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.
Very slow trading on JSE
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.
Advancing stocks out pace decliners on JSE 11 to 6
Market activity was very moderate in Tuesday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 11 stocks rose and 6 declined as 26 securities changed hands, resulting in 1,088,746 shares trading, valued at $15,721,500.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 521.80 points, to close at 70,786.13 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up 583.46 points, to close at 77,859.94.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market, are Cable & Wireless with 30,000 shares, to close with a gain of a cent, at 30 cents, Caribbean Cement with 5,959 units changing hands and close with a 5 cents gain, at $2.25, Carreras with 78,543 shares, closed with a gain of 35 cents, at $35.10, Desnoes & Geddes traded 25,000 units and gained 30 cents, to close at $4.55, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 6,700 shares helped to add 10 cents on the price to end at $7, National Commercial Bank with 72,545 shares, closed with a $1 increase to $18.50, Sagicor Group exchanged 193,523 shares with the price rising 4 cents to $9.03, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 25,000 units while gaining 15 cents to close at $6.40, Salada Foods with 20,000 shares as it gained 10 cents to end at $7.90 and Scotia Group 326,180 shares helped to garner 10 cents to close at $18.50.
Firm| There were only 3 stocks in the main market to close without a change in price with Berger Paints trading 6,780 units at $1.60 followed by Gleaner with 3,400 shares to end at $1.11 and Jamaica Broilers with 12,000 units at $4.57.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 10,000 units to close at $3.03 and Jamaica Public Service 5% D preference share traded 3,000 units at 35 cents.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market are Kingston Wharves with 10,589 shares, as the p[rice declined by 75 cents to end at $5.25, Pan Jamaican Investment traded 57,174 units and closed with a loss of 49 cents at $48.01, Proven Investments ordinary shares traded 12,600 units to close with a loss of 0.0005 US cents and ended at 17.95 US cents, Seprod with 5,000 shares closed with a loss of 30 cents at $10.50 and Supreme Ventures with 2,000 shares changing hands closed with a decline of 2 cents at $1.95
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index inched up by 0.26 points to close at 692.66 as only 6 stocks traded with 1 advancing and 1 declining.
Gains| The only stock recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market was Lasco Financial Services with 19,000 shares as the price gained 5 cents to close at $1.
Firm Trades| Junior market stocks that traded at the close at the same price as the previous trading day are Caribbean Cream in trading 38,300 units to close at 70 cents, Consolidated Bakeries with 41,047 shares to close at 80 cents, Lasco Distributors 4,740 units while closing at $1.30 and Lasco Manufacturing with 55,500 units, to close at $1.10.
Declines| The only junior market stocks declining at the end of trading was General Accident with 24,166 shares while losing 5 cents to end at $1.45.
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 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
Investment special issue coming shortly
Many investors may not be aware of it, but the local stock market is poised for a huge rally, interest rates are poised to fall and stability return to the forex market. No one really knows exactly when the local stock market will start the powerful run, but it could well be in the second half of this year.
There are big investors out in the market trying to get blocks of shares. Many others pocketed some at attractive prices earlier and stocks are scares as we write. The Investor’s Choice special issue covers, investment opportunities, in real estate, stocks in Trinidad and Jamaica, unit trusts investments and the best performing ones, money market the economy and more and will be off the press in days. Investors Choice is the publication that can best be used as a tool to help investors identify some of the best investments opportunities out there now. To purchase a copy call 926-2204.
More stocks rise than fall on JSE
In Monday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 5 stocks rose and 4 declined. Only 18 securities changed hands, resulting in 4,848,981 shares trading, valued at $15,622,653.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index declined by 353.60 points, to 70,264.33 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved down by 395.39 points, to close at 77,276.48.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Gleaner with 11,000 units closed with a cent up, at $1.11 and Pan Jamaican Investment traded 56,790 shares to close with a gain of 48 cents, at $48.50.
Firm| There were only stocks in the main market to close without a change in price with shares closing, are Cable & Wireless traded 156,117 shares to close at 29 cents, Caribbean Cement with 500 traded closed at $2.20, Jamaica Broilers traded 154,589 shares but the price closed unchanged at $4.57, and Scotia Group with 68,506 shares closed at $18.40.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share 16,475 units to close at $3.03 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 2,700 units to close at $5.07.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market are Carreras had 80,000 units changing hands to close down 25 cents at $34.75, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 628,736 shares, declined by 10 cents to close at $6.90, National Commercial Bank with 1,000 close at 50 cents lower at $17.50, Sagicor Group 8,172 close with a 10 cent loss at $8.99.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 17.39 points to close at 692.40 as 6 stocks traded with 3 advancing and none declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are Consolidated Bakeries traded 558,953 shares to close with a gain of 10 cents to close at 80 cents, Lasco Distributors traded 1,000,000 units and gained 10 cents to end at $1.30 and Lasco Manufacturing had 25,000 units changing hands to close 10 cents higher at $1.10.
