Trading closed on Friday, moved the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market closer to the 3,600 points level ahead of the old record close of August 2019 of 3,662.94 points, with a rise of 16.13 points at the close of Friday to settle at 3,585.75 after trading up to 3,630 points in the early trading session.
Trading calmed, with Spur Tree slipping under 10 million units, but still played a big part in the 16,579,452 shares that traded for $57,855,045, down from 26,022,456 units at $87,517,746 on Thursday. Spur Tree Spices led trading with 8.57 million shares for 51.7 percent of total volume followed by Future Energy Source with 2.3 million units for 13.9 percent of the day’s trade and Jamaican Teas traded 765,118 units for 4.6 percent market share.
A total of 40 securities traded compared to 43 on Thursday and ended with 15 rising, 19 declining and six, closing unchanged.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 16. The PE ratio of each stock shown in the chart below is based on ICInsider.com earnings forecast for companies with financial years up to August 2022.
Trading averaged 414,486 shares at $1,446,376 in contrast to 605,173 shares at $2,035,296 on Thursday and month to date, an average of 332,829 units at $1,278,375, compared to 326,758 units at $1,265,884 on the prior trading day. December closed with an average of 409,209 units at $1,318,877.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one stock with a lower offer.
At the close, Access Financial rallied $1.27 to end at $26.28 after exchanging 3,509 shares, CAC 2000 rose 77 cents to close at $8.27 after trading 100 units, Cargo Handlers shed 28 cents to $7.20 with the swapping of 47,124 stock units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers dropped 13 cents in closing at $2.90 in switching ownership of 471,657 stocks, Caribbean Cream advanced 25 cents to $5.40 while exchanging 100 shares, Consolidated Bakeries fell 11 cents to close at 99 cents 313,892 units crossing the exchange. Dolphin Cove gained $2.25 to end at $22.25 in trading 698,461 stocks, Express Catering lost 25 cents in closing at $5.10, with 478,008 stock units clearing the market, Fosrich popped $2.44 to a record $14.49 after 5,368 units changed hands. Future Energy Source increased 25 cents ending at $3.45 after trading 2,299,167 stock units, General Accident declined 30 cents to close at $6 in an exchange of 28,495 shares, Honey Bun climbed 15 cents to end at $9.60, with 1,539 stocks crossing the market. iCreate shed 9 cents after ending at 79 cents in exchanging 378,448 units, Iron Rock Insurance gained 10 cents to $3, with 2,287 stocks changing hands, ISP Finance rallied $3.30 in closing at $36.30 trading 34 shares. Jamaican Teas increased 10 cents to $3.99 with an exchange of 765,118 stock units, KLE Group fell 15 cents in ending at $2.80 after exchanging 17,063 stock units, Lasco Financial popped 7 cents in closing at $3.03 with 59,980 shares changing hands. Limners and Bards lost 7 cents to close at $3.42 with an exchange of 40,153 units, Lumber Depot declined 9 cents to end at $2.90 after an exchange of 435,151 stocks, Main Event dropped 40 cents in closing at $3.98, with 32,127 units clearing the market. Spur Tree Spices fell 13 cents to $2.15 in trading 8,566,940 shares, SSL Venture popped 40 cents in ending at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.30 after exchanging 187,244 stock units and tTech declined 20 cents to close at $4 with 6,760 stocks changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
3 new ICTOP10 listings as Spur Tree exists
The Junior Market ICTOP10 stocks have three new listings in a week that saw Spur Tree Spices trading for the first time on Friday with the price climbing to $1.32 for a rise of 32 percent since the Initial Public offer at the end of 2021, there are no new Main Market listings.
Other stocks that were in the spotlight this past week were ones that lasted off to record new all-time highs and include AMG Packaging, Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Caribbean Producers and Dolphin Cove a TOP10 contender up to the week ending December 2, also hit a 52 weeks’ high of $23.50 this past week to be up more than 100% since it came into the top flight in August last year at $9.86.
With the rise in the price of Spur Tree Spices, the stock is one of four to move out of the TOP10, followed by Medical Disposables that 16 percent for the week and Caribbean Cream that reported terrible third quarter results with a loss being made in the period as revenues climbed 14 percent in the quarter. Coming into the TOP10 are Lumber Depot, Fontana and General Accident.
