Junior market inches higher

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Monday, with the market index inched higher after more stocks fell than rose, with investors exchanging 20 percent more shares than on Friday.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands compared to 31 securities on Friday and ended with the prices of nine stocks rising, twelve declining and eleven remaining unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index carved out a gain of just 3.21 points to settle at 2,609.36. The average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.7 based on IC Insider.com forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 3,157,585 shares for $9,033,381  compared to 2,637,466 units at $9,741,864 on Friday.
Lumber Depot led trading with 806,750 shares for 25.5 percent of total volume, followed by MailPac Group with 543,553 units for 17.2 percent of the day’s trade and Fontana with 518,938 units for 16.4 percent market share.
Trading ended with an average of 98,675 units at $282,293 in contrast to 85,080 at $314,254 on Friday. An average of 120,140 units at $337,342 for the month to date, in comparison to 125,549 units at $351,213. Trading in July resulted in an average of 248,153 units at $668,727.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging lost 6 cents to end at $1.78, with 1,010 stock units crossing the exchange, Cargo Handlers jumped 98 cents to settle at $7.50 with investors swapping 3,000 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers slipped 3 cents to end at $2.12, in an exchange of 2,065 stocks. Caribbean Cream closed 10 cents lower at $5.30 trading 72,958 stocks, Consolidated Bakeries rose 19 cents to end at $1.55 and 3,200 stock units changing hands, Dolphin Cove lost 25 cents to settle at $7 trading 50,160 shares. Everything Fresh declined by 8 cents to end at 65 cents after exchanging 15,065 shares, Fontana gained 1 cent to close at $5.01 with 518,938 shares traded, Fosrich rose 20 cents to close at $3.90, in an exchange of 14,598 shares. Honey Bun shed 69 cents to settle at $4.66 trading 54,236 shares, iCreate settled at 61 cents, with a gain of 1 cent and 298,692 shares crossing the market, ISP Finance shed 80 cents to settle at $15, with 129 units passing through the market. Jamaican Teas rose 1 cent to $5, with investors switching ownership of 43,500 stock units, Knutsford Express declined 98 cents to close at $6.90 in an exchange of 1,840 stock units, Lasco Distributors gained 20 cents, in closing at $3.25 with 7,768 stocks changing hands. Lasco Financial lost 5 cents to end at $2.30 trading 47,768 stock units, Limners and Bards declined by 4 cents to settle at $2.96 as investors swapped 185,204 shares, Lumber Depot fell 2 cents to $1.04, in an exchange of 806,750 shares. MailPac Group gained 1 cent to end at $2.15, after trading 543,553 shares, Medical Disposables shed 26 cents to settle at $4.93,  with 7,531 units crossing the market and tTech rose 25 cents to end at $6.75 trading 10,097 units.

