Barita APO to be priced at $80

August 24, 2021 by

Barita Investments‘ directors have approved the issue of 125 million ordinary shares at $80 each, with an option to upsize the amount issued by 62.5 million shares to raise $15 billion in an additional public issue (APO).
The New Ordinary Shares will be reserved for the benefit of certain specified investors in amounts determined at the discretion of the Company. The APO should open on September 3, or such other date as determined by the Group Chief Executive Officer and is to close on September 21, or such other date as determined by the Group Chief Executive Officers.
The original notice to the Jamaica Stock Exchange stipulated the issue of up to 160 million units that could have been upsized 80 million shares. Since the first notice to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, on August 5, the stock price moved up from the low $83.90 to $92.77, with the proposed price being a discount of nearly 14 percent.
The company reported nine months results to June, with profit after tax for the June quarter coming in at $1.6 billion, up a strong 62 percent from $990 million reported in 2020 June quarter and ended the quarter, with earnings per share of $1.48 versus $1.21 in 2020. Earnings for the nine months ended at $3.38 per share from after tax profit of $3.67 billion, up 82 percent from $2 billion in 2020.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , ,

5 days of losses for JSE Majors

August 23, 2021 by

Market activity ended on Monday, with the market declining for a fifth consecutive day after fewer stocks moved higher than declining, with an exchange of 93 percent fewer shares valued by 59.5 percent less than on Friday at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
The All Jamaican Composite Index lost 2,254.61 points to settle at 452,118.35, the JSE Main Index lost 1,907.97 points to settle at 412,453.13 and, the JSE Financial Index dropped 1.12 points to settle at 101.18.
Trading ended with 47 securities compared to 51 on Friday, with 17 rising, 19 declining and 11 remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio averages 15.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 11,076,496 shares trading for $563,895,212, sharply down from 148,849,986 units at $1,392,050,084 on Friday. NCB Financial led trading with 31.3 percent of total volume, after an exchange of 3.46 million shares, followed by Radio Jamaica 15.2 percent, with 1.69 million units, Wigton Windfarm accounted for 12.2 percent, from 1.35 million units and Pulse Investments ended with 9.5 percent after trading 1.05 million shares.
Trading averaged 235,670 units at $11,997,770, compared to 2,918,627 shares at $27,295,100 on Friday. Trading month to date, averages 553,812 units at $9,013,810, in contrast to 576,923 units at $8,797,046 on Friday. Trading month to date, exceeds July, with an average of 322,932 units at $15,201,099.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has 11 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and eight stocks with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments lost 50 cents to close at $93, after 33,403 shares crossed the exchange, Berger Paints spiked 59 cents to $13.60 in exchanging 10,682 stocks, Caribbean Cement popped $3.57 to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $97 after trading 18,596 units, Eppley gained $1.80 to end at $41.80, with 655 stock units changing hands, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund dropped 63 cents to $39.41 with the swapping of 4,015 units. GraceKennedy shed $1 to close at $100 after exchanging 663,004 shares, Guardian Holdings declined $5 ending at a low of $605, since listing this year, trading 4,191 shares. JMMB Group rallied 99 cents to $38.99 in switching ownership of 69,677 stocks, Mayberry Jamaican Equities climbed 39 cents to $9.39 after exchanging 4,002 stocks, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy spiked $16 to $136, with 731 shares crossing the market, NCB Financial fell $1.47 to $131.54, with 3,464,932 units clearing the market. Palace Amusement shed $63.99 to $961.01 while exchanging 171 stock units, Proven Investments rose $2.55 to $32.60 in trading 69,166 units, Sagicor Group rose 25 cents to $57.25 in an exchange of 169,719 shares, Scotia Group climbed $1.20 to $40 while exchanging 27,735 stocks, Seprod declined 50 cents to close at $67.50 after exchanging 5,025 units. Supreme Ventures shed 50 cents to $18.50, 7,932 stocks changing hands, Sygnus Credit Investments spiked 98 cents to $15 in switching ownership of 47,248 stock units and Wisynco Group rallied 19 cents to $15.84, with 35,271 shares clearing the market.
In the preference segment JMMB Group 7.25% dropped 25 cents in ending at $1.25, with an exchange of 40,106 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Trading spikes on Friday for JSE majors

