Stocks mostly gained on Monday after a mild increase in the volume of stocks traded on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, with the value being 35 percent more than on Friday and resulting in 19 securities changing hands compared with 20 on Friday, with seven stocks rising, one declining and 11 remaining unchanged.
Investors traded 546,993 shares at $5,480,710 compared with 523,071 units at $4,056,217 on Friday.
An average of 28,789 shares were exchanged at $288,458 up from 26,154 units at $202,811 on Friday Trading month to date averages 50,570 shares at $456,473 down from 51,918 units at $466,871 on the previous day. The average trade for January was 28,440 at $235,404.
The Composite Index popped 7.28 points to 1,327.81, the All T&T Index rallied 5.35 points to 1,997.15, the SME Index remained at 61.52 and the Cross-Listed Index popped 1.31 points to 85.61.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Agostini’s remained at $58.01 trading 2,016 shares, Ansa McAl popped 25 cents in ending at $50.75 after an exchange of 350 stock units, Calypso Macro Investment Fund ended at $21.50, with 496 units changing hands. First Citizens Group remained at $50.10, with 6,036 stocks clearing the market, FirstCaribbean International Bank ended at $6.50 as 1,530 units passed through the market, GraceKennedy remained at $4.42 after ten stocks were traded. 
Guardian Holdings shed 48 cents to end at $25.52 with a transfer of 157 shares, JMMB Group ended at $1.80, with 12,500 stock units crossing the market, L.J. Williams B share remained at $2.72 while exchanging ten stocks. Massy Holdings rallied 5 cents to $4.70 after an exchange of 476,878 shares, NCB Financial increased by 10 cents in closing at $4.10, with 14,926 units crossing the market, One Caribbean Media rose 2 cents to $3.28 after an exchange of 1,500 stock units. Point Lisas ended at $3.60 with ten stock units changing hands, Republic Financial ended at $138.50 as investors exchanged 16,273 units, Scotiabank gained 3 cents after ending at $78.13 with the swapping of 3,360 shares. Trinidad & Tobago NGL advanced 14 cents to close at $21 with an exchange of 3,990 stocks, Trinidad Cement remained at $3.52 after a transfer of 1,150 shares, Unilever Caribbean remained at $14 in an exchange of 1,325 stock units and West Indian Tobacco climbed 4 cents to $19.65 in switching ownership of 4,476 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Gains for Trinidad stocks
Q3 profit jumps 40% at Medical Disposables
Profit after tax for the nine months to December last year fell 10.7 percent to $68 million at Medical Disposables, compared with $76 million in 2021. For the quarter, it rose from $37 million to $38. Profit after tax attributable to the company’s shareholders ended 2022 with $58 million, down 10.7 percent from $65 million in the previous year. For the quarter, it climbed 40 percent to $28 million after minority interest compared with $20 million in 2021.
Improved profit margins played a pivotal role in the company’s fortunes in the December quarter, with gross profit margin increasing from 26.8 percent in 2021 to 29 percent in 2022, helping to propel it to the most profitable quarter for the nine months of operations in 2022. Gross Profit margin for the nine months in 2022 increased to 27.26 percent from 25.85 percent in 2021.
Gross profit hit $273 million from sales of $941 million, up from $250 million from sales of $930 million in the second quarter to June. Gross profit for the December quarter improved by 16.6 percent or $39 million compared to the 2021 third quarter.
Sales for the third quarter grew by $66 million or 7.5 percent over the third quarter in 2021, moving from $875 million in the 2021 December quarter, driven by increased demand for pharmaceutical and consumer items, the report stated.
Sales increased by 10.8 percent or $270 million for the nine months to December 2022, to $2.76 billion from $2.49 billion in 2021 and delivered a 16.9 percent improvement in gross profit of $108 million to $753 million from $645 million in 2021.
