The Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market activity ended on Monday with more stocks declining than rising and leading to sizable decline in the primary market indices after the volume of stocks traded declined 18 percent and after 62 percent more funds passed through the exchange than on Friday, as 59 securities traded compared to 58 on Friday, with 15 rising, 25 declining and 19 ending unchanged.
A total of 5,633,077 shares were exchanged for $47,384,697 versus 6,909,965 units at $29,190,379 on Friday.
Trading averages 95,476 units at $803,130, versus 119,137 shares at $503,282 on Friday and month to date, an average of 155,272 units at $1,449,146 compared with 159,682 units at $1,496,790 on the previous trading day. September closed with an average of 533,719 units at $5,494,282.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 1.87 million shares for 33.2 percent of total volume followed by Transjamaican Highway with 776,390 units for 13.8 percent of the day’s trade and Sagicor Select Financial Fund with 458,952 units for 8.1 percent of market share.
The All Jamaican Composite Index lost 3,122.55 points to 401,361.75, the JSE Main Index shed 2,003.28 points to 351,425.37 and the JSE Financial Index lost 0.54 points to close at 84.56.
The PE Ratio, a formula to ascertain appropriate stock values, averages 13.5 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 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments lost $6.47 to end at $96 with 16,132 shares crossing the market, Caribbean Cement declined 65 cents to $58.10 in exchanging 4,823 stock units, Eppley shed $1.70 after ending at $38 with a transfer of 7,618 units. GraceKennedy dipped $1 in closing at $88.50 with 64,175 stocks changing hands, Jamaica Stock Exchange dropped 84 cents to close at $15.15 after trading 12,777 stock units, Key Insurance fell 54 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.10 in an exchange of 920 stocks. Mayberry Investments advanced 60 cents to $8 with 68,331 units crossing the market, NCB Financial dropped $2.23 in closing at a 52 weeks’ low of $86.50 in transferring 221,710 shares, Palace Amusement rallied $10 to close at $840 in switching ownership of four shares. Proven Investments popped $1.54 to $32.09 while exchanging 8,618 stocks, Scotia Group rose $1.41 to close at $36.81 with 3,234 shares changing hands, Stanley Motta declined 43 cents to end at $4.57 in an exchange of 100 stock units and Sygnus Real Estate Finance fell $1.31 in closing at $9 with investors dealing in 350 stocks.
In the preference segment, Eppley 5% preference share climbed $5.55 to $23.40 with the swapping of one stock unit, 138 Student Living preference share increased $3.50 to $63.50 in transferring 63 units and Productive Business Solutions 9.75% preference share gained $33 in closing at $140 with an exchange of 243 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
JSE USD market bucks market trend
The Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market bucked the negative trend of falling prices on the exchange on Monday by inching moderately higher at the close with a 36 percent increase in the volume of stocks traded but with a 60 percent lower value than on Friday, resulting in 11 securities traded, compared to six on Friday with four rising, four declining and three ending unchanged.
Overall, 524,695 shares were traded for US$7,860 compared to 384,940 units at US$19,700 on Friday.
Trading averaged 47,700 units at US$715, versus 64,157 shares at US$3,283 on Friday, with a month to date average of 39,067 shares at US$2,518 versus 38,270 units at US$2,685 on the previous trading day. September ended with an average of 87,926 units for US$4,746.
The JSE US Denominated Equities Index gained 0.34 points to end at 212.51.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio incorporates ICInsider.com earnings forecasts for companies with financial years ending between November and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and one stock with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share fell 0.4 of a cent to 7.5 US cents and closed after an exchange of 29,070 shares, Margaritaville remained at 14.98 US cents after 12 stocks passed through the market, Productive Business Solutions rallied 0.1 of a cent to close at US$1.38 with a transfer of two stock units. Proven Investments shed 0.01 of a cent to 19.99 US cents after exchanging 1,970 units, Sterling Investments climbed 0.29 of one cent to 2.19 US cents as investors exchanged 89 stocks, Sygnus Credit Investments J$ share ended at 15.63 US cents in an exchange of 5,743 units. Sygnus Credit Investments USD share dipped 0.01 of a cent to close at 9.99 US cents while exchanging 2,079 stock units, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share increased 0.63 of one cent to 11.63 US cents, with 27 shares clearing the market and Transjamaican Highway declined 0.07 of a cent to 0.8 of one US cent, with 485,701 stock units changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 6% preference share advanced 11 cents in closing at US$1.13 after an exchange of one stock and Equityline Mortgage Investment preference share ended at US$1.75 with the exchange of one unit.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
CPJ drops to 3rd on Main Market TOP10
In a week when Junior Market made a modest move higher, the Main Market closed lower, and resulted in no new entrants into the IC top 10 lists, in a week when three stocks gained 10 percent or more and one with a 6 percent increase, with no significant declines.