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

Mild recovery for Junior Market

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange resumed trading after closing for the Independence Day on Thursday and ended trading on Friday, with the market rising after slightly more stocks rose than declined after investors exchanged 49 percent more shares than on Wednesday.
Trading ended with 31 securities changing hands compared to 30 on Wednesday and ended with the prices of 13 stocks rising, 12 declining and seven ending with prices remaining unchanged.
At the close, the market index rose 11.93 points to close at 2,606.15 and the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.6 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 2,637,466 shares for $9,741,864 compared to 1,769,437 units at $5,986,775 on Wednesday.
Main Event led trading with 607,726 shares for 23 percent of total volume followed by Mailpac Group with 576,774 units for 22 percent of the day’s trade and General Accident with 283,368 units for 10.7 percent market share.
Trading ended with an average of 85,080 units at $314,254 in contrast to 58,981 at $199,559 on Wednesday. For the month to date trading averaged 125,607 units at $351,212, in comparison to 138,694 units at $363,147 up to Wednesday. Trading in July resulted in an average of 248,153 units at $668,727.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial carved out a gain of $3.49 to close at $26.99 in trading 6,465 shares, AMG Packaging increased 10 cents to end at $1.84 after exchanging 14,749 units, Blue Power fell 5 cents in ending at $3.40 after trading 3,500 shares. Caribbean Assurance Brokers increased 4 cents to close at $2.15 in an exchange of 8,688 stock units, Caribbean Cream rose 15 cents to end at $5.40 after exchanging 115,306 units, Caribbean Producers fell 2 cents to close at $2.42 in trading 58,650 stock units. Derrimon Trading carved out a gain of 1 cent to end at $2.55, with 211,600 stocks changing hands, Dolphin Cove climbed 25 cents to $7.25 with an exchange of 3,630 units, Everything Fresh fell 2 cents to end at 73 cents after clearing the market of 72,417 stock units. Fontana lost 2 cents to close at $5 with investors swapping 85,126 stocks, Fosrich fell 5 cents to $3.70 in trading 106,700 stocks, General Accident rose 20 cents closing at $7.50 after exchanging 283,368 shares. GWest Corporation climbed 3 cents to end at 89 cents in an exchange of 2,400 units, iCreate declined by 2 cents to end at 60 cents, with 68,005 stock units crossing the market, Indies Pharma dropped 6 cents to settle at $2.90 while exchanging 35,193 shares. Jetcon Corporation advanced by 9 cents to settle at $1.01 trading 3,000 units, Knutsford Express increased 38 cents and ended at $7.88 with investors swapping 225 stocks, Lasco Distributors carved out a loss 22 cents to settle at $3.05 in trading 20,967 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing advanced by 18 cents after closing at $3.70, with investors swapping 103,786 units, Limners and Bards rose 14 cents to end at $3, with 90,543 shares, crossing the market, Mailpac Group lost 1 cent to close at $2.14 with investors switching ownership of 576,774 units. Main Event fell 3 cents in closing at $3.96 and exchanging 607,726 stock units, Medical Disposables lost 1 cent to end at $5.19 with an exchange of 6,703 units and Paramount Trading dropped 2 cents to settle at $1.75 trading 8,000 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market slips on Wednesday

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Wednesday with the market index declining after slightly more stocks fell than rose after investors traded nine percent more shares than on Tuesday.
Trading ended with 30 securities changing hands, down from 34 on Tuesday and ended with the prices of 12 stocks rising, 13 declining and five ended, with unchanged prices.
At the close, the Junior Market Index carved out a loss 24.83 points to settle at 2,594.22 and the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.5 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
On a day of low volume, the market closed with an exchange of 1,769,437 shares for $5,986,775 compared to 1,625,055 units at $5,194,150 on Tuesday, with Mailpac Group ended as the leading trade with 612,063 shares for 34.6 percent of total volume. Fontana followed, with 252,183 units for 14.3 percent of the day’s trade and Derrimon Trading with 209,765 units for 12 percent market share.
The average traded for the date was 58,981 units at $199,559, in contrast to an average of 47,796 at $152,769 on Tuesday. An average of 138,617 units traded at $363,147 for the month to date, in comparison to 174,816 units at $437,506. Trading in July resulted in an average of 248,153 units at $668,727 trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial dropped $3.49 in closing at $23.50 with investors swapping 12,531 shares, AMG Packaging increased 1 cent to close at $1.74 while exchanging 3,194 shares, Cargo Handlers inched 1 cent higher to end at $6.52 in an exchange of 3,000 shares. Caribbean Assurance Brokers dropped by 18 cents to $2.11 in an exchange of 8,048 units, Caribbean Cream climbed 20 cents to close at $5.25 after exchanging 112,649 stock units, Caribbean Flavours rose 1 cent to settle at $10.51 with investors switching ownership of 500 stock units. Caribbean Producers climbed 5 cents to settle at $2.44 with investors changing ownership of 30,478 stocks, Derrimon Trading gained 4 cents in ending at $2.54 with investors trading 209,765 stocks, Dolphin Cove carved out a loss 43 cents to settle at $7 with an exchange of 106 shares. Elite Diagnostic fell 49 cents to settle at $3.11 while exchanging 4,500 stocks, Fontana gained 2 cents to settle at $5.02, in an exchange of 252,183 shares, Fosrich fell 15 cents to end at $3.75, with investors swapping 8,250 stock units. General Accident fell 2 cents to settle at $7.30 in an exchange of 56,784 units, iCreate increased 2 cents to settle at 62 cents trading 10,896 stock units, Indies Pharma climbed 6 cents to settle at $2.96 in exchanging 7,473 stock units. Jamaican Teas fell 1 cent in closing at $4.99 while exchanging at 23,440 stocks, Jetcon Corporation lost 9 cents to end at 92 cents in an exchange of 3,000 stocks, KLE Group climbed 2 cents to settle at $1.42 and clearing the market with 2,700 shares. Lasco Distributors gained 2 cents to close at $3.27 in an exchange of 56,668 stock units, Lasco Financial lost 15 cents in closing at $2.35, with 5,505 stock units changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing shed 23 cents to end at $3.52 after 14,255 stocks passed through the market. Limners and Bards shed 2 cents to end at $2.86, with 12,505 shares crossing the market, Lumber Depot declined 1 cent to end at $1.06 trading 97,071 units, Mailpac Group increased 3 cents to $2.15, with 612,063 units changing hands and Medical Disposables carved out a loss 10 cents to finish at $5.20 trading 134,204 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market continues to inch higher