August 20, 2021 by

Market activity ended on Friday with a fourth consecutive day of decline after three stocks falling for every two that rose, with volume traded and value surging 567 percent and 650 percent higher than on Thursday at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
The All Jamaican Composite Index slipped 158.71 points to 454,372.96, the Main Index dropped 804.45 points to settle at 414,361.10 and the JSE Financial Index dipped 0.08 points to end at 102.30.
A total of 51 securities traded compared to 53 on Thursday, with 16 stocks rising, 24 declining and 11 remaining unchanged one stock closed at a 52 weeks’ high and three at 52 weeks’ lows. The PE Ratio, a measure that computes appropriate stock values, averages 15.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 148,849,986 shares trading for $1,392,050,084 versus 22,302,736 units at $185,523,053 on Thursday. Mayberry Jamaican Equities led trading with 86.6 percent of total volume after exchanging 128.94 million shares followed by Wigton Windfarm 4.3 percent, with 6.4 million units, JMMB Group with 2.8 percent for 4.11 million units, Transjamaican Highway with 1.9 percent after 2.87 million units traded and Radio Jamaica with 1.8 percent for 2.73 million shares.
Trading averaged 2,918,627 units at $27,295,100, compared to 420,806 shares at $3,500,435 on Thursday. Month to date Trading averages 576,923 units at $8,797,046, in contrast to 376,542 units at $7,214,159 on Thursday. July ended with an average of 322,932 units at $15,201,099.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has twelve stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and six with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments fell 49 cents to $93.50 in exchanging 11,172 stocks, Berger Paints shed 69 cents to close at $13.01 in trading 7,316 units, Caribbean Cement spiked $2.43 to $93.43 after 15,013 stock units crossed the exchange, First Rock Capital popped 30 cents to $12.87 in swapping 32 shares, Guardian Holdings fell $10 to at $610, the lowest price since listing earlier this year in switching ownership of 1,503 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 24 cents to finish at $17.24 with a transfer of 1,529 units, JMMB Group shed $1.85 to $38 after exchanging 4,105,538 shares. MPC Caribbean Clean Energy declined $17.80 to $120 with 326 stock units crossing the market, NCB Financial shed 99 cents in closing at $133.01 after transferring 212,348 stock units, Palace Amusement dropped $115 to $1,025 with 26 shares changing hands. PanJam Investment advanced $3.18 to $65 with the swapping of 1,559 units, Portland JSX dived $2.20 to $7, with 4,824 stocks crossing the market, Proven Investments declined $3.97 to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $30.05 with an exchange of 56,205 shares. Pulse Investments shed 21 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.09 in trading 628,045 stocks, Radio Jamaica rose 7 cents to end at a 52 week’s closing high of $3.57 in trading 2,732,191 units, Scotia Group shed 90 cents to $38.80 in trading 7,235 stock units. Seprod popped $6.80 to $68 with the swapping of 52,385 shares, Stanley Motta rose 67 cents to $5.90 in switching ownership of 2,079 units, Sygnus Credit Investments lost 93 cents to end at $14.02 in an exchange of 56,400 stocks and Victoria Mutual Investments rallied 41 cents to $5.76 after exchanging 13,647 stock units.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JSE Main Market down again

August 19, 2021 by

The Jamaica Stock Exchange  Main Market slipped moderately for a third consecutive day when market activity ended on Thursday with declining stocks outnumbered rising ones, after an exchange of 127 percent more shares valued 98 percent higher than on Wednesday.

