Trading closed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market Tuesday, with the volume of stocks changing hands declining by 38 percent and the value falling 35 percent from Monday’s trades as investors’ interest in buying stocks waned, sending the market into further decline for the week to date.
Market activity led to 43 securities trading, down from 45 on Monday and ended with 15 rising, 19 declining and nine closing unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index dropped 36.97 points to settle at 4,374.73 and is down 7 percent from the market’s peak last week.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 13.8. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks incorporate ICInsider.com projected earnings for companies with financial years closing up to the end of August 2023.
Overall, 13,653,490 shares traded for $48,511,390 compared to 21,953,604 units at $74,776,818 on the Monday. Trading averaged 317,523 shares at $1,128,172 down from 487,858 shares at $1,661,707 on Monday with month to date, averaging 470,540 units at $2,063,823 compared to 484,277 units at $2,147,816 on Monday the previous trading day. April ended with an average of 449,923 units at $1,781,786.
JFP Limited led trading with 3.69 million shares for 27 percent of total volume, followed by Future Energy Source with 1.97 million units for 14.5 percent of the day’s trade, Mailpac Group traded 1.90 million units for 13.9 percent of market share. Spur Tree Spices ended with 1.78 million units for a 13 percent market share and Tropical Battery with 1.24 million units for a 9.1 percent market share.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows no stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Access Financial advanced $1.85 to $23.33 after exchanging 1,015 shares, AMG Packaging declined 20 cents to $3.50 while trading 90,887 stocks, Blue Power fell 25 cents in closing at $3.70 with the swapping of 162 units. Cargo Handlers dropped 82 cents to end at $10.93 after trading 845 stock units, Caribbean Cream lost 30 cents to close at $4.90 after 30,250 units crossed the exchange, Dolphin Cove climbed 89 cents in closing at $20.70 in switching ownership of 12,082 shares. Elite Diagnostic rose 40 cents to $4.15 with an exchange of 238,300 stocks, Fontana shed 48 cents ending at $10.50 in trading 80,397 stock units, Fosrich shed 79 cents to close at $29.99, with 91,153 stock units changing hands. Future Energy Source declined 42 cents to $5.89 after 1,973,947 units crossed the market, ISP Finance gained $1.43 to close at $29.50 trading 31 stocks, Jamaican Teas rallied 11 cents in closing at $3.48 while trading 455,898 shares. Jetcon Corporation popped 13 cents to $1.55, with 68,666 units crossing the market, JFP Limited lost 15 cents to end at $1.54 in exchanging 3,691,107 shares, Knutsford Express dropped 20 cents in ending at $7.60, with 3,000 stock units clearing the market. Lasco Distributors fell 17 cents in closing at $3.33 after exchanging 119,173 stocks, Main Event fell 74 cents to close at $8.26 after an exchange of 95,412 stocks, Medical Disposables increased 85 cents to end at 52 weeks’ high of $8.40, with 98,567 stock units changing hands. Spur Tree Spices dropped 22 cents in ending at $3.78 after 1,780,721 units crossed the market, Stationery and Office Supplies increased 50 cents to end at 52 weeks’ high of $13.50 in switching ownership of 52,406 shares and tTech rallied 15 cents to $3.65, with 12,050 stock units crossing the market.
In the preference segment, CAC 2000 9.5% preference share climbed 15 cents to close at $1.15, with an exchange of 493 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
72% gains for ICTOP10 winner
Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) is up 72 percent in 2022 and is heading to more than $20 with projected earnings of $1.25 for the year. SOS made the ICTOP15 list in January at 12 spot to produce a 200 percent gain for the year. It came into TOP10 in the week ending January 21, in the 6th spot and exited the TOP10 on the week ending April 22.
Over the past two weeks, company results have been coming out fast and furious, with many posting solid increased profits over the first quarter of 2021, as the economy continues to recover and cost savings also takes hold to help lift profits to record levels in many cases.
One company to benefit from improved results for the first quarter results to March is SOS, with revenues rising 37 percent to $427 million and profits surging 344 percent to $81 million before gains from the sale of a property, investors belated warmed to the stock pushing it to a 52 week’s high of $11.02 and out of ICTOP10. Based on the results, ICInsider.com upgraded earnings from $1.10 to $1.25. Investors in the stock can look for a possible stock split this year if the price rises.
It is well worth noting that the Junior Market peaked at 4,669.78 points at the market opening on May 10 and pulled back to 4,444.25 on Friday as new quarterly results tempered investors in some overvalued stocks that have started to adjust downwards as reality sets in. Among them is Fesco, which was selling at a PE of 50 times the current year’s earnings. There seem to be more painful adjustments to come for investors in this stock. MailPac also suffered a reversal in price after the first quarter results disappointed investors, with lower revenues and earnings.
It is not unusual for investors to take a break after mid-May each year, with most results released and return in late June or early July just ahead of the new earnings season for the half year. Against this background, trading could move sideways for a month or two, but the Lasco companies, Access and Medical Disposables could light up the market when they release results in a few weeks.