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The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Tuesday, with the market index advancing as more stocks rose than declined after investors traded a mere 16 percent of Monday’s volume at 22 percent of the value.
Trading ended with 34 securities changing hands compared to 32 on Monday and ended with the prices of 13 stocks rising. Prices of 10 stocks declined and prices of 11 remained unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index advanced by 15.97 points to settle at 2,619.05, and the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.8 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Market activities concluded with an exchange of 1,625,055 shares for $5,194,150  compared to 9,920,174 shares for $23,681,230 on Monday.
Mailpac Group led trading with 303,405 shares for 18.7 percent of total volume followed by Jamaican Teas with 230,446 units for 14.2 percent of the day’s trade and Lumber Depot with 147,000 units for 9 percent market share.
Investors exchanged an average of 47,796 units at $152,769 in contrast to an average of 309,774 at $740,038 on Monday. An average of 174,816 units traded at $437,506 for the month to date.  Trading in July resulted in an average of 248,153 units changing hands at $668,727.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging dropped 2 cents to close at $1.73 in an exchange of 1,162 stock units, Blue Power climbed 30 cents to settle at $3.45 with investors switching ownership of 43,232 shares, Cargo Handlers declined 88 cents to finish at $6.51 with 1,100 shares traded. Caribbean Assurance Brokers ended 4 cents higher at $2.29 with 58,475 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream climbed 65 cents to finish at $5.05 and clearing the market with 75,024 stocks, Caribbean Producers gained 4 cents to close at $2.39 in an exchange of 121,300 units. Derrimon Trading carved out a gain of 20 cents to end at $2.50 with investors transferring 109,813 units, Dolphin Cove lost 2 cents to settle at $7.43 with 2,070 stock units traded, Fosrich increased 25 cents to finish at $3.90 with 24,991 stock units changing hands. General Accident advanced by 17 cents to end at $7.32 with investors switching ownership of 33,520 stock units, GWest Corporation lost 3 cents to close at 86 cents with and exchange of 673 shares, Honey Bun carved out a loss 5 cents to end at $5.35 with investors transferring 796 stocks. iCreate advanced 3 cents and traded 1,993 units to settle at 60 cents, Indies Pharma fell 7 cents to $2.90 with 9,200 shares changing hands, Jetcon Corporation carved out a gain of 10 cents to end at $1.01 and clearing the market with 6,097 shares. Lasco Distributors  slipped 3 cents to close at $3.25 with 70,905 shares passing through the market, Lasco Financial rose 9 cents to settle at $2.50 trading 5,700 units, Lasco Manufacturing declined by 3 cents to end at $3.75 in an exchange of 55,345 stock units. Limners and Bards climbed 21 cents to finish at $2.88 with investors transferring 27,316 stocks, Lumber Depot gained 1 cent to close at $1.07 with 147,000 shares changing hands, Mailpac Group declined 2 cents to end at $2.12 with an exchange of 303,405 stock units. Medical Disposables climbed 25 cents to close at $5.30 with 3,410 shares traded and tTech dipped 80 cents to close at $6.50, with 22,081 shares crossing the exchange.