The All Jamaican Composite Index lost 916.98 points to settle at 454,531.67, the JSE Main Index shed 587.19 points to 415,165.55 and the JSE Financial Index added 0.19 points to end at 102.38.
Trading ended with 53 securities compared to 52 on Wednesday, with 12 stocks rising, 27 declining and 14 remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio, a measure that computes appropriate stock values, averages 15.4 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
A total of 22,302,736 shares were traded for $185,523,053, up from 9,829,573 units at $93,904,028 versus 9,829,573 units at $93,904,028 on Wednesday. Wigton Windfarm led trading with 57.3 percent of total volume for an exchange of 12.76 million shares, followed by Mayberry Investments 9.2 percent with 2.04 million units. JMMB Group 7.5% preference share accounted for 6.5 percent with 1.46 million units and Transjamaican Highway 5.3 percent with 1.19 million units changing hands.
Trading averaged 420,806 units at $3,500,435, compared to 189,030 shares at $1,805,847, on Wednesday. Trading month to date averages 376,542 units at $7,214,159, in contrast to 372,221 units at $7,576,640 on Wednesday. July ended with an average of 322,932 units at $15,201,099.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has 12 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and six with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments dropped $3.89 to $93.99 after exchanging 48,170 shares, Caribbean Cement fell $2.99 to $91 with a transfer of 806,615 stock units. First Rock Capital lost 39 cents to end at $12.57 with an exchange of 31,470 stock units, GraceKennedy fell $2.05 to $101 in trading 71,940 shares. Guardian Holdings dropped $30 in closing at $620 in exchanging 1,176 stock units, Jamaica Broilers lost 57 cents to finish at $35.03 trading 66,111 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 24 cents in ending at $17 after crossing the exchange with 52,694 stocks. JMMB Group rose $1.85 to $39.85 with the swapping of 599,245 shares, Kingston Properties rallied 25 cents to $10.25, with 8,265 stock units crossing the market, Margaritaville advanced $1.77 to $15.17 with 1,630 stocks changing hands. Mayberry Jamaican Equities slipped 29 cents to $9.10 in transferring 328,458 units, Proven Investments shed 51 cents to $34.02 in exchanging 29,546 shares. Pulse Investments lost 26 cents to close at $3.30 in switching ownership of 261,421 units, Radio Jamaica spiked 52 cents to end at 52 weeks’ closing high of $3.50, after hitting a new intraday high of $3.85 in the morning session, in completing an exchange of 669,972 stock units, Salada Foods rallied 28 cents to $7.39, with 2,552 units crossing the exchange, Scotia Group fell 30 cents to end at $39.70, with an exchange of 261,002 shares. Seprod declined $4.80 in closing at $61.20 in trading 21,923 stocks and Victoria Mutual Investments dipped 35 cents at $5.35 with 126,154 units clearing the market.
In the preference segment, Eppley 5% popped 25 cents to close at a record $20.25 in switching ownership of 5,000 stocks and 138 Student Living preference share, fell $2.57 to $5.43 after exchanging 1,576 shares.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is Barita really worth as much as JMMB?

August 19, 2021 by

Barita Investments headquarters

JMMB Group reported profit at $1.7 billion, for the quarter ending June this year, with comprehensive income, a better measure of assessing management performance, of $3 billion. Barita Investments reported profit and comprehensive income of $1.6 billion, almost 50 percent less than JMMB’s comprehensive income and yet Barita’s shares are selling 2.6 times that of JMMB and the market value is 32 percent greater.
Barita has 1.085 billion shares issued to investors, with total assets of $84.5 billion and shareholders’ equity of only $30 billion. JMMB Group has 1.9 billion shares issued almost twice that of Barita and assets of $545 billion and shareholders’ equity of $63 billion, more than twice that of Barita, but the market has placed a higher value on the much smaller company.
At the close of trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the market value for Barita is $99 billion and JMMB $75 billion, nearly 25 percent less than Barita. Why is the market pricing Barita at a steep premium to JMMB? Barita has only a small percentage of its stock in the public’s hands and therefore is enjoying a scarcity premium, while JMMB is far more liquid with more shares in the public’s hands.
ICInsider.com TOP10 selection revealed over the years is that most investors appear to chase momentum and popular stocks of the day than invest in stocks that are likely to be big winners down the road.
Seeking relevant and credible information for proper investment decisions is not an area of focus for many. Radio Jamaica is a case in point. The stock has been in the upper level of the Top 10 for the better part of a year and a half, with investors being fed with lots of information to inform them of the big run that was and is still ahead of them. They would not buy into it until the company released full year results in July and even then, only a few bought into what is now unfolding and reflected in the huge rise in the first quarter results. There is a huge demand for the stock that is not easy to find at current pricing levels.