Price changes worth noting include, Medical Disposables with a 12 percent rise to $5.79, Paramount Trading up 10 percent to $2.04 and Caribbean Assurance Brokers rising 6 percent to close the week at $2.59 in the Junior Market and Caribbean Producers gaining 11 percent to close the week at $13.93, to move from number one spot last week to third this week and Key Insurance rising 4 percent to $3.64 in the Main Market. Caribbean Cream earnings per share were reduced to 70 cents for the year to February from 80 cents previously.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 6.2, well below the market average of 13.7. At the same time, the Junior MarketTop 10 PE sits at 5.8 versus the market at 12.5, essential indicators of the level of undervaluation of the ICTOP10 stocks. The Junior Market is projected to rise by 248 percent and the Main Market TOP10 by an average of 247 percent by May 2023.
The Junior Market has 14 stocks representing a third of the market, with PEs from 15 to 36, averaging 21 compared with the above average of the market. The top half of the market has an average PE of 18. This data shows the extent of potential gains that the TOP 10 stocks possess. The situation in the Main Market is similar, with the 15 highest valued stocks priced at a PE of 16 to 78, with an average of 26 and 22 excluding the highest valued one and 18 for the top half excluding the highest valued stock.
Currently, the Junior Market reflects a positive positioning and is poised to move higher in the weeks ahead. The recent negative clouds that hang over the main markets seem to be lifting, with the market index slowly bouncing off recent lows.
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 are likely to 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.
Profit jumps at CPJ but watch 2023
Two Fridays ago, investors snapped up 1,258,697 shares, 12 times the average Caribbean Producers shares traded since mid-September, but the price pulled back to $12.50 at the close of the first Friday’s trading in response to the company reporting record earnings of US$7.5 million after corporation tax of $1.744 million in delivering J$1.05 per share for the year to June, more than 50 percent over the US$5.24 million made in 2018, with no tax then payable, the previous best year.
The company reported a loss of US$2.3 million in 2021, resulting in lower revenues as the hotel sector they sell to primarily operated at low levels after closure in 2020 due to Covid-19.
Sale revenues climbed 209 percent for the year, to $120 million from just $57 billion in 2021. The 2022 final quarter produced revenues that were 58 percent higher than in 2021, coming out at US$33.5 million and delivering a pretax profit of US$1.5 million, with the gross margin down to just 22 percent in the quarter. Inventory written down accounted for US$1.1 million in the June quarter, down from US$1.37 million in 2021, with the company posting revenues of US$21 million and profit of US$1.3 million.
The 2022 results were delivered, with tourism traffic at just 78 percent of 2019 for the 12 months to June this year, with the final quarter benefiting from tourist traffic just 3 percent less than in 2019.
Profit margins increased from a low of 24 percent in 2019 to 30 percent in 2022 and are up from 25 percent in 2021 and 27 percent in 2020, leading to gross profit rising to $34.8 million in 2022 from $14.74 million in 2021 and $20.7 in 2020.
Segment results show the Jamaican operation enjoying a 96 percent increase in revenues to third parties of $97.5 million, up from $46.9 million in 2021 and contributed segment results of $7.4 million, up from a loss of $2 million in the previous year, while profit for the St Lucian operations increased to $436,000 million from a loss of $522,000 in 2021, with revenues rising 103 percent to $23.45 million, from $11.56 million in the prior year.
Selling and administrative expenses rose 50 percent to $18.2 million for the year from $12.1 million in 2021, but depreciation remained nearly flat at $4.2 million from $4.19 million in 2021. Finance cost jumped 34 percent to $2.95 million from $2.2 million in 2021.
Gross cash flow brought in $13.5 million, but growth in receivables, inventories and addition to fixed assets offset by increased payables more than wiped out the inflows leaving a deficit of $3 million that was funded by net borrowings of $3.5 million.
At the end of June, shareholders’ equity stood at $23 million, Long term borrowings ended at $15.7 million and short term at $26.7 million. Current assets accounted for $62.6 million, including trade and other receivables of $8.4 million, inventories at $40 million, almost twice the level in 2021 and cash and bank balances of $4 million. Current liabilities amounted to $46.8 million. Net current assets ended the period at $16 million.
At the end of July this year, the company issued $13 million of Unsecured Fixed Rate US$ notes, with a tenor of five (5) years and during the continuance of an Event of Default bear interest at 10% per annum and at all other times 7% per annum. The monies received were used to repay existing related party loans at varying interest rates.
ICInsider.com forecasts J$2.75 per share for the fiscal year ending June 2023, with a PE of 5 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $13.93 the stock traded at on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market, with a price target of more than $40 in 2023.
Not mentioned in comments from the company is the outcome of discussions they were to have regarding an acquisition in the Easter Caribbean and the raising of fresh equity capital to help fund the acquisition and reduce the heavy debt load.
More losses recouped by JSEUSD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday, with the market recouping more of the big loss on Wednesday after the volume of stocks traded climbed 24 percent, valued 25 percent less than on Thursday, resulting in six securities trading, compared to nine on Thursday with four rising, one declining and one ending unchanged.
Investors exchanged 384,940 shares for US$19,700 compared to 311,092 units at US$26,259 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 64,157 units at US$3,283 versus 34,566 shares at US$2,918 on Thursday, with the month to date averaging 38,270 shares at US$2,685 versus 36,895 units at US$2,653 on the previous trading day. September ended with an average of 87,926 units for US$4,746.