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

Junior Market starts August off with gains

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Monday, with the market rising after more stocks rose than declined after investors traded more than three times the shares, exchanged on Friday.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands, similar to the activity on Friday and ended with the prices of 13 stocks rising, 12 declining and the prices of seven remaining unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index rose 13.05 points to settle at 2,603.08, and the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.7 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 9,920,174 shares for $23,681,230 compared to 2,937,362 units at $11,279,065 on Friday.
Derrimon Trading led trading with 8.40 million shares for 84.7 percent of total volume, followed by Mailpac Group with 538,932 units for 5.4 percent of the day’s trade and Lasco Distributors with 199,213 units for 2 percent market share.
An average of 309,774 units at $740,038 in contrast to an average of 91,793 at $352,471 on Friday. Trading in July resulted in an average of 248,153 units at $668,727 trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and six with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial gained 94 cents to close at $26.99 with the trading of  5,259 stocks, AMG Packaging rose 2 cents to settle at $1.75, with 125,640 stock units changing hands, Blue Power lost 15 cents to settle at $3.15 after clearing the market with 23,011 shares. Caribbean Cream gained 40 cents in closing at $4.40, with an exchange of 1,571 stock units, Caribbean Producers dropped 4 cents to end at $2.35 after exchanging 51,610 units, Consolidated Bakeries lost 19 cents ending at $1.36 clearing the market with 1,000 shares. Derrimon Trading shed 9 cents to end at $2.30 while exchanging 8,401,811 stocks, Elite Diagnostic dipped 10 cents in closing at $3.60 with investors switching ownership of 29,500 units, Express Catering declined by 6 cents to $4 in an exchange of 34,253 stocks. Fosrich dropped 24 cents to close at $3.65 and clearing the market with 34,160 shares, General Accident climbed 11 cents to settle at $7.15, and finishing at 19,458 shares changing hands, Honey Bun rose 10 cents to end at $5.40 in an exchange of 402 shares. iCreate added 1 cent in closing at 57 cents while trading 92,494 shares, Indies Pharma gained 2 cents to finish at $2.97 83,705 stock units changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance advanced 45 cents to $3.45 while exchanging three units. Jamaican Teas increased 11 cents to end at $5 in an exchange of 95,024 stock units, Knutsford Express shed 40 cents to close at $7.50, with 7,512 units passing through the market, Lasco Distributors gained 3 cents to settle at $3.28 in trading 199,213 units. Lasco Manufacturing rose 28 cents in closing at $3.78 after exchanging 17,211 units, Limners and Bards lost 13 cents to settle at $2.67 and finishing trading, with 12,851 units, Mailpac Group shed 1 cent to settle at $2.14, with 538,932 stocks changing hands. Main Event slipped 1 cent to $3.99 after 5,100 shares crossed the market, Medical Disposables carved out a gain of 5 cents to end at $5.05 and trading 24,047 units. Stationery and Office Supplies fell 10 cents in closing at $5.80, with  2,747 stock units crossing the market and tTech gained 60 cents to end at $7.30, with 5,000 shares passing through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market closes in on 2,600 mark

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Friday, with the market rising after slightly more stocks rose than declined, after investors exchanged 83 percent more shares, valued 185 higher than on Thursday.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands, similar to Thursday and ended with the prices of 10 stocks rising, eight declining and 14 with prices remaining unchanged. At the close, the Junior Market Index increased 25.76 points to settle at 2,590.03, and the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.7 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 2,937,362 shares for $11,279,065 compared to 1,607,258 units at $3,954,220 on Thursday.
Mailpac Group led trading with 850,762 shares for 29 percent of total volume followed by Limners and Bards with 344,149 units for 11.7 percent of the day’s trade and Caribbean Cream with 306,317 units for 10.4 percent market share.
An average of 91,793 units changed hands at $352,471, in contrast to an average of 50,227 shares at $123,569 on Thursday. An average of 249,987 units at $688,727 for the month to date, in comparison to 257,292 units at $701,029. Trading in June resulted in an average of 245,049 units at $689,955 trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped by $2.55 to end at $26.05 while exchanging 33,539 stock units, AMG Packaging carved out a gain of 10 cents to settle at $1.73 trading ten stocks, Cargo Handlers advanced 99 cents to close at $7.39, with 7,784 stock units clearing the market. Caribbean Assurance Brokers added 1 cent in ending at $2.25 with an exchange of 2,250 shares, Caribbean Cream gained 15 cents to settle at $4 after exchanging 306,317 stock units, Dolphin Cove fell 5 cents to end at $7.45 after trading ten shares. Everything Fresh dropped 4 cents to settle at 75 cents in an exchange of 173,531 stock units; Express Catering lost 1 cent to settle at $4.06, finishing, with 2,250 shares changing hands, Fosrich advanced by 9 cents to $3.89 in an exchange of 280,701 stock units. General Accident fell 1 cent to close at $7.04, with 500 stocks passing through the market; Honey Bun lost 9 cents to end at $5.30 after 7,700 units crossed the market, Iron Rock Insurance dropped 80 cents to close at $3, with 3,636 stocks changing hands. Jamaican Teas fell 6 cents to close at $4.89 in an exchange of 29,780 shares, Knutsford Express advanced by 90 cents to settle at $7.90 trading 266,086 units, Limners and Bards gained 29 cents to end at $2.80 in exchanging 344,149 shares. Mailpac Group rose 5 cents to close at $2.15 850,762 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables added 1 cent to settle at $5 in exchanging 84,753 stock units and tTech fell 60 cents to $6.70 trading 160,923 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market in minute slippage

