JMMB pretax profit up 16%

August 22, 2017 by

JMMB Group profits up 16% before tax to June.

JMMB Group posted a 16 percent increase in pretax profit, for the June 2017 quarter over 2016, but increased taxation left shareholders with a much smaller 4 percent increase to $617 million, as taxes climbed from $264 million to $381 million.
Net revenues jumped 19.4 percent to $4.1 billion from $3.44 billion in 2016, operating expenses rose even faster at 20.5 percent to $3.1 billion. Net interest income improved noticeably, moving from $1.55 to $1.9 billion as interest income grew to $1.96 billion, from $3.62 billion and cost fell modestly to $2.04 billion. Gains from securities trading rose to $1.54 billion from $1.1 billion but with revaluation of the Jamaican dollar, the group earned $238 million in the quarter, down from $443 million as the group also benefited from one off gains in 2016.
The Jamaican operations contributed 23 percent to growth in operating revenues, putting it at 75 percent of overall group revenues while Trinidad with its economic challenges, remained flat with just a one percent increase and Dominican Republic generated an increase of 18 percent.
Growth in managing pension funds, unit trust and money market funds, with assets under management moving from $89.5 billion in June 2016 to $114.75 billion helped in moving fee income up from $298 million to $364 million over the same period.
The group gained commercial banking license approval in Jamaica, in the September quarter, started to convert some branches to accommodate the new thrust and were also preparing for the roll out of their pension fund management in the Dominican Republic.
Total assets grew from $252 billion to $268 billion between March this year and June, shareholders’ equity moved from $25.9 billion to $26.8 billion including $2 billion in investment revaluation reserves at June this year, lending was almost static at $48 billion versus $47 at March. Investment in resale agreements stood at $173.8 billion versus March’s $172.5 billion. Customers’ deposits rose to $50.87 billion from $49 billion in March, while securities sold under repurchase agreements stood at $169.5 billion, up from $156.6 billion as of March, representing a fairly significant increase of $14 billion in just one quarter.
On Monday, JMMB Group closed at $21.50 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and TT$1.20 (J$22.80) in Trinidad on Monday. IC Insider.com projects earnings of $3 for 2017 up from $2.03 as of March this year, putting the PE at 7 times the March 2018 earnings. The stock continues to be IC Insider.com BUY RATED.

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

Supreme Ventures profit jumps 41%

August 22, 2017 by

Supreme Ventures’ profit rose sharply for the 2017 half year.

Investors responded to strong increase in profit for the six months to June, for Supreme Ventures, by pushing the stock to a record high of $9 on Monday.
Profit surged 41 percent, from $649 million to $918 million after tax, with second quarter profit jumping by a lesser 34 percent to $502 million, from $374 million in 2016. The results translate to earnings per share of 35 cents for the half year and 19 cents for the quarter. The numbers suggest full year earnings of 75 cents, with the stock trading on Monday at $9, it now parades a PE of 12, sitting at the middle of main market listings, but just below the market’s average of 13. Cash flow generated from operations, amounted to just over $1.3 billion for the six months from which $607 million in dividend was paid. $356 million was paid for acquisition of fixed assets after the receipt loan funding of $380 million.
The group reported strong increase in revenues, up 27.5 percent to $14 billion for the quarter and 23.5 percent to $27.4 billion for the six months. The 2017 second quarter figures include revenues for Caymanas Park that was acquired earlier in the year.
Direct cost rose 27 percent in the June quarter, to $12.47 billion and 24 percent year to date to $24.63 billion and operating expenses moved up 29.7 percent to $842 million for the quarter as the cost of the horseracing operations impact cost and 7.3 percent to $1.5 billion for the half year.
The new Caymanas Park horseracing operations brought in revenues of $1.76 billion for the six months period and contributed a loss of $105 million. In the first quarter racing brought in revenues of $328 million and a loss of $19 million. Interestingly, the gaming operations that was a big loss maker in past years contributed $15 million in profit, up from $777,000 in 2016 but down from a profit of $21.4 million in the first quarter, while the Sports betting loss was contained to $34 million, down sharply from $115 million in 2016, but much worse than the loss of $9.5 million in quarter one.
The financial position at June saw total assets of $6.5 billion, including cash of $2.27 billion and non- current assets of $3.17 billion. Shareholders’ equity stood $4 billion and interest bearing debt at debt, at just under $500 million.

