm Trades| Only one stock in the junior market that traded, close at the same price as the day before with Lasco Financial Services trading 10,000 shares as the price closed at $1.
Declines| Junior market stocks declining at the end of trading are Caribbean Producers with 505,000 shares, declining by 5 cents to close at $2.50, Lasco Distributors with 129,000 shares changed hands for 5 cents higher at $1.20 and Lasco Manufacturing 119,000 shares, closed with a loss of 8 cents at $1.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Very slow trading on JSE
Trading activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was very light on Wednesday, with only 1,218,280 shares trading, valued at $6,917,508. The prices of 5 stocks rose and 11 declined as 19 securities changed hands. Main Market| The JSE Market Index declined by 421.31 points to 70,364.82 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 471.09 points, to close at 77,388.85.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market, are Jamaica Broilers with 14,228 units to close with a 3 cents gain at $4.60, Mayberry Investments, with a gain of 5 cents while trading 6,000 shares, to close at $1.55, Sagicor Group with 333,000 shares, closed with a gain of 2 cents at $9.05 and Scotia Group traded 10,000 shares and close with 1 cent gain, at $18.51.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price, are Caribbean Cement with 10,619 shares, closing at $2.25 and Seprod with 10,000 units traded, to closed at $10.50.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share traded 28,000 units, to close at a cent lower at $3.50 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share, with 313,150 units changing hands, closed 2 cents down at $3.01.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market, are Carreras with 2,032 shares and the price fell $1.10 to close at $34, Desnoes & Geddes with 21,750 shares, declined by 25 cents to close at $4.30, Grace Kennedy traded 6,048 units and declined by $1 to close at $55, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 2,040 ordinary shares, declining by 5 cents to close at $6.95 and National Commercial Bank with 87,114 units, declined by 35 cents to close at $18.15.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 6.59 points, to close at 686.07 as 6 stocks traded with 1 advancing and 3 declining.
Gains| only one stock gained at the end of trading in the junior market with KLE Group trading 2,112 shares to close 5 cents higher at 95 cents.
Firm Trades| The stocks in the junior market that traded and closed at the same price as the day before are Caribbean Cream with 113,700 units trading at 70 cents and Consolidated Bakeries with 11,861 shares, to close at 80 cents.
Declines| Junior market stocks declining at the end of trading are Caribbean Producers with 5,000 units changing hands and declined by 5 cents to close at $2.55, followed by Lasco Distributors with 156,500 shares as the price declined by 5 cents to close at $1.25 and Lasco Manufacturing with 85,126 shares the price fell 2 cents to close at $1.08.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Knutsford & AMG Packaging – Buy Rated
The buy rated list now has Knutsford Express, and AMG Packaging is moved back into the list. One Caribbean Media is moved to the Watch List as its valuation moved up considerably from when we crowned it BUY RATED in 2013.
Knutsford Express is moved in based on good May quarter revenue and profit growth which augurs well for profit going forward and AMG Packaging continued growth in sales flowing from increased volumes and a near doubling in profit in the May quarter and partial recover in profit margins. Jamaica junior market listed Caribbean Cream, posted strong gains in profit for its first quarter to May, to reinforce the Buy Rating placed on them.
In Trinidad ScotiaBank was removed from the watch list, with much lower profits reported in their second quarter.
The Jamaican BUY rated stocks overall did not do well but signs are showing that the usual summer recover is at hand. In addition IC Insider gathers that a least one big investor is looking to buy stocks now. Coupled with that, the two companies mentioned above, show that profits may be on the improve for Jamaican companies, and with likely stability not far off for the Jamaican dollar, above average gains can only be made in stocks.
Knutsford enjoying the good times – now Buy Rated
A strong 88 percent jump in fourth quarter revenues, spawned 55 percent increase in pretax profit of $22.9 million, up from $14.8 million in 2013, at Knutsford Express.
For the 12 months to May, pretax profit climbed marginally to $56. Earnings per share which ended at 50 cents for the full year, is up to 23 cents for the last quarter. The latter is what investors would be really interested in, as it gives a good indication, of a rise in profit for the 2015 year.
Management in commenting on the data, indicated in their report accompanying the results, that ridership on the south coast of the island is growing and “signals readiness for enhancement to our schedules on this side of the island.”
Revenues for the quarter, climbed a strong 89 percent, to $96 million from $51 million in 2013, and from $203 million in 2013, to $323 million in 2014.