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Thursday, with the market declining after more stocks fell than rose, with investors trading 51 percent fewer shares than on Wednesday.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands compared to 33 on Wednesday and ended with the prices of nine stocks rising, 17 declining and six with prices remaining unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index carved out a loss of a mere 0.66 points to settle at 2,564.27, and the average PE Ratio of the Junior Market ended at 10.7 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 1,607,258 shares for $3,954,220 compared to 2,711,361 units at $8,041,179 on Wednesday.
Mailpac Group led trading with 479,529 shares for 30 percent of total volume, followed by Everything Fresh with 300,722 units for 18.7 percent of the day’s trade and Limners and Bards with 218,192 units for 13.6 percent market share.
An average of 50,227 units traded at $123,569 on Thursday, in contrast to an average of 82,162 at $243,633 on Wednesday. For the month to date, the average trade was 257,292 units at $701,029, in contrast to 267,316 units at $728,985. Trading in June resulted in an average of 245,049 units at $689,955 trading.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Cargo Handlers lost 70 cents to settle at $6.40 after exchanging 8,016 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers climbed 9 cents to end at $2.24 in an exchange of 3,500 stocks, Caribbean Cream increased 27 cents to $3.85, with 23,045 shares changing hands. Caribbean Flavours declined by $1.57 to close at $10.50 in exchanging 112 units, Dolphin Cove fell 9 cents after closing at $7.50 while trading 1,000 shares, Elite Diagnostic carved out a gain of 10 cents to close at $3.70 while exchanging one share. Everything Fresh climbed 12 cents in closing at 79 cents and finished trading with 300,722 units, Express Catering carved out a loss 2 cents after ending at $4.07 in an exchange of 3,330 shares, Fontana lost 5 cents to close at $5 in trading 83,879 stock units. General Accident fell 10 cents to end at $7.05 while exchanging 11,041 stock units, Honey Bun slipped 1 cent to settle at $5.39 in trading 500 units, iCreate increased 2 cents to 56 cents trading 10,000 stocks. Indies Pharma fell 5 cents to end at $2.95 in exchanging 5,000 shares, Jamaican Teas declined by 4 cents to end at $4.95, with 7,915 units clearing the market, Jetcon Corporation dropped 1 cent to end at 91 cents in exchanging 16,120 shares. Lasco Distributors advanced 19 cents to close at $3.25 with investors switching ownership of 42,001 shares, Lasco Financial declined by 13 cents and ending at $2.41, with 131,441 units changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing shed 12 cents to end at $3.50 121,608 stock units crossing the exchange. Limners and Bards slipped 10 cents to end at $2.51 in an exchange of 218,192 stock units, Lumber Depot advanced by 1 cent in closing at $1.06 while exchanging 6,194 stock units, Mailpac Group lost 4 cents closing at $2.10 with investors switching ownership of 479,529 stocks. Main Event gained 1 cent to closed at $4 in an exchange of 230 shares, Medical Disposables dipped 1 cent to close at $4.99, with 8,575 units changing hands, Paramount Trading shed 3 cents in closing at $1.77 and cleared the market with 1,000 shares. Stationery and Office Supplies dropped by 8 cents in closing at $5.90, with investors switching ownership of 3,500 shares and tTech rose 17 cents ending at $7.30 clearing the market with 25,124 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Big day for Junior Market

The Junior Market recorded gains at the close of trading on Wednesday, with the prices of the two largest Lasco companies rising, following the release of positive first-quarter profit results.