Selling and administrative cost dipped in the December quarter, compared with the September quarter, to $78 million versus $83 million, while selling and distribution cost rose just $2 million to $114 million. Finance cost spoiled the party, jumping to $31 million from $28.5 million and “was due mainly to an overall upward adjustment in financing, particularly working capital. The increased usage of the working capital lines of credit was deemed necessary to hold greater levels of inventory in an effort to mitigate against any additional supply chain risks that could lead to further out-of-stock instances,” management stated in their report accompanying the Financials.
Medical Disposables traded at a new all-time high of $10.
“Out of stock issues continue to affect the Group’s profitability as suppliers are faced with global supply chain challenges within their operations. The availability of key speciality products such as vaccines and oncology medicines has become infrequent and inconsistent. Our internal estimates have tracked over $100 million in lost sales due to the shortages,” the company stated. That would translate to close to $30 million more in pretax profit.
The operations generated cash inflows of $109 million for the nine months, but working capital needs consumed it all as inventory rose sharply.
At the end of December, inventories increased by $360 million to $1.53 billion, up from $1.17 billion in December 2021. Receivables declined to $603 million at the end of December 2022 from $708 million at the end of 2021. Cash and bank balances rose to $128 from $72 million at the end of 2021. Loans due to lenders amount to $1.14 billion, up from $965 million at the end of 2021 and is just a bit less than shareholders’ equity, that stood at $1.17 billion compared with $1.07 billion at the end of 2021.
The profit for the nine months resulted in earnings per share of 11 cents for the quarter and 22 cents for the nine months.
The company’s focus is on organic growth and expansion from acquisitions where possible, in furtherance of this goal, management is placing a great deal of emphasis on staff retention and recruiting talented personnel to enhance its pool of above average talents. The initial impact will be increased staff costs that will be above the increased revenues, but that will pay good dividends in future years.
ICInsider.com projects earnings of 45 cents for the year and $1 for the fiscal year ending March 2024. At the last traded price of $4.85, the stock trades at 11 times this year’s earnings and five times that of 2024, suggesting much upside potential for the stock price, with the market average PE ratio now around 13 and with several priced above 15 times earnings.
Elite out Tropical back in ICTOP10
The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed the past week with gains in the indices. Still, the Junior Market suffered a significant loss on Friday to close the week with a loss following a sizable fall in the price of Fosrich. This most heavily weighted Junior Market stock fell from an average price of $3.20 at the previous week’s close down to $2.63.
ICTOP10 has only one new addition this week, in the Junior Market TOP10 and none in the Main Market, following major volatility in price movements in the listings.
In closing out the week, Iron Rock Insurance led stocks rising, with a gain of 13 percent to $2.30, followed by General Accident, that rose 6 percent to $4.99, while Main Event put on 4 percent to land at $10.80. Elite Diagnostic fell 21 percent to $2.45 as demand vanished for the stock following release of poor second quarter results. Paramount Trading fell 9 per cent to $2, Image Plus and Lasco Distributors dipped 5 percent to $1.90 and $2.60, respectively.
Five stocks rose in the Main MarketTOP10, with the price of Key Insurance rising 7 percent to $3.20, Sygnus Credit Investments rose 5 percent to $12.57, while 138 Student Living and Scotia Group popped 4 percent higher to $5.01 and $34.20, respectively. Berger Paints dropped 8 percent to $9.25, Caribbean Producers, Guardian Holdings and Jamaica Broilers lost 3 percent.
Earnings per share for Elite Diagnostic was revised down to 28 cents per share for the current year, following a small loss of $7 million in the December quarter, even as revenues rose a solid 20 percent or $30 million over the same quarter in 2021, resulting in the stock dropping out of the ICTOP10, to be replaced by Tropical Battery that is returning after a short absence.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.4, well below the market average of 13.7, while the Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 6.5 compared with the market at 11.6. The differences are important indicators of the level of the undervaluation of the ICTOP10 stocks. The Junior Market is projected to rise by 213 percent and the Main Market TOP10 by an average of 288 percent to May this year, assuming the market gets back to last year’s valuation. The primary concern for the Main Market achieving such gains by May is that the list is dominated by financial companies that are out of favour and may need to get to the summer months before the full interest of investors is visible.
