The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange gained at the close of trading on Thursday, with the USD Market also closing higher as the Junior Market slipped to close out trading, with market activity ending with the volume and value of stocks traded falling below Wednesday’s levels on the penultimate day before the Christmas break for the market.
At the close of the market, Main Market stocks rallying were Jamaica Broilers with a gain of $1.49, Sagicor Group up $1 and Scotia Group closing at a new 52 weeks’ closing high of $37.50, after gaining 38 cents. Declining Main Market stocks include GraceKennedy down $2.17 and Barita Investments with a fall of 90 cents.
Rising Junior Market stocks include Main Event with a gain of 40 cents, Blue Power up 37 cents, and AMG Packaging gaining 33 cents. Declining stocks include Medical Disposables falling 42 cents followed by Caribbean Cream with a loss of 31 cents and Iron Rock Insurance down 44 cents.
At the close of trading, the JSE Combined Market Index rose 512.77 points to 328,594.68, the All Jamaican Composite Index climbed 571.53 points to wrap up trading at 351,983.29, the JSE Main Index popped 723.66 points to 315,985.82. The Junior Market Index dipped 18.95 points to wrap-up trading at 3,682.39 and the JSE USD Market Index gained 4.25 points to finish at 223.13.
Investors traded 10,449,490 shares, in all three markets, down from 13,761,322 units on Tuesday. The value of stocks traded on the Junior and Main markets amounts to $48.29 million compared with $65.97 million on Tuesday. The JSE USD market closed after just 6,525 shares were traded, for US$320 compared to 130,502 units at US$2,973 on Wednesday.
In the preference segment, Jamaica Public Service 7% rallied $1 to $41 and Productive Business Solutions 10.5 % preference share lost $30 to end at $1,060.
The market’s PE ratio, the most popular measure used to determine the value of stocks, ended at 20.7 on 2022-23 earnings and 13.7 times those for 2023-24 at the close of trading. ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
The PE ratio chart covers all ordinary shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, grouped by industry, allowing for easy comparisons between the same sector companies and the overall market. The EPS & PE ratios are based on 2023 and 2024 actual or projected earnings, excluding major one off items.
Investors need pertinent information to navigate numerous investment options successfully in the stock market. The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily report charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
Investors should use the chart to help make rational decisions when investing in stocks close to the average for the sector and not going too far from it unless there are compelling reasons to do so. This approach helps to remove emotions from investment decisions and place them on fundamentals while at the same time not being too far from the majority of investors. Investors who buy when the price of a stock is close to the average will find that they are not inclined to overpay for a stock.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide to quickly assess the value of stocks based on this measure. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
Dividends paid or payable and yields for each company are shown in the Main and Junior Markets’ daily report charts, along with the closing volume pertaining to the highest bid and the lowest offer for each company.
Mayberry Jamaica shed 50m Lumber shares
Lumber Depot, the 2019 spinoff of the Junior Market listed Blue Power, reported record first quarter results to July, with profit of $72 million, up from $30 million in 2020, with earnings per share of 10 cents and attracted increased buying in the stock as the results hit the exchange on September 8.
Mayberry Jamaican Equities (MJE) pounced on the renewed buying interest and sold just under 50 million units in the market up to October 20.MJE slashed their holdings of 181,538,726 shares, with 25.7 percent of total issued capital at the end of July to 132,468,464, but they remained the largest shareholder at 18.76 percent.
Over the same period, Blue Power Group, the second largest shareholder, reduced their 101,989,250 holdings to 14.4412 percent to 98,989,250 or 14.02 percent. Blue power in January held 113,989,250 shares, with a 16.14 percent holding. Kenneth Benjamin, a director of Blue Power, holdings in January of 49.95 million rose to 59,954,650 units or 8.4893 percent but slipped to 58.4 million in October.
Since October 20, the average daily trade in the stock has been 773,546 units, with the lowest trade, 522,227, on the 21 of the month.
Blue Power profit jumped 55%
Sales at Blue Power for the half year of its 2019 fiscal year to October, increased 13 percent to $862 million from $761 million for the same period in 2017, while sales for the second quarter to October were up nearly 12 percent to $426 million from $381 million for the same period in 2017.
Profits for the six months grew 55 percent to $87 million, from $56 million in the same period last year. For the second quarter profit after tax jumped 52 percent to $26.6 million from $17.5 million in 2017 in spite of picking up foreign exchange losses in the current period. Earnings per stock rose from 10 cents to 15.4 cents for the half year.
Lumber Depot sales rose 9 percent from $544 million to $592 million and the Blue Power division increased 25 percent from $217 million to $270 million for the six months
The Lumber Depot contributed $38 million before tax compared to $32 million in 2017 while Soap Division jumped to $61 million from $2 million in 2017.
Net finance cost was $9.5 million compared to $2.7 million for the quarter and for the six months it was a net inflow of $13 million in 2018 and was flat for the 2017 period.