Junior Market, AMG Packaging rose a strong 45 percent, ahead of the first quarter results to November that showed profit after tax jumping a big 146 percent over 2020. Investors can expect more gains to come this coming week as the stock traded up $3.90 last week. Caribbean Assurance Brokers climbed to a new 52 weeks’ high during the week and closed $3.12 up 26 percent, Access Financial Services continues to seesaw and recovered 17 percent to $20 this past week and Elite Diagnostic gained 8 percent to $3.18.
The sharp price movements in the Junior Market reduced the potential gains markedly, with the average gains projected for the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now 122 percent versus 148 percent last week.
The top three stocks are Access Financial Services followed by Lasco Distributors and Caribbean Assurance Brokers can gain between 124 and 160 percent, sharply down from 182 and 204 percent, previously.
Major Main Market TOP10 moving stocks are Caribbean Producers up 7 percent, to $15.99 and Radio Jamaica rallying 7 percent to $3.45 as increased buying interest came in for the stock.
The potential gains for Main Market stocks moved from 146 percent to this weeks’ 144 percent this week, with top three Main Market stocks being Guardian Holdings followed by JMMB Group and Radio Jamaica all projected to gain between 161 and 257 percent up from 199 and 258 percent last week.
The Junior Market closed the week, with an average PE of 14.7 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and is currently well below the target of 20 and the average of 17 at the end of March this year based on 2020 earnings. The TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of a mere 9.1, with a 38 percent discount to that market’s average.
The Junior Market can gain 36 percent to March this year, based on an average PE of 20 and 16 percent based on an average PE of 17. Eleven stocks representing 26 percent of all Junior Market stocks with positive earnings are trading at or above this level averaging 25.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market is 16.4, just 16 percent less than the PE of 19 at the end of March and 22 percent below the target of 20 to March 2022. The Main Market TOP 10 average PE is 8.5 representing a 48 percent discount to the market and well below the potential of 20. A total of 14 stocks or 30 percent of the market trade at or above a PE of 19, with most over 20, for an average roundabout 25, suggesting that the accepted multiple is between 20 and 25 times the current year’s earnings.
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 March 2022 and 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 per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Sharp rebound for Dolphin Cove
In March 2020, Jamaica closed its borders to incoming visitors by planes and ships as a result of the emergence of the deadly Covid-19 virus, thus bringing to a halt the important tourist industry and many others that relied on it.
The impact was immediate and devastating to the entertainment attraction entity, Dolphin Cove based in Ocho Rios, with locations on the north coast of the island. For the nine months to September 2020, the company posted revenues of just US$3.6 million and a loss of $864 million, with the September quarter generating revenues of just $320,000 and a loss of $590,000. By the third quarter last year, cruise shipping from which it generates a large portion of income had just 8,381 visitors in 2021 compared to 219,000 for the first nine months of 2019, but visitor arrivals by planes were back to 70 percent of the 2019 numbers for the third quarter and 54 percent in the June quarter and by November last year arrivals were down around 20 percent from the same month in 2019, an indication that the industry could well be nearly back on track in 2022 and provide a considerable boost to the company’s revenues.
The company lost US$1.13 million for 2020, but chalked up a profit of $1 million in the 2021 third quarter, from $2.57 million in operating revenues, and a profit of $2.1 million for the nine months from operating revenues of $5.44 million. While revenues rose 51 percent in the nine months, expenses fell from $3.5 million to $2.9 million, with all categories of cost falling except for finance that rose from $96,000 to $215,000. Although operating revenues spiked 703 percent over the measly income for September 2020 quarter, direct expenses rose 61 percent to $258,000 and other operating expenses rose 139 percent from $548,000 to $1.31 million. The above numbers suggest that costs are down generally, it appears that some costs may have been fully trimmed from the system.
Gross cash flow brought in $2.5 million but growth in working capital, addition to fixed assets resulted in negative funds flow of $149,000 for the nine months. At the end of September, shareholders’ equity stood at US$29 million. Total long term borrowings amount to US$820,000 with bank overdraft at $1 million. Current assets ended the period at $6 million including trade and other receivables of $2.7 million, cash and bank balances of $2 million. Current liabilities ended the period at $2.6 million. Net current assets ended the period at $2.4 million.
At the end of December, the stock traded at $15 with a PE of 11 with the earnings per share of $1.35 and a PE of 5 with ICInsider.com projected earnings of $3 for the current year.