In the Main Market, Jamaica Stock Exchange was added to the ICTOP10 recently but slipped out last week and reported solid results for the March quarter, with profit jumping 84 percent after revenues rose 37 percent. The projected earnings were downgraded to $1.30 from $3, leaving the stock just about appropriately valued. Berger Paints came out with solid earnings, resulting in our projection being upgraded from $1.70 to $2.35, helped by a sharp cut in other operating expenses from $160 million in 2021 to $117 million and now heads the Main Market TOP10 list.
Elite Diagnostic gained 3 percent for the week at $4, but the promise that the company showed when it was listed has started to show again, with revenues in the third quarter rising 24 percent to $161 million and profit surging to $28 million from $4.4 million in 2021. Based on the results, earnings for the current year ending in June are projected at 24 cents and 55 cents for the 2022/23 fiscal year.
Former ICTOP10 listing, Tropical Battery earnings were downgraded to 18 cents per share for this year, following the release of March half year results.
Access Financial jumped 22 percent last week, and is down 16 percent this past week at $21.50, and attracted more buying interest as the release of year results approaches. tTech tumbled 8 percent during the week and AMG Packaging 7 percent. Caribbean Assurance Brokers was the only stock with any meaningful gain, with a rise of 6 percent.
This week, there was no change to ICInsider.com TOP10 Main Market listings, but the Junior Market has two, with Lasco Distributors just slipping out. Jetcon Corporation suffered a big price decline during the week to close at $1.35 to reenter the list. tTech earnings were revised down to 25 cents after the company posted flat sales in the first quarter and a small loss and fell out of the top listing to be replaced by Dolphin Cove is poised to grow much more this year as improving tourism traffic that April numbers show is virtually back to normal provide a big boost to future earnings.
Investors should be on the lookout for companies with March year end that have not yet reported earnings. Amongst the grouping are the three Lasco companies that could get price moving punch from the results. Watch also Access and Medical Disposables sitting on the TOP of the list, with the company said to be generating profit from the acquisition of Cornwall Enterprises, well ahead of the two year target. ICInsider.com earnings projections of 70 cents per share for the 2022 fiscal year assume that earnings would include profit from the subsidiary and should result in a big jump in the stock toward $14.
The primary mover in the main market was Caribbean Cement that fell 12 percent to $61 as buying interest in the stock remains low, even as the first quarter results suggest the stock is highly undervalued, no other stock had any serious change.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 ends the week at 6.2, well below the market average of 15.3, while the Junior Market PE for the Top 10 sits at 6.3 versus the market at 13.9. The Junior Market TOP10 is projected to gain an average of 226 percent by May 2023 and the Main Market 215 percent.
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 the end of May 2023 and are 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 are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
RJR back in 3rd spot as Access jumps 22%
There is only one change to ICInsider.com TOP10 listings this week, with Radio Jamaica coming back in the Main Market list at position 3. Following an earnings upgrade for the 2023 fiscal year, it replaces Jamaica Stock Exchange that ICInsider.com projects to have explosive results for the first quarter.
In the wider market, Junior Market stocks keep on piling the pressure on the main market with the former closing the week at a record high, with year to date gains of 32.8 percent and is well on the way to ICInsider.com forecast of 60 percent for the year.
Thanks to a takeover announcement of AS Bryden, a Trinidad based company by Seprod, the Main Market moved higher for the week, with the All Jamaica Index just under 460,000 points, still well below 2020 high.
TOP10, Access Financial shares moved higher this past week as selling seems to have dried up and led the stock to a 22 percent rise during the week, to be the best performing stock in the TOP10. Access Financial has been beaten up for more than two years but is now worth watching. On Friday, well ahead of the close of the market, a buy order for 100,000 Access Financial shares was placed at $25.60, but only18,000 units were filled up to the close. There were no stocks on offer with any sizable quantity close to the bid price just before close, indicating that the price is heading higher.
Elite Diagnostic gained 8 percent to close the week at $3.90, but Caribbean Assurance Brokers that reported a profit for the first quarter versus a loss in 2021, fell by 6 percent and so did General Accident that is said to be having a good 2022, with Trinidad and Barbados expected to deliver positive results versus a loss of around $200 million in 2021. Movement of main market stocks was more subdued than their junior counterpart, with the Jamaica Stock Exchange rising a mere 4 percent and selling at 8 times this year’s earnings, with a blowout first quarter results due shortly. Caribbean Cement, surprisingly, fell 8 percent as buying interest in the stock is low, even as the first quarter results suggest the stock is highly undervalued.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 ends the week at 6.2, well below the market average of 15.5, while the Junior Market PE for the TOP10, sits at 6.2 versus the market at 13.8. The Junior Market TOP10 is projected to gain an average of 230 percent to May 2023 and the Main Market 201 percent.
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 the end of May 2023 and are 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 are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.