For the half year, “exports sales of soap accounted for 24 percent of overall soap sales,” Noel Dawes, Managing Director told shareholders, in a report accompanying the financials. He further stated that “sales in the Caribbean market continue to be brisk as greater interest, acceptance and satisfaction of our product range materialize. The increase in export sales over the same quarter in the previous year was 64 percent from $47 million to $77 million.”
The company should earn around 30 cents per share for the current fiscal year and close to 40 cents for the next fiscal year ending April 2020. The stock trades at $5.45 at a PE ratio of 18 times estimated current year’s earnings.
Blue Power has investments and cash funds amounting to $247 million, with current assets of $655 million versus current liabilities of just $131 million and shareholders equity of $839 million.
3 new junior stocks in 2017 best 10
The Junior Market ended 2017 with 3 new listings in the Top 10 best performing stocks in 2017. The 3 are, Express Catering up 167 percent, Main Event with a rise of 164 percent and Stationery and Office Supplies with a gain of 148 percent.
Knutsford Express with an increase of 275 percent, is the winning Junior Market stock for 2017, after ending at ninth position on the Junior Market in 2016, with a rise of 108 percent in 2016. Jetcon Corporation, the no 6 best performing stock in 2016 gained 199 percent in 2017 to land the number 2 spot. Eppley gained 145 percent for 2017 to hold down spot number 6 spot, number 7, is Blue Power rising 104 percent, followed by C2W Music after gaining 104 percent, with the number 9 spot being held down by Access Financial with gains of 76 percent and KLE Group rising 67 percent at 10.
Investor’s Choice research covering more than 30 years’ data shows that only an average of 2 stocks out of the top 10 performers each year repeat that performance in the following year, with the rest falling outside the top 10.
IC Insider.com data is showing that only Access and Stationery and Office Supplies are likely to end in the TOP 15 Junior Stocks in 2018.
Juniors climb to 2,829 points on Friday
The market ended with very low volume of stocks changing hands, ending at 204,282 units valued at $1,106,948 passing through the market, compared to 542,606 units valued at $3,545,918, on Thursday.
An average of a mere 11,349 units with an average value of $61,497 traded, compared to 33,913 units with an average value of $221,620 2 on the previous trading day. The average for the month to date is 177,108 units with an average value of $939,121 versus 186,317 units with an average value of $987,878 for the preceding trading day. The average for December, ended at 131,147 units, with an average value of $672,488.
The market closed with 12 stocks with bids higher than their last sale and 1 with a lower offer than the last sale.
At the close of trading, investors pushed Access Financial $2.20 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $27.50 with 140 units changing hands, Blue Power closed with 500 units changing hands at $40.40, CAC 2000 traded 100 shares and gained 39 cents to end at $6.40, Cargo Handlers end at $20.50, after 3,679 shares were traded. Caribbean Flavours pushed through 6,647 units and lost $1.50 to end at $8.50, Caribbean Producers exchanged 4,000 shares but fell 15 cents to $4, Consolidated Bakeries rose 35 cents in trading 13,761 shares to close at $3, Dolphin Cove ended at $14 with 1,110 shares trading to gain 50 cents. General Accident gained 10 cents at the close of trading, with 34,160 shares at $3.10, Honey Bun shed 35 cents and closed with 19,174 shares changed hands at $6.30, Jetcon Corporation closed trading with just 650 shares, to end with a gain of 56 cents to $10.10. KLE Group ended with 8,200 units changing hands at $2.49, Lasco Distributors ended trading with 16,985 units changing hands to end at $7.30. Lasco Financial had 45,650 shares changing hands and rose 15 cents to end at $3.95, Lasco Manufacturing with 3,240 units changing hands and closed with a gain of 5 cents at $5.15, Medical Disposables gained 30 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $6.20 with 2,850 shares trading. Paramount Trading closed with a gain of 2 cents at $3.22 with 2,500 shares changing hands and tTech closed trading with 40,936 units changing hands to end at a record $6.90.
Mayberry Q1 profit hardly moved
Total comprehensive income for the March quarter at investment bankers, Mayberry Investments, increased 165 percent to $364 million, compared to $137.6 million in the 2015 quarter. The more investment sensitive number, net profit, was just $94 million compared to $82 million in the corresponding 2015 quarter.
Earnings per share ended at 8 cents, up from 7 cents in 2015, making the stock at $3.40, fully priced based on current market valuation measures. Profit was boosted by $209 million in realised trading gains compared with $53 million in 2015 but suffered from unrealised investment loss of $94 million versus a gain of $12 in 2015.
Income from fees and commissions jumped 204 percent to $38.9 million. Net interest income suffered a reduction of 34 percent or $33.4 million to reach $65 million, dividend income declined from $57 million to $18.6 million and net foreign exchange gains ended at $34 million, down from $40 million.
The decrease in net interest income was as a result of the reduction in the size of the repo portfolio. A general decline in the global bond market due to speculation about US interest rates and changes in the market conditions which impacted the bond prices in the portfolio.
