Republic Financial climbed $2.95 concluded at $110 on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday and is poised to climb higher with the bid at $110 to buy 11,789 shares while the stock is offered at $120 to sell 15,407 units.
The gain comes after the financial Caribbean financial powerhouse reported the acquisition of 75 percent ownership of the profitable Cayman National Bank.
West Indian Tobacco closed higher but ended with the bid at $94.20 to buy 3,950 shares with no stock on offer at the close, as investors respond to improved results and a pending stock split.
Market activities ended with 12 securities trading versus 12 on Friday, with 5 advancing, 4 declining and 3 remaining unchanged. The market closed with two stocks trading at 52 weeks’ low as 449,177 units valued at 8,056,501 traded, compared to 451,756 units valued at $6,455,226 changing hands on Friday.
The Composite Index climbed 3.75 points to 1,248.40. The All T&T Index rose 9.68 points to 1,710.20, while the Cross Listed Index declined 0.32 points to close at 105.89.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 3 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Stocks closing with gains| First Citizens closed with an increase of 8 cents and settled at $32.74, after exchanging 60 shares, Guardian Holdings ended trading with 9 cents and completed trading at $17, with 38,125 units changing hands, 
JMMB Group finished 8 cents higher and concluded market activity at $1.72, after exchanging 12,350 shares, Republic Financial Holdings to gained $2.95 and ended at $110, after exchanging 3,865 shares and West Indian Tobacco gained 20 cents and completed trading of 1,191 units at $94.20.
Stocks closing with losses|First Caribbean International Bank ended trading 20,000 units, 15 cents lower at $8.30, National Flour concluded trading of 15,000 units with a loss of 3 cents at $1.62, Sagicor Financial traded with a loss of 2 cents and ended at $7.40, with 26,000 stock units changing hands and Unilever Caribbean shares fell 50 cents and ended at a multi-year low of $23.50, with 232,634 stock units changing hands.
Stocks trading with no price change| NCB Financial Group settled at $6.50, after exchanging 86,291 shares, Scotiabank completed trading at $64.50, with 1,000 units and Trinidad & Tobago NGL settled at $29.50, after exchanging 12,661 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Stocks to Watch This week
NCB Financial Constant Spring Road.
Last week’s stock to watch, former IC Top 10 listing, NCB Financial, released record full year results and announced an interim dividend of 70 cents per share with investors welcoming the news by driving the stock to a record intraday high of $135.
The stock closed the week at $133 with good volume passing through the market. Demand is building for NCB Financial between $125 and $131, with offers at $133, $135 and then at $138. The stock could make more gains in the week if demands picks up. Technical chart shows NCB Financial heading to $155, an area of potential resistance, that means that the current price is not very far from the short-term target.
This coming week, several companies will report results for the third quarter. Some of them could result in stock price movements. Other stocks to watch this week are Stationery and Office Supplies that should report third quarter results that should benefit from profit from the new book manufacturing business as well as from contract that was being worked on from the second quarter and slated for completion in the third quarter. Seprod is another to watch, now that the allocation of the 92 million shares that were recently offered to the public should be known on Monday. Third quarter results will be pasted during the week but when that is combined with the likelihood that many investors will end up getting only a small amount of the shares they applied for, it will be anyone guess what impact both could have on the price in the secondary market.
Following the release of full years’ results with an increase of 84 percent to $374 million and a 315 percent increase in the last quarter to $193 million at Barita Investments, investors have been buying the stock in a second wave of demand, its one to be watched going forward. The Jamaica Stock Exchange has been enjoying increasing trading in the second half of the year and this is expected to provide a big boost in profit for the quarter and year to date, the stock should benefit in the coming week from this.
Scotia Group eases into IC Top 10
Scotia Group could see strong growth in 2019 profit.
Scotia replaced Berger Paints that was merely squeezed out to sit just outside the TOP 10 at the number 11 spot. Top 10 list movements were modest for the past week, following the previous week of volatility. In the Junior Market, Honey Bun sneaked into the TOP 10 by easing out Jamaican Teas in the process.