The result for 2014 is an improvement over the February 2014 quarter, when they reported $90.6 million in revenues and profit of $9.9 million before taxation and is a reflection of continuing growth in business. With the latest figures and signs of continued growth in revenues, earnings for the 2015 year should be around $1 per shares which would place the stock at an interesting valuation with some growth potential, in the stock price to somewhere in the $8-10 range over the next nine months or so compare to $5.16 it last traded. The stock is not in abundant supply and has only traded on a total of seven days, since listing in January this year.
The company’s finances are in a healthy state, with little debt, equity of $159 million and cash of $54 million.
AMG profit up 93% in Q3
Junior market listed company, AMG Packaging, enjoyed increased revenues and profits in the May quarter than they did in the same period, the previous year.
Revenues rose 36 percent in the quarter, to $151.6 million and 40 percent in the nine months to May, to reach $442.4 million, but profits were up by a very strong 93 percent in the quarter to $13.37 million from $6.9 million in 2013, and just moderately better in the year to date period, with $36.87 million versus $35.5 in 2013. Units sold increased by an impressive 23.4 percent, management sated in a release accompanying the results.
There is a noted build-up of inventory from $93 million to $174 million which would be a combination of rising import cost resulting from the devaluation of the local currency, as well as a hedge against continued devaluation and the need for more inventory to service increased demand for the company’s products.
While profit is up, an area of concern is the slippage in the gross profit margin, with the latest quarter, coming in at 25.95 percent, down from 31.19 percent in 2013, and for the nine months, it fell from 34.62 percent in 2013, to 24.20 percent in 2014.
For the three months, gross profit grew by 17.95 percent, much slower than the sales growth. For the nine months, the growth was a mere 6 percent. Fall in administrative cost from $13.38 million to $10.6 million in the May quarter and a decline in the nine months period, from $32.98 million down to $30 million, helped in boosting net profit. Other areas of cost savings, include finance by $4.4 million and depreciation $2.5 million, for the nine months.
Return on equity is around 18 percent, down from 20 percent in 2013 and could be accepted as being good, but there appear to be room for improvement. Receivables are up by $19.5 million over the company’s previous fiscal year ending of August, and so too is amounts in payables, climbing by $63 million, which seems to be helping to fund the inventory build while cash is down from $34 million to $8 million.
The continued increase in volume sales and cost containment augurs well for profit improvement going forward. With increased through put, unit cost of production will fall, allowing more growth in gross profit to flow into overall profits. AMG has to continue to grow its business by continued strong volume growth, to become a more cost competitive producer with lower unit cost.
IC Insider’s forecast for 2014 is 60 cents per share and $1.20 for 2015 on the assumption that volume sales continue close to current growth levels. The stock has been restored to the Buy Rated list, based on the forecast for 2014 and 2015.
Circuit Breaker rule could be changed soon
After years of clamouring for a change investors may see some modification of the existing circuit breaker rule that prevents the value of any one stock from changing more than 15 percent from the closing value of the previous day. The JSE management is proposing that the 15 percent limit be moved to 30 percent and that the freeze would be for an hour.According to our sources, the Exchange is proposing a move towards an intra-day setting of the circuit breaker which allows a ‘cooling off’ of the market in transactions of that particular stock, but does not prevent the stock from trading again within the day, at a prescribed level. This change should provide investors with a more liquid market and a by-product would, be increased level of transactions that would be of benefit for the entire industry.The stock exchange board has not yet signed off on the proposal which could undergo further modification if implemented.
Many investors have expressed dislike for the circuit breaker as they see it as impeding trading which it does. While the Jamaica Stock exchange has stuck to the current system, Barbados moved a few years ago to a more flexible one in which there is a break for a limited time so that brokers can make contact with their clients who may want to buy or sell as the case may be and trading in the stock resumes.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange introduced a circuit breaker rule in the 1990s sometime in an attempt to moderate price movements of a stock each trading day. While some persons will indicate that it is 15 percent above or below the closing price of a stock, in reality while that is the primary basis the rule allows for it to be the lower or higher of the bid or asking prices where these are higher of lower than the sale price. An illustration will help. If stock “A” sold at $10, but the offer was $10 or more and the bid is $10 or lower, then the maximum price movement permitted the next day would be 15 percent or $1.50. If however, the closing bid was $12 then the stock can trade the next day up to $13.80 or $1.80 or 15 percent above the bid or $3.80 which would be 38 percent above the last traded price. The reverse would be true, if the offer was lower than the last selling price of $10.