Scotia Group.

The message from the market is that out of favour, stocks are the last to get a following, but the ones that are likely to deliver huge gains. There is the case of Salada Foods, where investors are buying the stock at 40 times earnings when the market is nowhere near that level, while they ignore JMMB Group, for example with PE less than 10.
Investors were treating Barita Investments in the same manner as JMMB is now when Barita was on IC TOP 10 until sometime after the switch in majority ownership to Cornerstone, but few would buy into what was a terrible undervalued stock with much promise.
JMMB enjoyed a big bounce in its June quarter earnings that saw profit 123 percent from $769 million in 2020, but those results were down 31 percent from the $1.1 billion generated in 2019 that makes the 2021 first quarter results so outstanding, as it is up 54 percent over the 2019 results.
Profit for Barita is up 62 percent from $990 million earned in the June quarter of 2020 and up 76 percent over the June 2019 quarter earnings of $910 million.
Interestingly, Scotia Group is worth just 24 percent more than Barita. If Barita gets investors to subscribe to the 240 million shares in the upcoming IPO and the stock price holds at the current level after the issue closes, Barita market value would surpass that of Scotia.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News, Company Results Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Q3 profit bolts 62% at Barita

August 17, 2021 by

Fresh from recommending the issue of new shares to their shareholders, the directors of Investment bankers, Barita Investments, approved the payment of an interim dividend of $3.029 per stock unit to be done on October 7, to shareholders as of September 23, 2021, to cost $3.29 billion.
The company also reported nine months results to June, with profit after tax for the June quarter coming in at $1.6 billion, up a strong 62 percent from $990 million reported in 2020 June quarter and ended the quarter, with earnings per share of $1.48 versus $1.21 in 2020. Earnings for the nine months ended at $3.38 per share from after tax profit of $3.67 billion, up 82 percent from $2 billion in 2020.

Barita eyeing acquisition.

Revenues net of interest expenses rose an impressive 75 percent in the quarter, to $2.64 billion from $1.5 billion and spiked 77 percent from $3.78 billion to $6.69 billion. Fees and commission income generated half of the revenues for the quarter in contributing $1.34 billion and $2.7 billion in the year to date period accounting for 41 percent of net revenues. Foreign exchange gains brought in $647 million in the quarter versus $321 million in 2020 and $1.78 billion year to date versus just $428 million in 2020. The above two areas are the fastest growing for the current fiscal year. Gain on investment activities is down in the quarter, from $257 million to $214 million and down from $1.1 billion in the nine months last year to $1 billion in 2021.
Expenses for the quarter surged 178 percent from $345 million in 2020 to $959 million and jumped 87 from $1.3 billion for the nine months to $2.43 billion. The latest results suggest that earnings per share for the full year could come close to $4.50, of course, with investment banking institutions, they could pick up or drop revenues in many different areas.
Shareholders approved the directors to issue 160 million shares to the public, its fourth capital raising foray since the majority shares in the company was acquired by Cornerstone United Holdings, but the issue may be upsized to as much as 240 million shares.
The shares to be issued may be upsized to a maximum of 80 million additional units if the invitation is oversubscribed. If all 240 million shares are taken up, the company could raise as much as $18 billion in fresh capital, ICInsider.com estimates on the basis that there will not be a steep discount to the price the stock has been mostly traded at up to last week.

Shareholders at Barita Investments AGM.