Scotia Group, reported flat profits for the nine months from normal ongoing operations. Gains from sales of Credi Scotia and exceptional foreign exchange gains in the July quarter push profit
up well above that of 2017. Importantly, the best indicator going forward for increased profitability, is growth in loans. During the July quarter loans grew a strong 3.7 percent between April which works out at an attractive 15 percent per year that should equate to 25-30 percent profit growth in 2019 if the trend continues.The main market closed the week with the overall PE slipping to 15.3 from 15.6 from the previous week, the PE of the Junior market remained unchanged at 5.5 from the prior week.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average 9.3 and the main market PE is now 9.7.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 40 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings. The main market stocks trade at a discount of 37 percent to the overall market.TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns within a 12 months period. Stocks are selected based on projected earnings for each company’s current fiscal year. Based on
an assumed PE for each, the likely gains are determined and then ranked, with the stocks with the highest potential gains ranked first followed by the rest, in descending order. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis based on new information received that can result in changes in and out of the list as well.
JSE main market rose again on Friday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market made more gains in the indices in closing of Friday further eroding the 13,784 points lost between Monday and Wednesday.
Market activity closed with 27 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, compared to 26 on Thursday with the prices of 9 stocks falling, 9 rose and 9 remained unchanged.
The All Jamaica Composite Index rose 2,458.12 points to close at 392,478.06 and the JSE Index gained 2,239.62 points to close at 357,591.94.
Main market trading closed with NCB Financial leading with 857,402 units, or 19.3 percent of the day’s volume, Victoria Mutual Investments with 787,348 units and 17.7 percent of volume traded and Jamaica Broilers with 723,426 units with 16.3 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 1 stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling prices and 4 closing with lower offers.
Trading closed with 4,441,819 units valued at $191,130,108 changing hands compared with 1,665,733 units valued at over $37,959,691 being exchanged, on Thursday.
Trading resulted in an average of 177,673 units valued at over $7,645,204, in contrast to 35,241 shares valued at $1,941,745 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 317,399 valued at $2,996,910, compared to 335,784 valued at $2,283,981. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Caribbean Cement shed 75 cents to close at $42.25 in closing trading of 31,531 shares, Grace Kennedy jumped $2.90 in trading 12,730 shares to close at $56, Jamaica Producers lost $1.51 to end at $23, trading 234,083 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange rose 45 cents to close at $10.45, with 69,004 shares traded,
JMMB Group rose 89 cents and ended at $33.90, with an exchange of 37,478 shares, Mayberry Investments shed $2.50 to settle at $10.50, in exchanging 15,799 units, Mayberry Jamaica Equities traded 266,879 units but fell 30 cents to close at $10, PanJam Investment gained $1 and closed at $63, with an exchange of 4,774 stock units, Pulse Investments shed $1 trading just 100 shares at $3, Seprod lost $1 and finished trading of 34,130 shares at $38.00, Sagicor Group jumped $1 to $40, trading 33,174 shares and Supreme Ventures lost $1, ending at $16, trading 62,025 units.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 37,210 units valued at $48,801 traded, with JMMB Group 5.75% percent preference share completed trading of 9,880 to end at $2 and JMMB Group 6% percent preference share completed trading of 27,330 and lost 2 cents to end at $1.05. The JSE USD Equities Index closed unchanged at 165.33.
Junior Market seems poised to rally on Monday
Bulls prowling around Junior Market.
The Junior Market rose on Friday and seems poised to further the gains on Monday with the IC bid-offer Indicator flashing strong positive signals at the close of trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading turned positive at the close of Friday with 7 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while none closed with a lower offer.
At the close on Friday just 20 securities changed hands versus 22 on Thursday, with 10 stocks rising, 4 declining and 6 remaining unchanged leading the Junior Market Index to gain 14.49 points to close at 3,215.12
The day’s activity ended with an exchange of 1,378,210 units valued at $4,765,299 compared to 2,355,219 units valued at $9,942,794 on Thursday.