The Junior Market has 13 stocks representing 27 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 27 averaging 19 compared with the above average of the market. The top half of the market has an average PE of 17. The above average shows the extent of potential gains for the TOP 10 stocks.
The situation in the Main Market is similar, with the 17 highest valued stocks priced at a PE of 15 to 109, with an average of 32 and 23 excluding the highest valued stocks and 21 for the top half excluding the highest valued stocks.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2023 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading jumps on JSE Main Market
Trading activity picked up sharply on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Friday with the volume of stocks traded rising 39 percent and the value 79 percent greater than on Thursday, with 55 securities trading up from 52 on Thursday, leading to prices of 21 rising, 19 declining and 15 ending unchanged.
A total of 9,589,463 shares were traded for $231,326,583 up from 6,903,600 units at $128,999,772 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 174,354 units at $4,205,938 versus 132,762 shares at $2,480,765 on Thursday and for the month to date, an average of 183,732 units at $2,254,461 compared with 184,309 units at $2,134,270 on the previous day. January closed with an average of 205,236 units at $1,805,558.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 3.38 million shares for 35.2 percent of total volume followed by Massy Holdings with 1.89 million units for 19.7 percent of the day’s trade and Jamaica Producers with 700,848 units for 7.3 percent market share.
The All Jamaican Composite Index rallied 3,396.57 points to 377,477.46, the JSE Main Market Index climbed 2,289.80 points to 333,321.48 and the JSE Financial Index advanced 0.23 points to 78.63.
The PE Ratio, a formula to ascertain appropriate stock values, averages 13.7 for the Main Market. The JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios incorporate earnings forecasted by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments shed 79 cents in closing at $80.71 with an exchange of 6,755 shares, Berger Paints dipped 65 cents to $9.25 in transferring 1,685 stock units, Caribbean Cement popped $1.01 in ending at $61 with swapping of 9,990 units. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund climbed $9 to end at $46 after a mere three stocks passed through the market, First Rock Real Estate shed 90 cents to close at $10.10 after an exchange of 5,649 stock units, 
GraceKennedy rose $1.55 to $78.75 with a transfer of 37,607 shares. Jamaica Broilers declined $1.96 to close at $33 with investors trading 642,278 stocks, JMMB Group fell $1.87 in closing at $31 in an exchange of 450,035 units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy rallied $7.01 to end at $69.01 with 200 stocks changing hands. Palace Amusement dropped $45 to $2,655 with the swapping of 894 shares, ahead of a stock split to take effect at the start of trading on Monday, PanJam Investment lost 50 cents to close at $56.60 with 2,045 units changing hands, Scotia Group advanced $1.94 to $34.20 after trading 177,491 stock units. Seprod rose $3.98 in closing at $65.98 after 2,579 stocks passed through the market, 
Supreme Ventures shed 96 cents to close at $25.04 in switching ownership of 41,444 units and Wisynco Group gained 79 cents to end at $17.40 as investors traded 14,900 stock units.
In the preference segment, Eppley 5% preference share declined $3.33 in closing at $19.61 after a transfer of 96 shares, Eppley 7.25% preference share advanced $4 tot $22 in exchanging 48 stocks and Jamaica Public Service 7% rallied $2.26 to a record high of $17.26 with an exchange of 1,000 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Fosrich dominated Junior market trading
Fosrich dominated trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Friday with more than 26 million shares changing hands and played a major role in the market dropping 60 points after it opened up above 3,900 points in the morning session. Information gleaned is that Stocks and Securities offloaded 22 million units at around $2.60. 
The block of Fosrich shares pushed up the volume of stocks traded by 262 percent and the value 254 per cent more than on Thursday, with 48 securities trading up from 45 on Thursday and ended with prices of 17 stocks rising, 19 declining and 12 unchanged.