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

Kingston Wharves pumps up JP profits

August 20, 2017 by

Jamaica Producers current HQ.

Jamaica Producers made improvement in its operations, with strong gains in operating profit, helped by the consolidation of Kingston Wharves (KW), but importantly, gains from its other core business.
The company reported profit attributable to shareholders of $158 million for the second quarter and $251 million for the half year to June, 2017.
The results flowed from revenues of $7.4 billion up from $4.6 billion in 2016 for the half year and $4 billion for the quarter, up from $2.4 billion in 2016. In 2016 the group’s share of KW was treated as an associate as such the revenues for 2016 does not include that for wharf as is the case in 2017.
Closer look at the numbers, shows that while profit jumped sharply, the subsidiary Kingston Wharves accounted for $485 million of the $546 million profit generated from operations in the June quarter and $918 million of the $981 million generated for the half year. Revenues from KW amounts to $1.55 billion for the quarter and $2.94 billion for the six months, less than 40 percent of JP group’s revenues.
The numbers suggest there is much work to be done, to knock Producers as the group is called, into shape. Relocation of the head office from rented property to an existing property owned by them and serving other group companies and the consolidation of the Tortuga Rum Cake operations in Kingston with modern equipment and other changes, will help to improve profitability of the core business.
The results for 2017 translate to 14 cents per share for the quarter and 22 cents for the half year and should end around 50 cents for the year. With a stock price of $13.75 the market value is a very rich 29 times earnings against a market average of just over 13. The stock which traded as high as $22 earlier this year has been slowly correcting and seems headed lower as investors get a clearer picture of the likely full year’s earnings.
The group’s main activities are port terminal operations, logistics, the cultivation, marketing and distribution of fresh produce, food and juice manufacturing, land management and the holding of investments.

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

Stationery shares set to gain over 150%

August 11, 2017 by

SOS executives at the listing ceremony at the JSE.

Stationery & Office Supplies shares were listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The price of the stock is set to gain more than 150 percent when trading resumes on Friday, if interest in the stock shown on Thursday is anything to go by.
After a successful public offering of the stock in July that was priced at $2, investors traded 278,046 units between $3.50 up to $5 on the opening day. The trades were outside the limit of $2.60 it could trade at based on the limitation of the exchange circuit breaker rule and were cancelled. The circuit breaker rule limits price movement to no more than 30 percent from the last price on the previous trading day. Normally the price would be the last closing stock price, subject some variation to this, when the bids or offers are higher than the previous closing price or the offer is lower. The stock closed with the bid at $4.70 which is the effective price on which a 30 percent change can take place in Fridays trading and could result in the price going as high as $6.11.
The market closed with bids to buy up to 4.36 million shares with offers to sell 106,922 units between $5 and $12, but supply is expected to increase on Friday with the price reaching the $5 level.
The listing brings the total of Junior Market ordinary shares listed to 32, which exceeds the listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market listings. Total Junior Market listings are now 36 with 4 preference shares listed.

Filed Under: Company News, Feature Stories, General Business News, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , ,

SOS listing pushes juniors ahead of main market

August 10, 2017 by

The Stationery and Office Supplies executive body at the SOS listing ceremony. From left: Allan McDaniel, Deputy Managing Director and Director of Warehouse and Logistics; Kelli McDaniel Muschett, Director of Purchasing and Administration; David McDaniel, Chairman and Managing Director; Marjorie McDaniel, Director, Chief Administrative Officer and Company Secretary; Kerri McDaniel Todd, Director of Special Projects; and Stephen Todd, Director of Sales and Marketing.