Trading ended with an average of 68,911 units for an average of $238,265 in contrast to 107,055 units for an average of $451,945 on Thursday. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 123,432 units valued at $565,096 and previously 131,510 units valued at $613,516. October, ended with an average of 69,421 units valued at $347,455 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed 73 cents higher at $50, with an exchange of 500 shares, Caribbean Cream gained 30 cents to close at $5.30, trading 7,000 shares, Caribbean Producers traded 25,912 stock units, at $6, Consolidated Bakeries finished trading at $2, with an exchange of 17,000 units, Derrimon Trading closed 3 cents higher at $2.78, with 22,000 shares being traded, Elite Diagnostic concluded trading of 53,251 shares, rising 20 cents in closing at $3.40, Express Catering settled 15 cents higher at $8, swapping 23,000 units, FosRich Group ended trading 112,015 shares at $3.20, GWest Corporation finished trading at $1.90, 
with an exchange of 12,160 shares, Honey Bun closed at $4, trading 12,000 stock units. Indies Pharma ended trading 651,500 shares and rose 10 cents to close at $3.10, Iron Rock ended with a loss of 1 cent at $4.99, trading 10,008 units, Jetcon Corporation closed 5 cents higher at $3.75, with 6,486 shares changing hands, Key Insurance ended trading 2,950 stock units and rose 17 cents to $3.25, KLE Group traded 40 cents higher at $3.90, with 4,321 units. Lasco Distributors gained 6 cents to $4.05 and closed with the trading of 257,905 shares, Lasco Financial ended with a loss of 5 cents at $5.25, while 1,500 shares were exchanged, Lasco Manufacturing concluded trading with a loss of 2 cents at $3.18, with 148,536 stock units, Medical Disposables settled with a loss of 70 cents at $8.30, exchanging 2,000 shares and Stationery and Office traded 8,166 shares at $9.20.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Massy & Witco in sharp gains on TTSE
West Indian Tobacco climbs $3.90 on Friday.
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday saw Massy Holding recovering $3 of recent losses and West Indian Tobacco climbing $3.90 as investors respond to improved results and a pending stock split.
Market activities ended with 12 securities trading versus 11 on Thursday, with 5 advancing, 3 declining and 4 remaining unchanged. The market closed with two stocks trading at 52 weeks’ low as 451,756 units valued at $6,455,226 traded, compared to 769,673 units valued at $3,207,315 changing hands on Thursday.
The Composite Index climbed 14.86 points to 1,244.65. The All T&T Index rose 11.99 points to 1,700.52, while the Cross Listed Index gained 2.44 points to close at 106.21.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 5 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Stocks to Watch include, a number of companies that are exhibiting bullish tendencies and may be moving higher in the days ahead, the group includes, NCB Financial, Republic Holdings, and West Indian Tobacco.
Stocks closing with gains| First Citizens closed with an increase of 1 cent to $32.66, after exchanging 3,162 shares, Guardian Holdings finished 26 cents higher and completed trading of 105,016 units at $16.91, Massy 
Holdings closed at $3 higher to $47, after exchanging 10,000 shares, NCB Financial Group rose 35 cents and settled at $6.50, after exchanging 50,140 shares and West Indian Tobacco concluded trading with a gain of $3.90 to close at $94, with 200 units.
Stocks closing with losses| Clico Investments closed with a loss of 15 cents to end at $20, with 93,016 stock units changing hands, National Enterprises shed 7 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $8.44, in trading 175,000 stock units and Sagicor Financial lost 3 cents and ended at at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.42, with an exchange of 1,630 stock units.
Stocks trading with no price change| Calypso Macro Index Fund traded 643 shares to close at $15.81, Scotiabank completed trading at $64.50, with 360 units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL settled at $29.50, after exchanging 12,399 shares and Unilever Caribbean ended at $24, with 190 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
NCB push JSE sharply higher on Thursday
NCB had a good 2018 fiscal year with strong profit gains.