The pricing and date of the issue are to be determined by the directors, but the offer document seems to be with the Financial Services Commission awaiting signing off of the issue. The last APO was done in August of 2020, the offer document was dated July 30, at which time the JSE closing price was $57.93, with the last traded price of $54, the offer was set at $52 for the general public and existing shareholders. With the stock trading around $82 recently, the price for the new APO could be around $75 to $80. The company could offer existing shareholders a much steeper discount as they did back in 2019, in which case the total take would be less.
Barita Investments is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and has total assets of $84 billion, up from $49 billion a year ago, with Shareholders’ equity of $30.3 billion in June 2021. The company has $2 billion invested in Derrimon Trading, shown as Investment in Associated Company on Barita’s balance sheet. Derrimon contributed $42 million to profit in the quarter.
On Monday, the shares closed trading at $90.24 after jumping $7.24 and boast a PE of 20 times this year’s earnings.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Barita Main Market dominant trade

August 16, 2021 by

Barita Investments was the dominant traded at the close of market activity on Monday, with an exchange of just over 19 million shares with a value of $1.6 billion as the market ended with modest rises in the indices after the number of shares exchanged climbed 88 percent carrying a value 2021 percent higher than on Friday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.

Barita Investments headquarters

The All Jamaican Composite Index squeezed out a rise of 230.52 points to settle at 456,748.77, the Main Index eked out a 95.36 points rally to 416,824.11 and the JSE Financial Index popped just 0.09 points to 102.59.
Trading ended with a total of 49 securities changing hands compared to 46 on Friday, with 19 stocks rising, 22 declining and eight remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio, a measure that computes appropriate stock values, averages 15.8 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 32,951,304 shares trading worth $1,845,967,733 versus 17,455,607 units at $87,019,322 on Friday. Barita Investments led trading with 58.8 percent of total volume for an exchange of 19.38 million shares and accounting for 58.8 percent of total volume, followed by Transjamaican Highway with 10.1 percent for 3.33 million units, Jamaica Broilers cornered 9.2 percent, with 3.02 million units, Wigton Windfarm had 6.3 percent for 2.08 million units and Radio Jamaica ended with 3.5 percent after trading 1.15 million units.
Trading averaged 672,476 units at $37,672,811, compared to 379,470 shares at $1,891,724 on Friday. Trading month to date averages 245,797 units at $5,512,406, in contrast to 192,325 units at $1,482,074 on Friday. July ended with an average of 322,932 units at $15,201,099.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has 12 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments spiked $7.24 to $90.24 with an exchange of 19,379,347 shares, Berger Paints gained 22 cents in ending at $13.74 after trading 54,600 stock units, Caribbean Cement fell $3.49 to $90.50, with the swapping of 7,931 stocks. Caribbean Producers dipped 36 cents $4.64 in transferring 13,326 units, Eppley rose $1.42 to $41.86 with 4,938 stock units crossing the market, First Rock Capital shed $1.50 to $12 with 29,541 stocks clearing the market, GraceKennedy fell $2 to $101 in switching ownership of 637,615 shares. Guardian Holdings slid $5 to $615 in trading 766 units, Jamaica Broilers lost 26 cents to end at $36.20 with 3,023,439 shares changing hands, Jamaica Producers rallied $1.98 to $23.48 in trading 6,300 stock units. JMMB Group declined $2.25 to $37.75 with 280,003 stocks crossing the exchange after trading at an intraday high of $43.47, Kingston Properties popped 20 cents to $9.50 after exchanging 1,301 stocks, Margaritaville popped $1.67 to $15.27 in an exchange of 5,047 shares, Mayberry Investments rose 45 cents to $6.20 in transferring 64,783 stock units. MPC Caribbean Clean Energy dropped $17.80 to $120 with an exchange of 2,500 units, NCB Financial spiked $7.50 to $139.50 after 35,309 stocks crossed the exchange, PanJam Investment shed 58 cents to $62.42 with 14,151 stock units clearing the market. Proven Investments slipped $1.10 to $34.40 in exchanging 16,665 shares, Radio Jamaica gained 36 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.61 with the swapping of 1,149,429 shares, Sagicor Group lost 40 cents t close at $57.50 with an exchange of 46,317 stock units, Salada Foods rallied 30 cents to $7.50 with the swapping of 21,230 shares, Scotia Group rose 70 cents to $40.30 with 7,222 stocks crossing the exchange. Seprod advanced $3 to $69 with 6,412 units changing hands, Stanley Motta dipped 58 cents to $5.41 in transferring 4,000 stock units and Supreme Ventures dipped 43 cents to $18.56 with 19,369 shares changing hands.
In the preference segment, Productive Business Solutions 9.75% preference share plunged $24.50 to $80.50 with 510 shares clearing the market.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Radio Jamaica grabs market share