Firm Trades| The junior market stocks that traded to close at the same price as the day before, are Access Financial Services 10,759 units to close at $10, Blue Power with 27,000 units to close at $9.05, with Caribbean Cream traded 2042684 units at 70 cents each as investors responded well to the 79 percent jump in profits for the first quarter ended May.
Declines| No junior market stocks decline at the end of trading.
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 2stocks with offers that were lower.
Jamaican stocks flashing positive signal
At the end of trading on Friday, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with the offer lower.
This is the strongest signal flashed for some time, but investors would need to see a continuation of this positive ratio to say whether this is an indication of what can be expected in the not too distant future. With Bank of Jamaica sending a powerful signal in the forex market that the top for the Jamaican dollar may be nigh, investors could well be sensing that the time for buying stocks may not be far off. What is known is that the majority of market rallies have their genesis in July or August.
Main Market| In Friday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the main market indices advanced, with The JSE Market Index rising by 193.15 points to 70,617.93, up more than 700 points for the wee and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up by 215.98 points to close at 77,671.87, to be up 800 points for the week. The prices of 4 stocks rose and 6 declined as 20 securities changed hands, resulting in 8,773,022 shares trading, valued at $20,787,406. KLE Group dominated trading with 7,181,043 units sold by Craig Powell, one of the company’s directors.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market, are Sagicor Group with 586,363 shares, to close with a gain of 4 cents at $9.09 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund, with 20,000 units changing hands, as the price gained 15 cents at to end at $6.25.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price, are Caribbean Cement with 18,248 shares to end at $2.20, Desnoes & Geddes 4,017 units to close at $4.25, Grace Kennedy with 13,251 shares to end at $56, Jamaica Broilers 3,920 units, to close at $4.57, National Commercial Bank 9,160 shares, to end at $18 and Scotia Group with 900 units, to close at $18.40.
Preference| There was no trading in the preference section.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market, are Carreras that traded 22,764 shares to close 5 cents down, at $35, followed by Jamaica Producers with 2,062 shares trading, for a fall of 50 cents, in closing at $17.50 and Jamaica Stock Exchange with 250 shares, declined by a cent, to close $1.88.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined sharply by 3.81 percent as it lost 26.75 points to close at 675.01 with 9 stocks traded, with 2 advancing and 3 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market, are Blue Power with 718,136 units to close up 4 cents, at $9.05 and Lasco Financial with 12,500 units as the price gained 5 cents, to 95 cents.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before, are AMG Packaging that traded 1,500 shares as the price closed at $3.10, Dolphin Cove with 14,071 units, to close at $8.30, General Accident with 25,000 shares, to end at $1.50 and Jamaican Teas with 22,000 ordinary shares, to close at $3.25
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading, are Access Financial trading 541 units, to close down $3.50, at $10, Caribbean Producers dropped a cent in trading 117,296 shares, to close at $2.65, and KLE Group lost 3 cents, with 7,181,043 changing hands, to end a an all-time low of 90 cents.
Gary Powell KLE director dumps shares
Craig Powell, a director and second largest shareholder in KLE Group dumped part of his holdings in the floundering group, during Friday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Stocks and Securities acting as brokers, on behalf of the seller and buyer executed the trade at 90 cents each, for the 7,181,043 units that Powell owned. Powell should pocket just under $6,462,938 from the sale, down substantially, from the $26.6 million value placed on it, at the time of the IPO. The amount represents a portion of 10,693,750 that the company’s prospectus said he held prior to the issuing shares to the public in 2012, and now leaves him holding 3,201,343 units. At the time of the IPO, the amount represented 14.64 percent of the total issued shares, after the issue it would have come down to 10.70 percent, the prospectus stated. Powell’s holding after the public issue was second only to Gary Matalon’s holdings of 13.69 percent. At the time of the public issue Usain Bolt’s Sherwood Holdings Limited held 6,757,000 in the company. KLE’s 2013 annual report, lists Sherwood as still owning them.
Who is Powell?| The KLE prospectus list Powell’s credentials as follows: “Non-Executive Director he was appointed September 8th, 2008. Powell has over twenty-four (24) years’ experience in management and event marketing and promotions. Powell’s work experience spans operations management at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel, regional sales and marketing at Amalgamated Distributors Limited and management at Midel Distributors Limited.
Powell also has a wealth of experience in the event-planning and entertainment industry, having been a principal in many of Jamaica’s premier entertainment attractions and events, such as The Appleton Estate All-Jamaica Grill-Off, which is perhaps the only event of its kind in Jamaica.
Powell also has substantial agricultural investments, which includes the production and export of produce and has an interest in Jamaica Hydroponics Ltd., a company that grows and distributes vegetables to hotels and retail outlets. Jamaica Hydroponics Limited owns and operates the largest hydroponics farm in Jamaica.”
KLE Group has been bleeding badly, having made a loss of $56 million in 2013, it followed that up with a loss of $13 million in the March quarter this year, but this was an improvement on the $17 million loss they suffered in the March 2013 period.