Lasco Manufacturing rose on Junior Market on Wednesday following Q1 profit release.

Trading ended, with 33 securities changing hands, one more than on Tuesday, with the prices of 17 stocks rising, eight stocks declining and eight remaining with unchanged prices.
At the close, the market Index rose 31.93 to close at 2,564.93 and the average PE Ratio of the Junior Market ended at 10.8 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 2,711,361 shares for $8,041,179 compared to 7,640,477 units at $18,768,624 on Tuesday.
Lasco Distributors led trading with 444,945 shares for 16.4 percent of total volume, followed by Caribbean Producers with 441,603 units for 16.3 percent of the day’s trade and Fosrich with 306,610 units for 11.3 percent market share.
An average of 82,162 units changed hands at $243,672 on Wednesday, in contrast to an average of 238,765 at $586,519 on Tuesday. An average of 267,316 units traded at $728,746 for the month to date, in contrast to 277,046 units at $745,046. In comparison, June ended, with an average of 245,049 units trading at $689,955.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and six with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging fell 2 cents to end at $1.63, with 8,471 stock units changing hands, Blue Power added 1 cent to close at $3.30 with investors swapping 69,984 units, Cargo Handlers climbed 60 cents to $7.10, with 500 shares changing hands. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 10 cents in closing at $2.15 in trading 6,100 units, Caribbean Cream shed 27 cents ending at $3.58 with investors switching ownership of 57,700 stock units. Caribbean Flavours climbed 57 cents in closing at $12.07 and trading 800 units, Caribbean Producers ended 1 cent higher at $2.39 with an exchange of 441,603 shares, Everything Fresh rose 2 cents to 67 cents in trading 161,764 stock units. Express Catering carved out a gain of 9 cents to close at $4.09, with 7,900 stock units crossing the exchange, Fontana gained 5 cents in closing at $5.05 with an exchange of 33,420 units, General Accident rose 20 cents to close at $7.15 after exchanging 116,000 stock units. GWest Corporation gained 2 cents to settle at 89 cents, with 2,098 shares changing hands, iCreate shed 2 cents to end at 54 cents in trading 45,143 units and Iron Rock Insurance shed 9 cents to end at $3.80 with investors swapping 3,100 stock units.
In the preference share segments, CAC 2000 9.5% fell 5 cents to settle at 95 cents and clearing the market with 51,000 units.

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

Junior Market could jump Wednesday

The Junior Market concluded trading with 32 securities changing hands compared to 32 on Monday, with the Market Index slipping 19.21 points to settle at 2,533.00. The market could get a big jolt in Wednesday trading, with two Lasco companies releasing strong results after the market closed.

Two Lasco companies posted good Q1 results.