A total of 32,804,091 shares were exchanged for $91,381,630 up from 9,069,058 units at $25,793,774 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 683,419 shares at $1,903,784 up from 201,535 units at $573,195 on Thursday with the month to date averaging 322,180 units at $781,477 versus 297,515 stock units at $704,847 on the previous day. January closed with an average of 239,755 units at $646,375.
Fosrich led trading with 26.09 million shares for 79.5 percent of total volume followed by Lasco Financial with 995,363 units for 3 percent of the day’s trade and Dolla Financial with 754,563 units for 2.3 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index fell 60.43 points to 3,801.46.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 11.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are based on the last traded stock price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial lost 90 cents in closing at $22 with a transfer of 3,332 shares, AMG Packaging popped 20 cents to $2.70 in trading 38,207 stock units, Blue Power rallied 15 cents to $2.43 in switching ownership of 2,160 stocks. Cargo Handlers declined $1.68 to $13.27 with an exchange of 6,951 units, Caribbean Cream shed 19 cents to close at $3.30 after transferring a mere 400 stocks, 
Consolidated Bakeries dipped 29 cents to close at $2.20 after trading 1,540 stock units. EduFocal lost 8 cents to end at $2.12 with 332,545 units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic shed 65 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $2.45 with investors swapping 67,561 shares, Fontana fell 16 cents to end at $8.63 with an exchange of 16,122 shares. Fosrich lost 11 cents in closing at $2.99 with the swapping of 26,088,566 stock units, with the price hitting an intraday 52 weeks’ low of $2.50, Future Energy Source dipped 17 cents to $4.53 with 678,920 units changing hands, GWest Corporation gained 10 cents in ending at $1.02 in transferring 186 stocks. Honey Bun declined 32 cents to end at $7.10 trading 11,435 units, Indies Pharma advanced 19 cents to $2.79 in switching ownership of 615,619 shares, ISP Finance dropped $7.45 to settle at $20.49 after an exchange of 3,200 stock units. Knutsford Express rose 30 cents to end at $11.10, with 503,687 stocks clearing the market, Lasco Financial gained 30 cents to close at $2.75 as investors exchanged 995,363 stock units, 
Limners and Bards shed 20 cents in closing at $2.50 in an exchange of 2,700 shares. Lumber Depot popped 8 cents to end at $2.27 after a transfer of 18,960 stocks, Mailpac Group rallied 15 cents to $2.05 with the swapping of 86,536 units, MFS Capital Partners lost 13 cents to close at $3.78 trading 389,770 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies fell 90 cents to $14 after 23,543 units passed through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading rises on JSE USD Market but prices slip
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 1,962 percent and valued 206 percent higher than on Thursday and resulted in seven securities trading, compared to seven on Thursday with none rising, two declining and five ending unchanged.
Overall, 318,483 shares were traded for US$4,336 compared to 15,447 units at US$1,416 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 45,498 shares at US$619 compared with 2,207 stocks at US$202 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 42,593 shares at US$2,021 compared to 42,410 units at US$2,109 on the previous day. January ended with an average of 48,604 units for US$4,865.
The JSE USD Equities Index lost 0.65 points to close at 248.71.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.8. The PE ratio uses ICInsider.com earnings forecasts for companies with financial years ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Margaritaville remained at 12.5 US cents while trading 8,228 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy ended at 58 US cents, with 400 units crossing the market, 
Proven Investments remained at 19 US cents with 15 stocks clearing the exchange. Sterling Investments lost 0.11 of a cent in ending at 1.89 US cents in an exchange of 5,400 stock units, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share dipped 0.1 of a cent in closing at 8.4 US cents with a transfer of 1,850 stock units and Transjamaican Highway ended at 0.94 of one US cent, with 302,588 units changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 6% preference share remained at US$1.15 in switching ownership of 2 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading jumps on Trinidad Exchange
Investors pumped more funds into trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday, resulting in the volume of stocks traded jumping 614 percent, valued 464 percent more than on Thursday, following trading in 20 securities similar to trading on Thursday and ended with six stocks rising, eight declining and six remaining unchanged.