Stationery & Office Supplies shares were listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday. The listing brings the total of Junior Market ordinary shares listed to 32, exceeding the ordinary share listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market.
Total Junior Market listings are now 36 with 4 preference shares listed.
After a successful public offering of the stock that was priced at $2, investors traded 278,046 units between $3.50 up to $5 on the opening day, but those trades were outside the limit of $2.60 it could trade at based on the limitation of the exchange’s circuit breaker and were cancelled. The stock closed with the bid at $4.70 which is the effective price on which a 30 percent change can take place in Fridays trading and could result in the price going as high as $6.11.
Trading in the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Thursday with a number of stocks declining, out pacing those rising. The volume and value of stocks trading declined compared to that on Wednesday and the market index closed lower.
The market index declined 21.58 points to close at 3,133.22 with 554,002 shares valued at $2,805,282 trading compared with 3,764,636 units valued at $19,753,434 on the previous day. A total of 17 securities traded compared 17 on Wednesday with 6 stocks declined, 5 advanced and 7 traded firm.
Trading ended with an average of 30,778 units for an average of $155,849 in contrast to 221,449 units for an average of $1,161,967 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 140,412 units valued at $744,935 compared to 162,339 units valued at $862,752 previously. In contrast, July closed with average of 536,395 units at $1,905,441 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, stocks trading and the last traded price on Thursday are: AMG Packaging trading 48,800 units with a loss of 20 to end at $3.50, Cargo Handlers with a loss of $1.70 to close at $11.50 with 1,500 shares, Caribbean Cream closed at $6.80 with 1,842 shares, Caribbean Flavours ended at $11 with 13,151 shares, Caribbean Producers traded at $3.50 with 24,600 shares, Express Catering rose 1 cent to close at $5.01 with 212,564 shares, General Accident climbed 15 cents higher to close at $2.95 with 3,122 shares, Honey Bun with a loss of 5 cents, closed at $5 with 500 shares after posting poor results for the June quarter, with profit before taxes falling to $8 million, $31 million less than in the prior year’s period. Jamaican Teas rose 4 cents in closing at $4.55 with 21,717 shares, Jetcon Corporation closed 5 cents higher to $5.15 with 48,384 shares, Knutsford Express ended at $14.90 with a loss of 10 cents with 2,542 shares, Lasco Distributors closed 10 cents higher at $6.70 with 46,231 shares, Lasco Financial closed at $4 with 6,700 shares, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.50 with 75,963 shares, Main Event closed at $5 with 37,286 shares, Paramount Trading ended 10 cents higher at $2.70 with 1,000 shares, Eppley 8.25% preference share closed at $6.05 with a 8,000 shares and Eppley 10% preference share close at $6.60 with a 100 shares.

Filed Under: JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

10 for 1 split for Carreras shares

August 10, 2017 by

Carreras as high as $110 after stock split announcement.

The directors of Carreras advised that they will be recommending a 10 for 1 stock split to members of the Company at its Annual General Meeting scheduled for September 6.
In order to facilitate the proposed subdivision of the existing ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, the maximum number of shares that the Company is authorized to issue is to be increased by a subdivision into 10 ordinary shares for each one that currently exists and thus raising the authorized capital to $4.8544 billion units with effect from the close of business on September 20, 2017. The existing issued shares are to be increased from 485,440,000 units of no par value to 4,854,400,000 ordinary shares of no par value. The ex-stock split date is September 18, 2017.
Carreras stock trades at $110 on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends, Street News & Views Tagged With: , , , ,

Express Catering may have topped out

August 2, 2017 by

The bids and offers for recently listed Express Catering may have topped out, based on the quotes this morning.
In early trading on Wednesday, bids amounted to over 1.53 million units up to $4.71 with offers of 1.285 million from $7 down to $4.98. Bids above $4.50 amounts to less than 40,000 units, suggesting that strong buying may have waned. It is early in the day and the feeling out process could be on to entice sellers to drop their offers and vice versa.
A total of 50,668 units traded so far down to $4.71, with a high of $4.98 for the day. Since the stock listed on the Exchange late in July, the price shot up sharply from the initial public price of $1.50 and induced more than 54 percent of the IPO issue to trade.