August 13, 2021 by

Media house RJR traded most shares on Friday.

Market activity ended on Friday with Radio Jamaica finishing as the leading stock with 53 percent of volume traded after investors gobbled up 9.21 million shares, following the release of the June quarter results and pushing the price to a 52 weeks’ high, with the overall volume and value of shares traded climbing 87 percent and 103 percent respectively over Thursday’s out turn on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
The All Jamaican Composite Index fell 518.74 points to 456,518.25, the Main Index slipped 312.91 points to 416,728.75 and the JSE Financial Index added 0.39 points to end at 102.50.
Trading ended with 46 securities compared to 50 on Thursday, with 14 stocks rising, 20 declining and 12 remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio, a measure that computes appropriate stock values, averages 15.5 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 17,455,607 shares traded for $87,019,322, up from 9,341,446 units at $42,964,627 on Thursday. QWI Investments was the second leading trade, with 11 percent after an exchange of 1.92 million units, Transjamaican Highway chipped in, with 8.4 percent for 1.46 million and Wigton Windfarm ended with 8 percent for an exchange of 1.39 million units.
Trading averaged 379,470 units at $1,891,724, up from 186,829 shares at $859,293 on Thursday. Trading month to date averages 192,325 units at $1,482,074, in contrast to 167,373 units at $1,427,454 on Thursday. July ended with an average of 322,932 units at $15,201,099.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has seven stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two stocks with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments advanced $2.96 to $83 with 900 shares crossing the market, GraceKennedy spiked $1.05 to $103 after 271,057 shares cleared the market, Guardian Holdings climbed $4 to $620 in switching ownership of 978 stock units. Jamaica Producers declined $2 to $21.50 in trading 138 units, JMMB Group popped $1.80 to $40 with an exchange of 216,175 stocks, Margaritaville lost 35 cents to finish at $13.60 in exchanging 7,270 stock units. Mayberry Jamaican Equities fell 40 cents to $8.80 with a transfer of 13,763 stocks, NCB Financial declined $3.49 to $132 with 21,781 stock units crossing the exchange, Proven Investments spiked $1.09 to $35.50 in switching ownership of 8,102 stock units. Pulse Investments fell 40 cents to $3.50 with the swapping of 679,437 shares, Salada Foods lost 59 cents in ending at $7.20 in an exchange of 52,240 stock units, after posting results that exceeded that of 2020 but well below amounts required to support the stock at recently elevated prices, Scotia Group shed 20 cents in closing at $39.60 and trading 72,819 stocks and Seprod fell $2.90 to $66 with 5,713 shares clearing the market.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Barita to issue 160 million shares in APO

August 5, 2021 by

Investment banking house Barita Investments is set to issue 160 million shares to the public in its fourth capital raising foray since Cornerstone United Holdings acquired majority shares in the company. The issue may be upsized and, if so, could raise as much as $19 billion in fresh capital, ICInsider.com estimates.