NCB Financial Group climbed $6 and ended trading the highest volume for the day of 302,785 shares to end at a record close at $133 and helping the All Jamaica Composite Index to jump over 6,000 points and helping to reverse some of the 13,784 points lost over the previous three days.
At the close of market activity closed with 26 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, on Thursday compared to 29 on Wednesday with the prices of 11 stocks rising while just 5 fell and 10 remained unchanged.
The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 6,136.87 points to close at 390,019.94 and the JSE Index jumped 5,591.38 points to close at 355,352.32.
Trading with just 881,032 units valued at $48,543,633 changing hands compared to 3,082,297 units valued at $88,764,558 being exchanged, on Wednesday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 1 stock ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 7 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 35,241 units valued $1,941,745, in contrast to 114,159 units valued at $3,287,576 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 335,784 valued at $2,283,981 compared to 455,927 valued at $2,943,139. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments gained $1 to close at $20, with 11,900 shares traded, Caribbean Cement shed $2 to close at $43 in closing trading of 7,609 shares, Grace Kennedy dropped $1.90 in trading 8,053 shares to close at $53.10, Jamaica Broilers lost $1 to end at $9, trading 21,844 shares, Kingston Wharves rose 95 cents and finished at 
$75.95, exchanging 1,932 stock units Mayberry Investments climbed $3 to settle at record high of $13, in exchanging 2,773 units, NCB Financial Group traded at a new high of $135 before the close and before the group issued full year results with record profit. PanJam Investment gained 44 cents and closed at $62, with an exchange of 10,800 stock units, Pulse Investments climbed $1 trading just 2,303 shares at a 52 weeks’ high of $4, Sagicor Group jumped $2 to $39, trading 15,747 shares and Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 80 cents and settled at $12.50, trading 43,668 shares.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 12,729 units valued at $2,597 with Proven Investments was the sole stock trading as it rose 3 cents to close at 23 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index declined by 3.25 points to close at 165.33.
Record profit for NCB Financial
NCB had a good 2018 fiscal year with strong profit gains.
NCB Financial Group recorded record net profit of $28.6 billion for the financial year ended September 2018 with net profit attributable to the group’s stockholders of $28 billion, an increase of 46 percent or $8.9 billion over the prior year.
Based on the results an interim dividend of 70 cents per ordinary stock unit will be paid on December 7, to stockholders on record as at November 23, 2018.
Importantly, loans and advances, net of provision for credit losses, grew by 70 percent over the prior year to $372.6 billion, but was helped by the acquisition in 2017 of the majority shares and the consolidation of Clarien bank in the group financial. The inclusion in the group’s financial increased the portfolio by over US$700 million the company indicated. For the year, “there has been sizeable growth in the Jamaican loan book totalling $56.1 billion”, the company said. In addition, credit card receivables increased by 14 percent and the Cayman portfolio grew by 67 percent. Non-performing loans totalled $18.2 billion at September 2018 (September 30, 2017: $5.4 billion) and represented 4.8 percent of the gross loans compared to 2.5 percent as at September 30, 2017. This increase was due to the inclusion of Clarien which has a non-performing loan ratio of 11.8 percent.
Customer deposits increased by $196.4 billion or 68 percent, to $484.8 billion, again primarily driven by the consolidation of Clarien which has deposits in excess of US$1.1 billion. The Jamaican deposit taking segments accounted for a total combined increase of 18 percent, the report to investors stated.
According to the directors of the group “for the financial year, operating income grew by 29 percent or $17.1 billion, to $76.5 billion. The growth in income was primarily driven by: Gains from foreign currency and investment activities increasing by 102 percent or $7.9 billion, resulting from an improving macro-economic environment coupled with high levels of JMD liquidity and declining interest rates generating a high demand for debt securities. Increased net interest income of 18 percent or $5.4 billion. The improvement was primarily attributable to the consolidation of Clarien’s results and growth in the Jamaican loan portfolio. Net fee and commission income growing by 15 percent or $2.1 billion. $1.1 billion of the increase was due to the consolidation of Clarien. The improved fees earned by our Jamaican entities were driven by an increase in the number of corporate finance, investment and financing solutions offered by NCBCM. There was also growth in fees earned by our payment services, retail and SME segments stemming from increased e-commerce and credit transactions. A 14 percent or $1.1 billion increase in premium income.”