The JSE US Denominated Equities Index gained 3.15 points to end at 212.17.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.9. The PE ratio uses ICInsider.com earnings forecasts for companies with financial years ending between November and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows no stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and two with lower offers.
In closing, Productive Business Solutions dropped 0.1 of a cent and ended at US$1.379, with two shares clearing the market, Proven Investments popped 0.01 of a cent to end at 20 US cents in swappingf 75,725 units, Sterling Investments remained at 1.9 US cents as investors exchanged 86,771 stocks. Sygnus Credit Investments USD share climbed 0.5 of a cent in closing at 10 US cents, with 11,066 stock units crossing the market, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share popped 1 cent to 11 US cents after an exchange of 1,126 stock units and Transjamaican Highway increased 0.02 of a cent to end at 0.87 of one US cent after 210,250 stocks changed hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading gains for Trinidad Exchange
Investors were more active in trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday, pushing the volume of stocks traded up by 318 percent with a 121 percent increased value over Thursday and resulting in 19 securities traded compared with 21 on Thursday, with seven stocks rising, six declining and six remaining unchanged.
A total of 1,540,645 shares were traded for $9,131,764 compared to 368,390 stock units at $4,141,230 on Thursday.
An average of 81,087 units were traded at $480,619 compared to 17,542 shares at $196,701 on Thursday, with trading month to date averaging 26,663 shares at $302,372 versus 22,425 units at $288,492 on the previous day. The average trade for September amounts to 45,817 at $463,533.
The Composite Index declined 1.82 points to 1,334.28, the All T&T Index fell 3.43 points to 1,992.74 and the Cross-Listed Index dipped 0.01 points to settle at 88.14.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, Agostini’s shed 2 cents after ending at $42.08, with ten shares crossing the exchange, Angostura Holdings rallied 5 cents in closing at $25 after 1,436 units crossed the market, Ansa McAl declined 5 cents to close at $56.45 in an exchange of two stock units. Clico Investment Fund remained at $29.50 after exchanging 24 stocks, FirstCaribbean International Bank popped 1 cent to $5.01, with 813,000 stock units changing hands, GraceKennedy ended at $5.20, with 89,698 stocks clearing the market. Guardian Holdings popped 4 cents to close at $25.10 while exchanging two shares, Guardian Media lost 6 cents to end at $3.04 as 15,815 units passed through the market, L.J. Williams B share climbed 1 cent in closing at $2.05 after trading 200 shares. Massy Holdings ended at $4.50 as investors exchanged 508,515 units, National Enterprises gained 11 cents after ending at $3.27 in exchanging 5,355 stocks, National Flour Mills advanced 6 cents to $1.65 in switching ownership of 2,839 stock units. Prestige Holdings remained at $6.65 with a transfer of 10,000 shares, Republic Financial Holdings ended at $139 after a transfer of 1,083 stock units, Scotiabank dipped 1 cent in closing at $77.89 with the swapping of 263 stocks. Trinidad & Tobago NGL rose 4 cents to $22.09 with an exchange of 224 units, Trinidad Cement remained at $3.50 and closed with 4,000 stock units changing hands, Unilever Caribbean dropped 15 cents to close at $12.85 in trading 100 shares and West Indian Tobacco fell 25 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $22 in exchanging 88,079 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Big JSE USD market recovery
The JSE US Denominated Equities Index jumped 16.73 points to end at 209.02 in trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Thursday, following a 20 per cent decline in the volume of stocks exchanged, valued 25 percent more than on Wednesday, resulting in nine securities traded, compared to six on Wednesday with four rising, three declining and two ended unchanged.
Overall, 311,092 shares were traded for US$26,259 compared to 391,069 units at US$21,025 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 34,566 units at US$2,918 versus 65,178 shares at US$3,504 on Wednesday, with a month to date average of 36,895 shares at US$2,653 versus 37,097 units at US$2,630 on the previous day. September ended with an average of 87,926 units for US$4,746.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.8. The PE ratio incorporates ICInsider.com earnings forecasts for companies with financial years ending between November and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows no stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and none with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share fell 0.1 of a cent in closing at 7.9 US cents as investors exchanged 45,362 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy popped 14 cents to US$1 after 1,000 units passed through the market, Productive Business Solutions increased 28 cents to end at US$1.38, with three stocks crossing the market. Proven Investments rallied 0.99 of one cent to close at 19.99 US cents in trading 13,486 stock units, Sterling Investments remained at 1.9 US cents after trading 17,710 stocks, Sygnus Credit Investments USD share rose 0.5 of one cent to 9.5 US cents after 2,289 shares changed hands and Transjamaican Highway declined 0.04 of a cent in closing at 0.85 of one US cent in exchange of 219,942 units.
In the preference segment, Eppley 6% preference share shed 11 cents to close at US$1.02 after exchanging 500 stock units and JMMB Group 5.75% ended at US$1.50 in trading 10,800 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.