Barita head quarters

Shareholders of Barita Investments recently approved a resolution at an Extraordinary General Meeting to issue up to 160 million ordinary shares or such greater amount as the Directors in their absolute discretion may approve as part of the unissued authorised capital of the company to raise additional capital for the Company.
The general public will be invited to subscribe for New Ordinary Shares on such terms and conditions as the Directors may consider expedient in their absolute discretion. The shares to be issued may be upsized to a maximum of 80 million additional shares in the event that the invitation is oversubscribed.
The price band date of the issue is to be determined by the directors. The last APO that done in August of 2020, with the offer document, dated July 30, at which time the JSE closing price was $57.93, but the last traded price was $54, the offer was set at $52 for the general public and existing shareholders. With the stock trading around $84 currently, the price for the new APO could be around $80.
Barita Investments is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and has total assets of $79 billion, up from $49 billion at the end of the year ago period, with Shareholders’ equity of $28.7 billion in March 2021. When Cornerstone acquired the majority shares, total assets were just $17 billion and a mere $3 billion shareholders’ equity.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , ,

Main Market pull back

July 20, 2021 by

Rising stocks just edged out those declining on Tuesday, with the market indices declining for a second consecutive day, with the volume and value of shares traded climbed 219 percent and 273 percent, respectively compared to Monday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index fell 587.12 points to 453,898.22, the JSE Main Index shed 595.66 points to end at 416,337.09 and the JSE Financial Index slipped 0.30 points to 102.36.
Trading ended with 49 securities similar to Monday, with 20 stocks rising, 19 declining and 10 remaining unchanged, as Radio Jamaica closed trading at a 52 weeks’ high of $2 after hitting an intraday high of $2.10. The PE Ratio, a measure that determines an appropriate relative value of each stock, averages 16.2 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 45,475,975 shares trading for $256,468,028, up from 14,266,703 units at $68,667,411 on Monday. Stanley Motta dominated trading with 76.3 percent of total volume after an exchange of 34.70 million shares followed by Transjamaican Highway 7.4 percent with 3.35 million units, Wigton Windfarm 2.9 percent, with 1.34 million units, Radio Jamaica accounted for 2.7 percent, with 1.23 million units and Sagicor Select Financial Fund ended, with 2.4 percent after exchanging 1.09 million units.
Trading averaged 928,081 units at $5,234,041, compared to 291,157 shares at $1,401,376 on Monday. Trading month to date averages 365,726 units at $22,554,751, in contrast to 322,738 units at $23,878,799 on Monday. June ended with an average of 249,610 units at $3,877,606.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has thirteen stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments spiked $1.90 to $84 with 6,516 shares crossing the market, Berger Paints shed 85 cents to $13 with an exchange of 4,205 stocks, Caribbean Cement rallied 50 cents to $91.50 in trading 1,980 shares, First Rock Capital dipped 28 cents to $13.72 after transferring 46,395 units, GraceKennedy picked up 29 cents in ending at $99.99 with 35,976 units crossing the exchange, Guardian Holdings declined $10 to $646 in an exchange of 1,552 shares. Jamaica Broilers shed 83 cents to $36.03 with the swapping of 13,891 units, Jamaica Producers fell $1.50 to $21 in switching ownership of 705,137 stock units, JMMB Group gained 35 cents to finish at $38.50 in an exchange of 129,470 stocks, Mayberry Investments rose 61 cents to $6.15, with 2,503 units crossing the market, Palace Amusement declined $40 to $1,060 in transferring 87 shares. PanJam Investment popped $3.99 to $65 after exchanging 1,110 stock units, Sagicor Group slipped $3 to $52 with the swapping of 110,420 stocks, Sagicor Select Manufacturing & Distribution Fund popped 5 cents to 90 cents, with 440,711 stock units crossing the market. Scotia Group dipped 25 cents to $38.75, with 12,993 units crossing the exchange and Victoria Mutual Investments lost 49 cents after ending at $6 with 107,913 shares changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.75% preference share lost 29 cents in closing at $7.20 after exchanging 4,083 stocks.
In the corporate bond market, Guardian Holdings 2027 7% traded 4.99 million units at $110 after falling 28 cents.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,