Investors traded 523,071 shares for $4,056,217, up from 73,286 stock units at $718,570 on Thursday. An average of 26,154 units were traded at $202,811 compared to 3,664 shares at $35,928 on Thursday, with trading month to date averaging 51,918 shares at $466,871 versus 53,713 units at $485,273 on the previous day. The average trade for January amounts to 28,440 at $235,404.
The Composite Index fell 7.76 points to close at 1,320.53, the All T&T Index rose 1.67 points to close at 1,991.80, the SME Index remained at 61.52 and the Cross-Listed Index declined 2.50 points to settle at 84.30.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than the last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close, Ansa McAl rose 50 cents to $50.50 with investors transferring 650 shares, Ansa Merchant Bank ended at $45 55 stock units changing hands, Calypso Macro Investment Fund rose $1 to end at $21.50 after trading five units. Endeavour Holdings ended at $11 with investors trading 5,000 stocks, First Citizens Group remained at $50.10 with an exchange of 5,457 stock units, FirstCaribbean International Bank dipped 5 cents to $6.50, with 800 units crossing the exchange. GraceKennedy declined 3 cents in closing at $4.42 after a switch in ownership of 1,275 stocks, JMMB Group dropped 9 cents to $1.80, with 65,330 shares crossing the market, Massy Holdings ended at $4.65 in exchanging 234,003 units. National Enterprises popped 1 cent to $3.90 in trading 155,120 stocks, NCB Financial lost 11 cents to end at $4 in an exchange of 3,500 shares, One Caribbean Media climbed 10 cents in ending at $3.26 after an exchange of 2,700 stock units. Point Lisas remained at $3.60, with 520 stock units clearing the market,
Prestige Holdings fell 8 cents to $6.90 as 316 stocks passed through the market, Republic Financial ended at $138.50, with 7,968 shares crossing the exchange. Scotiabank gained 10 cents in ending at $78.10 after exchanging 1,828 units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL shed 14 cents in closing at $20.86 as investors exchanged 9,387 stock units, Trinidad Cement slipped 7 cents to end at $3.52 after a transfer of 215 stocks. Unilever Caribbean rallied 10 cents to $14 with a transfer of 28,883 units and West Indian Tobacco dropped 29 cents to close at $19.61 with 59 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Miraculous turnaround at Palace
After nearly three years in the doldrums and on life support, helped by a number of popular and well patronized movies, Palace Amusement surged back to life in the December 2022 quarter when it made the first quarterly profit since March 2020. The profit back then was $44 million from revenues of $255 million, with the latest results surpassing it and easing much of the pain and nervousness the company and its staff encountered over the past three years.
Carib Cinema, the flagship for Palace Amusement.
“The company staged three block-buster pictures in the same Quarter – Woman King, Black Panther 2: Wankanda Forever and Avatar 2: The Way of Water; Our patrons’ response was close to 215,000 visits in the Quarter and this helped to push the overall attendance at the end of the six months to over 80 percent of pre-pandemic numbers,” the company’s management stated in a report accompanying the financials.
Palace aced the December quarter with revenues of $486 million, up 222 percent from just $151 million in 2021 and $736 million for the half year, up 218 percent from a mere $232 million in 2021. Accumulated profit of $304 million at June 2019, melted away by $772 million of losses, to a deficit of $468 million up to September last year as revenues were lower than cost, but profit surged to $79 million in the December quarter from a massive loss of $112 million in 2021 and for the half year a profit of $25 million from a loss of $191 million in 2021.