Operating expenses for the period rose 27 percent to $204 million from $161 million for the corresponding period in 2014, “The increase in expense is due to increased costs for consultancy as well as legal and professional services” Gary Peart, Chief Executive Officer stated. Additional provision for credit losses of $7.5 made during the period compared to a write back during 2015 of $5 million contributed to the increase.
The group made investments in four associated companies since July 2015, making Lasco Financial Services, Blue Power Group, Caribbean Producers and Iron Rock Insurance Company associates and contributed $28 million in profit, there was no income from associates in the 2015 period.
At the end of the period stockholders’ equity was $6.6 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion over the corresponding period in 2015. Net book value ended at $5.50 per share and big premium to the last traded price of $3.40 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Blue Power disappoints again
For the six consecutive quarters, soap manufacturer, Blue Power, disappoints investors, with a fall in profit compared to the prior year’s results. For the three months to July this year, the company reported profit before tax of $21 million compared to $29 million in the same period last year, a fall of 28 percent.
Revenues for the period ended at $306 million that are up 8 percent from the $282 million for the same period last year and a big recovery from $260 million experienced during the poor April quarter.
The five-year tax-free concession the company enjoyed for listing on the junior market ended in April, resulting in an estimated tax liability of $2.19 million which reduces net profits to $18.60. The profit performance helped to generate gross cash flow from operations of $24 million versus $28 million in 2014.
While sales grew, gross profit fell and gross profit margin declined with the former falling to $64 million from $66 million and administrative and other expenses rose 14 percent to $46 million.
The contribution of Lumber Depot division to the before tax was $7.55 million and $6.09 million in 2014, while Blue Power division contributed $13.24 million and in 2014, profit of $22.6 million. Earnings per stock unit for the quarter fell from 51 cents to 33 cents.
Divisional sales had mixed fortunes with the lumber depot division enjoying an increase of $28 million to $212 million, while sales for the Blue Power division, declined by $3.5 million to $90 million in 2015 compared to July 2014 quarter. Sales for both divisions were higher in the July quarter than for April with the Lumber Depot sales also improved from $189 in April 2015 and Blue Power division from $71 million.
Cash and equivalent has risen to $168 million from $156 million in 2014 and receivables declined to $74 million but Inventories jumped to $266 million from $220 million while loan financing amounts to just $8.7 million.
The stock which was previously given a BUY RATED grade lost it with the declining profits and no clear indication of a strong pick up in revenues to propel profits upwards to warrant a buy rating at this time.
Juniors up 47% for 2015
At the close, Access Financial had little supply with the offer to sell 5,134 shares at $25.50 against a last sale price of $19, while Blue Power has only 2,000 shares on offer at $13.05. Lasco Manufacturing has a bid at $2 to buy 12,147 units, well ahead of the last price of $1.71, but the offer is for only 10,000 units at $2.50.
One technical indicator shows potential resistance around the present level, with 8 junior market stocks having bids above the last traded prices particularly that of Lasco Manufacturing with a large capital base and only 2 with lower offers, the market should clear the resistance level decisively, with the junior market heading to 1,200 points before a major resistance develops again.
In actual trading on Wednesday, only 5 securities changed hands with 2 rising and 1 declining resulting in 172,196 units valued at $540,274.
At the close, the junior market had 5 securities closed with no bids to buy, while 8 had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading are, Access Financial closed at $19 but with 4,234 units changing hands, the company had previously released results for the six months to June showing a 71 percent gain in the quarter resulting in profit of $112.5 million versus $65.6 million and for the six months $252 million, compared with $145 million previously. Lasco Distributors traded 1,400 shares to close at $1.76, with a loss of 4 cents, Lasco Financial Services traded 121,700 units to close at $2. Lasco Manufacturing with just 10,313 units changing hands, gained 7 cents to close at $1.71, for a new 52 week’s high and Paramount Trading ended with 34,549 shares changing hands with a gain of 25 cents to end at $5.75.
Profit drops at Blue Power
Sales for the Blue Power to April this year increased from $1.046 billion to $1.06 billion, with both divisions showing improvement. Lumber Depot division moved from sales of $728 million to $735 million while the Blue Power division improved from $318 million to $325 million.
While revenues were flat administrative cost climbed 16 percent or $22 million to $157 million, helping to push profits down for the full year.
Profits for the financial year stood at $71 million before tax with the Lumber Depot division contributing $26 million and the Blue Power division adding $45 million in 2014 profit was $93 million. The company produced only $7 million in profit in the final fiscal quarter compared to $12.4 million in the January quarter from slightly less sales in the fourth quarter. After providing for corporate taxes $654,000 were profit for the year ended at $70 million as the company became liable to tax after completing five years on the Junior Market in the third week of April compared to net profit for the previous year of $93 million. Earnings per share ended at $1.24.
The company that will meet shortly to consider a dividend has cash of $166 million on and as of April with cash generated from operations being $55 million compared to just $13 million in the prior year.
The stock which is priced at $9.50 on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange may be fully priced currently.