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.
Value traded jumps 60% on TTSE – Monday
Trading volume on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange picked up a bit on Monday but the value traded climbed 60 percent over Fridays levels. Overall trading resulted in 13 securities changing hands compared to 10 on Friday.
At the close, 4 stocks advanced, 2 declined and 7 were unchanged as 439,332 shares were exchanged at a value of $8,004,289 compared to Friday’s trades of 393,123 valued at $5,048,449.
The Composite Index advanced 0.55 points to 1,210.40, the All T&T Index rose 0.27 points to 1,792.03 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.11 points to 84.26.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 3 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Gains| Grace Kennedy closed at $2.85, with gains of 4 cents exchanging 5,465 shares, Guardian Holdings added 1 cent to close at $16.21 with 3,000 shares changing hands, Trinidad & Tobago NGL traded at an intraday52 weeks’ high of $23.78, but closed at $23.70 after gaining 10 cents trading 161,384 shares, valued at $3,837,260 and West Indian Tobacco gained 1 cent to close at $125.51, with an exchange of 2,500 shares valued at $313,775
Losses| Angostura Holdings closed at $15.01, with a loss of 9 cents, exchanging 49,180 shares valued at $738,618 and Clico Investment lost 1 cent to close at $22.39 with trades of 27 units.
Firm Trades| First Citizens traded 1,903 shares at $31.65, JMMB Group held firm at $1.20 with an exchange of 4,311 shares, Massy Holdings remained at $49 trading 20,025 shares valued at $981,226. Point Lisas exchanged 6,745 shares at $3.87, Republic Financial Holdings closed at $101.90, with trades of 15,752 shares valued at $1,605,129, Scotia Investments held firm at $2.20 trading 169,000 shares valued at $371,800 and Trinidad Cement exchanged just 40 units at $4.14.
NCB breaks out & heading higher
NCB Financial Group broke out of a triangle pattern over the past week, as the price hit a record $81 on Friday. The technical indicator is signaling a strong buy signal and a huge movement ahead, with the group reporting strong gains in profit for 2017 over 2016. The stock has traded in a very narrow band in the $70 region for a number of months as it consolidated ahead a the big move it seems ready to make with limited supply coming into the market. Results for the none months to June suggest earnings in excess of $8 per share for 2017 with more to come in the new year starting in October. IC Insider.com placed the stock two weeks now on a market watch list.
Neveast the next office supplies IPO
It was a big giveaway for those familiar with companies prepping for listing, by way of a pending initial public offer of shares. The Jamaica Observer newspaper on Wednesday, July 26, carried an advertisement for Neveast Supplies Limited, telling readers that they were celebrating 55 years of service to its customers.
The advertisement also stated that they were leader in stationery, office furniture and office supplies. In true Jamaican nationalistic style, the advert was rapped in the black, green and gold of the Jamaican flag, no doubt in synch with the 55 years of independence celebration this year.
Industry players say, they may be one of the biggest in stationery and office supplies but not of the office furniture and fixtures. Regardless, checks by this publication with persons knowledgeable about the company’s future plans, confirmed that they are likely to be the next stationery and office equipment to list on the Junior Market of the Stock Exchange. Recently, competitor Stationery and Office Supplies concluded a successful initial public offering of shares that were several times oversubscribed and are set to be the first to list when trading in the stock is expected to commence on August 9.
The brokers to the issue when it does take place, will be Mayberry Investments. Our sources state that they have been contemplating this move from at least 2016, but there are a few issues that need sorting out and should definitely be going to the market to raise capital and be listed before the end of 2017.
According to the company’s website, Neveast Supplies Limited is a family owned Jamaican company that started in 1962 when Founder, Neville East, decided to service the country’s stationery needs. Through market penetration and the help of his wife, Pamela, Neveast Supplies Limited expanded operations to include the supply of office and systems furniture.
Today, the second generation of Easts are at the company’s helm to oversee the daily operations. Sons, David, Paul and Gregory together with thirty-two other members of staff are devoted to the company’s success and ensure that Neveast remains the leader in office furniture and supplies with competitive prices on high quality products and efficient company service.
Neveast continues to be the authorized local distributor for international brands such as Teknion Inc, Global Upholstery Inc, MIN Office Furniture, Godrej, Aurora, Moderco, Virco, and a host of stationery manufacturers from across the globe. With its headquarters located in Kingston, the company’s distribution network covers the entire island of Jamaica and recently includes coverage in neighboring Caribbean countries.
IC Insider.com has been reliably informed that Mayberry Investments should be brokering another two public offers by the end of September and possibly a third by the end of 2017, while there are listings being worked on by other brokers.
Express Catering volumes settling?
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.
JSE index at new record close Friday
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.
Only 10 T&T securities trade on Friday
West Indian Tobacco traded $2,384,500, nearly 50% of the value traded on Friday.
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday resulted in 10 securities changing hands, compared to 11 on Thursday. Market activity led to 2 stocks rising, 1 falling and 7 remaining unchanged.
At the close, 393,123 shares were exchanged at a value of $5,048,449, compared to Thursday’s trades of 322,943 units valued at $11,771,171.
The Composite Index lost 0.02 points to 1,209.85, the All T&T Index declined 0.11 points to 1,791.76 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.01 point to 84.15.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 3 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Gains| Sagicor Financial gained 1 cent to close at $8.01, with trades of 6,907 shares and Trinidad & Tobago NGL traded 9 cents higher, closing at $23.60, with an exchange of 78,579 shares valued at $1,849,738.