While revenues surged over 200 percent, direct expenses rose a more modest 98 percent in the December quarter and 97 percent, year to date, helping to swell the profit for both periods, but administrative expenses fell from $75 million to $47 million in the quarter and from $104 million for the half year to $75 million. Finance cost rose from $12 million in the 2021 last quarter to $14 million and from $17 million to $28 million for the half year. Legal and professional fees is one of the major areas of cost reduction in the period, dropping from $44 million to just $2 million for the six months period.
Segment Results show revenues of $266 million for Carib Cinema, up from just $91 million in 2021, with a profit of $11 million versus a $21 million loss in 2021. Cineplex had no revenues in 2021 but suffered a loss of $14 million and bounced back in 2022 with revenues of $99 million and profit of $20 million. Sunshine Palace generated revenues of $203 million versus $54 million in 2021 with profit of $41 million compared with a loss of $35 million in 2021. The 2022 revenues include $43 million classified as other activities for Sunshine Palace. Multiplex delivered revenues of $143 million in 2022, up from just $35 million in 2021 with a profit of $20 million versus a loss of $23 million in 2021.
Cash flow brought in $53 million compared with outflows of $163 million in 2021 and helped in boosting funds on hand at the end of the calendar year.
Palace Multiplex in Montego Bay.
From all that can be seen movies are still attracting patronage with what have been described as some good films and by the end of the fiscal year in June, the company seems set to be on its way to justifying their new bankers backing the company with a $700 million loan some of which was used to close out the Scotiabank loan and when the full history of this period unfolds the name Carol Lee, the financial controller will be high on the list for helping to save and restore the company to financial health.
The company now boast equity of $404 million thanks to the above profit and some $772 million in revaluation surplus, with $606 million of it coming in 2020. The company has some more lifting to do to steer them out of the woods while hoping that there will be no major setback in the recovery as they have $756 million in long term debt to be cleared in addition to $60 million of short term loans. There are halfway there with cash funds of $379 million on hand that should grow in the second half of the fiscal year. Palace also has accounts payable amounting to $435 million at the end of 2022 which is up from $386 million at the end of December 2021 and is covered by current assets of $481 million.
At this year’s annual general meeting, shareholders approved a 600 to 1 split as a result the stock trades x-split starting Monday, February 27, with the record date of February 28. The split will take the total number of shares to 862 million from 1.437 million currently.
The company should deliver earnings for the full year ending in June at around $100 per share.
Trading rises on Junior Market as index gains
Trading activities climbed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Thursday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 14 percent at a moderately higher value than Tuesday from trading in 45 securities, up from 40 on Tuesday and ending with 16 rising, 20 declining and 9 closing unchanged.
A total of 9,069,058 shares were traded for $25,793,774 compared to 7,929,253 units at $24,724,504 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 201,535 shares at $573,195, compared to 198,231 units at $618,113 on Tuesday, with the month to date averaging 297,515 units at $704,847 compared with 304,079 stock units at $713,850 on Tuesday, the previous trading day. January closed with an average of 239,755 units at $646,375.
Fosrich led trading with 2.24 million shares for 24.7 percent of total volume, followed by Image Plus Consultants with 1.65 million units for 18.2 percent of the day’s trade and ONE on ONE Educational with 858,678 units for 9.5 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index rallied 17.71 points to end at 3,861.89.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 12. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are calculated using the last traded stock price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for financial years ending from November 2022 to August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and seven with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial lost 9 cents to close at $22.90 after exchanging 28 shares, AMG Packaging shed 21 cents ending at $2.50 with a transfer of 10,587 stock units, Dolphin Cove rallied 70 cents in closing at $15.28 after trading 45,067 stocks.EduFocal popped 33 cents to end at $2.20 with 3,084 units changing hands, Express Catering rose 30 cents to $5.30 with the swapping of 161,350 stock units, 
Fontana fell 10 cents to $8.79 in transferring 57,625 shares. GWest Corporation slipped 12 cents to 92 cents after an exchange of 57,562 units, Knutsford Express declined 30 cents to $10.80 with investors transferring 2,271 stocks, Lasco Distributors fell 10 cents in closing at $2.60 with 41,568 stocks changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing lost 7 cents in closing at $4 after an exchange of 31,913 shares, Lumber Depot climbed 7 cents to $2.19 after 49,469 stock units changed hands, Main Event gained 25 cents to end at $10.80 with 174,381 stock units crossing the market. Medical Disposables dipped 35 cents to $4.80 in trading 2,128 shares, Paramount Trading shed 20 cents in ending at $2 in switching ownership of 33,560 units,
Regency Petroleum popped I cent higher in closing at a record of $2 trading 385,688 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 10 cents to close at $14.90 after 51,537 units cleared the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading pulls back on JSE Main Market
The volume passing through the market declined sharply and pulled the value drastically down at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Thursday with a 66 percent fall in volume and 57 percent drop in value compared to Tuesday, after 52 securities changed hands compared to 56 on Tuesday, with prices of 22 rising, 20 declining and 10 unchanged.