Lasco Distributors’ profit jumped sharply by 57 percent on a combination of reduced cost. It increased revenues to $258 million while the manufacturing company posted a 21 percent increase in profit to $342 million with modestly rising sales and reduced cost.
In trading on Tuesday, the market ended with the prices of 10 stocks rising, 16 declining and six remaining unchanged and the average PE Ratio of the Junior Market ended at 10.7 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Market activities ended with an exchange of 7,640,477 shares for $18,768,624 compared to 5,577,292 units at $13,949,566 on Monday.
Caribbean Producers led trading with 5.24 million shares for 69 percent of total volume, followed by Lasco Distributors with 429,766 units for 5.6 percent of the day’s trade and Mailpac Group with 314,557 units for 4 percent market share.
Investors exchanged an average of 238,765 units at $586,519 in contrast to 174,290 at $435,924 for each security traded on Monday.  An average of 277,046 units traded at $754,046 for the month to date, in contrast to 279,101 units at $746,924 previously. Trading in June resulted in an average of 245,049 units at $689,955 trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was flashing negative signal, with only two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and seven with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging carved out a loss 10 cents in finishing at $1.65 with 2,451 shares traded, Blue Power declined by 1 cent to end at $3.29 in exchanging 104,343 shares, Cargo Handlers dropped $1.10 to settle at $6.50 with investors transferring 1,765 stock units. Caribbean Cream fell 14 cents in closing at $3.85 with 30,204 shares changing hands, Caribbean Flavours jumped $1 to finish at $11.50 in exchanging 3,000 shares, Caribbean Producers gained 3 cents to settle at $2.38 with 5,243,275 units traded. Derrimon Trading gained 14 cents to close at $2.39 after exchanging 31,300 units, Dolphin Cove climbed 59 cents to end at $7.59 with 200 shares changing hands, Everything Fresh slipped 8 cents to 65 cents and clearing the market with 106,923 units. Express Catering declined by 9 cents to close at $4 with 13,342 shares traded, Fontana lost 8 cents to settle at $5 in an exchange of 141,876 shares, General Accident increased 25 cents to $6.95 with 52,270 stock units changing hands. GWest Corporation declined 1 cent to close at 87 cents with investors swapping 15,622 stock units, iCreate added 2 cents to end at 56 cents with investors transferring 1,460 units, Indies Pharma climbed 10 cents to $3 with 60,000 shares passing through the market. Jamaican Teas fell 1 cent to $4.99 trading 119,441 stock units, Jetcon Corporation gained 10 cents to close at $1.02 with an exchange of 6,800 units, Lasco Distributors advanced 15 cents to settle at $3, trading 429,766 stock units. Lasco Financial fell 14 cents to close at $2.41 with 20,750 units traded, Lasco Manufacturing declined by 10 cents to close at $3.55 with an exchange of 92,236 stock units, Lumber Depot declined by 5 cents to end at 99 cents after investors transferred 191,852 stock units. Mailpac Group increased 12 cents to close at $2.12, with 314,557 units passing through the market, Main Event slipped 1 cent to settle at $3.99 in exchanging 96,123 shares, Medical Disposables dropped 90 cents to close at $5 with 239,464 stock units changing hands and Stationery and Office Supplies fell 38 cents to end at $5.60 with 56,101 units crossing the exchange.
In the preference segment, CAC 2000 9.5% declined by 15 cents to close at $1 while trading 48,800 shares.

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

34% surge in Derrimon Q1 profit

Profit jumped 34 percent at Derrimon Trading in the first quarter of the current financial year, to reach $99 million up from $74 million in 2019, following a 5.5 percent increase in revenue to $3.3 billion from $3.15 billion in the March 2019 quarter.

The significant improvement in the bottom-line compared to the slimmer revenue growth is driven by an increase that was more than twice the growth in revenues in the gross profit margin of 11 percent from 2019, resulting in gross profit rising to $613 million up. Direct expenses rose 4 percent, from $2.6 billion in March 2019 to $2.7 billion in March 2020.
The Group also recorded other income of $22.6 million compared to $5 million in 2019 that helped in driving profit for the quarter. Excluding the increase in other income net profit would have climbed by only 10 percent and much closer to the increase in sales. Other income includes gains from the disposal of plant, property rental and other inflows. Administrative expenses rose a strong 16 percent to $373 million, from $321 million in 2019, while selling and distribution expenses grew by a much more moderate 7 percent to $100 million and resulted in total operating costs of $473 million, a 13 percent increase over March 2019 of $414 million. The group provision for taxation on profit amounts to $7.6 million versus $5.5 million in 2019.

Caribbean Flavours a Derrimon’s subsidiary

The group generated cash inflows from operating activities of $153 million, working capital needs plunged the group into a negative cash position of $208 million. At the same time, loan repayment pushed the cash burn, down to $271 million, leaving cash funds at $239 million, down from $510 million at the end of December 2019. The group, however, has $246 million in investments as well.  Net current assets ended the period at $2.2 billion. Current assets increased sharply by 17 percent from $3.39 billion to $3.9 billion, with inventories rising stunning 70 percent from $1.16 billion at the end of March 2019, but down slightly from the December 2019 position, to end the 2020 first quarter at $2 billion. Receivables were down 15 percent to $1.4 billion compared to March 2019. Current liabilities were down by 20 percent to $1.7 Billion, with Payables the largest component, down 18 percent to $1.1 billion. At the end of March, shareholders’ equity stood at $1.4 billion, an 11 percent increase over March 2019, but the group continues to use a high degree of leveraging in funding its operations. Loans amounted to $2.3 billion at the end of March, with lease financing standing at $1 billion.
Earnings per share came out at 3.4 cents for the quarter and IC Insider.com forecast is for 22 cents per share for PE of 10.2 times 2020 earnings at the closing stock of $2.25 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.