Filed Under: JSE Junior Market, Stock Market, Street News & Views Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Record $170M profit for Knutsford

August 2, 2017 by

One of Knutsford Express buses.

Profit after tax grew 40 percent at Knutsford Express for the year to May 2017 to $170.3 million but pretax profit was up a lower 28 percent to end at $164.4 million from revenues that rose 28.7 percent to $752.4 million.
Operating and administrative cost was up 29.6 percent to $580.6 million over the year ago period.
During the year, $107.6 million was expended on new fixed assets which pushed depreciation up sharply from $37 million in 2016, to $56 million in 2017. The financial statements reflect $49 million deposited to purchase vehicles, Managing Director, Oliver Townsend confirmed that they are adding “ a couple of buses to expand the fleet, some have already arrived with additional ones to come”.
Big expense items that grew sharply during the year are, Salaries up from $168 million to $194 million up 15.7 percent, toll charges rose from $11.4 million to $29 million, Fuel climbed from $64.7 million to $91 million and would be from a combination of higher prices and more bus trips. Parts cost $43 million fro0m $26 in 2016 while Insurance rose from $18.5 million to $27.2 million. Unfortunately, the company continues to present the financial information without breaking separation direct from indirect cost so that investors can determine more accurately the potential profitability.
Knutsford’s balance sheet presents a picture of strength with current assets of $231 million including cash funds of $156 million, up from $88 million in 2016. Shareholders’ equity stands at $483 million. Liabilities stand at $105 million including deferred tax of $12 million.
We will definitely open the transport centre at the Sangster International Airport later this month Townsend informed IC Insider.com. The centre is expected to capture a bigger slice of passengers disembarking from aircrafts as it become more convenient for them.
Subsequent to the year-end an interim dividend of 6.8 cents per share was declared as the final dividend for the year ended May 2017. The payment will be will be on September 15. The payment amounts to $34 million and is up 41.7 percent over the $24 million paid in 2016. The stock last traded on the Junior Market of the Jamaican Stock Exchange at $14.95. IC Insider.com is forecasting earning per share for 2018 at 53 cents, putting the PE for the stock at rich 30 times earnings, at this level the stock is likely to underperform the Junior Market movement for the next twelve months.

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

Berger #2 top main market stock for 2017

August 1, 2017 by

Berger is up 235% to date for 2017.

The share price of Pulse Investments recorded the most gains for the year to date in the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) main market 

The JSE is reporting that the share price declined since the start of 2017 by 31.18  percent, from $3.56 to $2.45 and for July an incredible 86 percent from $17.40 to $2.45.
The data is contained in their monthly statistical report that is posted on the exchange’s website.
The exchange has failed to recognize the 6 for one stock split that would mean that the stock is up 312 percent for the year so far, and is one of 5 stocks on the main market to record more than 100 percent gain for the year to date and one of three in excess of 180 percent. Berger Paints with gains of 235 percent is the second leading main market stock. The stock last traded at $18.70 on Monday.

Filed Under: Street News & Views Tagged With: , , , , ,

NCB breaks out & heading higher

July 30, 2017 by

NCB Financial Group broke out of a triangle pattern over the past week, as the price hit a record $81 on Friday. The technical indicator is signaling a strong buy signal and a huge movement ahead, with the group  reporting strong gains in profit for 2017 over 2016. The stock has traded in a very narrow band in the $70 region for a number of months as it consolidated ahead a the big move it seems ready to make with limited supply coming into the market. Results for the none months to June suggest earnings in excess of $8 per share for 2017 with more to come in the new year starting in October. IC Insider.com placed the stock two weeks now on a market watch list.

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