A total of 6,903,600 shares were traded for $128,999,772 versus 20,246,503 units at $297,780,461 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 132,762 units at $2,480,765 compared with 361,545 shares at $5,317,508 on Tuesday and month to date, an average of 184,309 units at $2,134,268 compared with 187,496 units at $2,112,843 on the previous trading day. January closed with an average of 205,236 units at $1,805,558.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 1.86 million shares for 27 percent of total volume followed by JMMB Group 7.25% preference share due 2024 with 1.0 million units for 14.5 percent of the day’s trade and Massy Holdings with 509,158 units for 7.4 percent market share.
The All Jamaican Composite Index shed 1,325.39 points to end at 374,080.89, the JSE Main Index declined 1,395.74 points to 331,031.68 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.93 points to close at 78.40.
The PE Ratio, a formula to compute appropriate stock values, averages 13.3 for the Main Market. The JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios incorporate earnings forecasted by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 14 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments rallied 49 cents to end at $81.50 with 45,615 shares clearing the market, Caribbean Cement rose $1.99 to $59.99 after investors traded 110,271 stock units, Eppley dipped 41 cents to $37.49 with investors transferring 314 stocks. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund declined $9 to close at $37 with 6,980 units changing hands, First Rock Real Estate lost 50 cents in closing at $11 after 2,107 stock units crossed the market, Guardian Holdings dropped $15 to $500 after an exchange of 2,210 shares. 
Jamaica Broilers gained 96 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ high of $34.96 trading 190,225 units, Jamaica Producers fell 60 cents to $21.25 as investors traded 13,071 stocks, JMMB Group popped $2.27 to $32.87 with the swapping of 463,131 units. Massy Holdings shed 99 cents to close at $79.01 after a transfer of 509,158 shares, Mayberry Investments fell 68 cents to close at $7.85 in switching ownership of 7,095 stocks, Mayberry Jamaican Equities rose $1.04 to $12.25 with an exchange of 45,299 stock units. NCB Financial gained 48 cents in ending at $77.98 as investors traded 12,014 units, Palace Amusement gained $1 to end at $2,700 after exchanging 1,098 shares, PanJam Investment rose 60 cents in closing at $57.10 with the swapping of 3,569 stock units. Proven Investments rose $1 to $29 in an exchange of 3,575 stocks, Sagicor Group shed $1 to $51.50 with a transfer of 15,067 stock units, Scotia Group dipped $1.74 in closing at $32.26 in trading 4,072 stocks. Seprod declined $3.98 to close at $62 with 499,056 shares changing hands and Wisynco Group shed 89 cents to end at $16.61 with 165,256 units crossing the market.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 10.50% preference share dropped $50 ending at $1,150 as investors exchanged 41 units. Jamaica Public Service 7% advanced $3 to a record high of $15 with a transfer of 2,000 stocks and 138 Student Living preference share rose $1 to close at $77 with the swapping of 163 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