Losses| National Enterprises closed at $10.48, losing 1 cent trading 5,000 shares.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment exchanged 43 units at $22.40, First Citizens traded 2,562 shares at $31.65, Guardian Media closed at $18.35 with 53 units being exchanged,JMMB Group held firm at $1.20 with 275,000 shares valued at $330,000 trading. Massy Holdings closed at $49 exchanging 5,970 shares, Republic Financial Holdings traded a mere 9 units at $101.90 and West Indian Tobacco closed at $125.50, with an exchange of 19,000 shares valued at $2,384,500.
54% Express Catering IPO shares trade
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.
JSE surged to record close on Thursday
NCBFG closed at a record of $77 and helped push the old market index to a new record on Thursday.
Big movement in some Jamaica Stock Exchange prices on Thursday saw the JSE Market Index jumping 3,189.90 points to surprisingly end at an all-time record high of 240,950.44, bettering the previous record of 240,759.97 at the close of May 17 this year.
The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 3,501.11 points to 264,457.18, closing within 1,000 points of the all-time record close reached in May this year. The JSE US dollar market index fell 1.47 points to close at 188.42 with 2 trading in the US dollar market.
At the close of trading, 24 securities changed hands in the main market, leading to 12 stocks advancing and 7 declining. The main market ended with 4,006,769 units valued at $51,512,263 changing hands compared to 2,974,171 units valued at $46,072,557 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 38,672 units valued at US$14,600 bringing the total of all trades to J$70,317,063.
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 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices, while there was none closing with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 166,949 units valued at $2,146,344 for each security traded compared to an average of 123,924 units valued at $1,919,690. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 119,521 units with an average value of $2,389,059 compared with an average of 116,886 units with an average value of $2,402,544 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 traded $1 higher to close at $17 in exchanging 34,353 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.02, with 99,771 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement traded $2.25 higher to close at $30 trading 144,675 shares, Carreras gained 6 cents, to close at $91.61 in trading 25,614 units, Grace Kennedy closed at $41.95, with a loss of 4 cents exchanging 2,711 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $19, gaining 50 cents and trading 480 units, Jamaica Producers gained 37 cents, closing at $14.97 with 2,011 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 13 cents to close at $6.30 exchanging 2,449 shares, JMMB Group added 50 cents, closing at $20, with trades of 614,326 shares, Kingston Properties traded 474 units at $7.20, Kingston Wharves closed $2.50 higher to $30, with 200 units switching owners. 
Mayberry Investments closed at $4.61, with a gain of 6 cents trading 368,918 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1.79 higher to a record close of $77, after exchanging 17,804 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.50, rising 10 cents with 11,205 shares traded, PanJam Investment gained $2 to $33 trading 24,727 shares, Portland JSX closed at $10 exchanging 3,700 shares, Radio Jamaica traded 6,898 shares at $1.30. Sagicor Group lost 50 cents, with an exchange of 30,292 shares, to close at $31.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund declined 14 cents, closing at $10.50 while trading 2,472,421 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44.99, with trades of 1,000 shares, Scotia Investments traded $1.49 lower to close at $35.50, with an exchange of 1,260 shares, Seprod added 5 cents, closing at $30 with 580 units traded,Supreme Ventures lost 32 cents to close at $7.68 with 97,400 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents trading 32,628 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share closed at US$1.12 exchanging 6,044 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share gained 8 cents to close at $1.19 trading 43,500 units.
Express Catering up 187% to Wednesday
Ian Dear, Managing Director of Express Catering
Wednesday was the biggest day of trading in Express Catering since it listed last Friday on the Junior Market, the stock closed with an 89 cents rise to a record closing high of $4.30 with a massive 71,996,755 units trading out of a total of 73.5 million shares that traded in the market.
Express Catering’s stock price is up 187 percent from the IPO price of $1.50 so far, the stock closed with the bid at $4.30 to buy 303,034 units.
Trading on the Junior Market jumped sharply on Wednesday to 73,477,574 shares valued at $263,785,025 up from 35,527,220 shares valued at $124,668,100 traded on Tuesday. At the close, the market index rose 67.29 points to 3,096.22.
At the close 20 securities traded, down from 21 on Tuesday with 11 stocks gaining and 5 declining. Trading closed with 1 stock having a higher bid than the last traded price and 6 closing with lower offers.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 3,673,879 units for an average value of $13,189,251 compared to 1,691,772 units for an average value of $5,936,576 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 571,639 units valued at $2,009,287 compared to 239,926 units valued at $680,321 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 33,936 units, Blue Power rose $6.90 after diving $11 on Monday and Tuesday, to close at $44.90 with only 200 units changing hands, CAC 2000 lost 20 cents with 10,007 shares trading to end at $6.50, Caribbean Cream fell 20 cents and closed trading with 112,288 units at $6.80, Caribbean Producers fell 25 cents to close trading with 19,172 units, at $3.15, Consolidated Bakeries ended with 32,020 units changing hands, to close at $2.62. Eppley closed trading with 9,500 shares at $13, General Accident added 6 cents and closed trading with 25,000 shares at $2.57, 
Honey Bun gained 55 cents with 2,149 shares changing hands and closed at $5.55, ISP Finance jumped $4 and closed with 5,424 units changing hands at $16, Jamaican Teas lost 25 cents in trading 67,099 shares to close at $4, Jetcon Corporation traded 59,800 shares to end at $4.70, after gaining 9 cents, Knutsford Express traded 6,200 shares to end at $15, Lasco Distributors closed 1 cent lower at $6.50 after trading 216,522 units, Lasco Financial rose 4 cents and ended with 176,765 shares changing hands at $3.60, Lasco Manufacturing grew 58 cents and ended with 646,045 shares trading at $4.89, Main Event gained 30 cents to close with 14,214 shares trading at $5.50, Medical Disposables closed at $5.50 with 42,656 units trading and Derrimon Trading preference share ended with 1,822 units changing hands to close at $2.50.