Profit for the last quarter was $7.3 million attributable to shareholders resulting in earnings per share of $2.97 with mots of it earned from ongoing operations. For the full year EPS is $11.39 and is swollen by approximately $2 from non-recurring gains. NCB seems on target to report earnings in the $12 region for 2019. The stock traded up to $135 on Thursday and last traded at $133 for a PE of 11 times 2019 estimated earnings. With the markets PE around 15 times 2018 earnings the stock should be trading in the $175 to $200 range by the end of 2019, with dividend payments adding close to $4 to the pot. NCB Group is set to benefit from a growing Jamaican economy for some years to come and is therefore a good medium to long term investment.
Massy drops to another year’s low on TTSE
Massy traded for the second day at 52 weeks’ low.
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange closed on Thursday with Massy Holdings ending at another 52 week’s low following another one on Wednesday.
Market activities ended with 11 securities trading against 12 on Wednesday, with 3 advancing, 2 declining and 6 remaining unchanged. At the close 769,673 units valued at $3,207,315 compared to 57,944 units valued at $1,115,191, changing hands on Wednesday.
The Composite Index fell 0.34 points to 1,229.79. The All T&T Index lost 0.66 points to end at 1,688.53, while the Cross Listed Index closed unchanged at 103.77.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 5 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
Stocks to Watch include, a number of companies that are exhibiting bullish tendencies and may be moving higher in the days ahead, the group includes, NCB Financial, Republic Holdings, and West Indian Tobacco.
Stocks closing with gains| Clico Investments closed with a gain of 14 cents and ended at $20.15, with 6,850 stock units changing hands, Trinidad & Tobago NGL gained 1 cent and settled at $29.50, after exchanging 9,275 shares and Trinidad Cement added 5 cents and concluded trading at $2.65, after exchanging 620,133 shares.
Stocks closing with losses| Massy Holdings closed with a loss of $1 to closed at a 52 weeks’ low of 
$44, after exchanging 2,300 shares and Point Lisas share fell 1 cent and ended at $3.63, with 1,400 stock units changing hands.
Stocks trading with no price change| Angostura Holdings ended market activity at $15.70, with 311 stock units changing hands, Guardian Holdings completed trading at $16.65, with an exchange of 1,000 units, JMMB Group concluded trading at $1.64, after exchanging 114,933 shares, Scotiabank closed trading with 12,756 units at $64.50 and Unilever Caribbean ended at $24, with 100 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market still in flux – Thursday
Negative movement in the Junior Market continued on Thursday with 22 securities changing hands versus 20 on Wednesday, with 7 stocks rising, 10 declining and 5 remaining unchanged leading the Junior Market Index to fall 18.20 points to close at 3,201.02.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading continue to flash some amount of negative sentiment but at a reduced level than for the past few days, with 8 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while 4 closed with lower offers.
The day’s activity ended with an exchange of 2,355,219 units valued at over $9,942,794.16 compared to 1,116,649 units valued at $4,642,267 on Wednesday.
Trading ended with an average of 107,055 units for an average of $451,945 in contrast to 55,832 units for an average of $232,113 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 131,510 units valued at 
$613,516 and previously 136,271 units valued at $644,972. October, ended with an average of 69,421 units valued at $347,455 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 3 cents at $1.85, with 200,824 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 2,016 units with a loss of 50 cents, at $5.50, Caribbean Producers finished trading at $6, with 28,529 units, Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 5 cents at $2.75, with 17,816 shares changing hands, Elite Diagnostic finished trading at $3.20, with 88,474 stock units. Eppley settled at $8, trading 253,107 units, Everything Fresh gained 20 cents and ended trading 57,025 shares, to close at $2, Express Catering ended trading 6,000 shares with a loss of 15 cents at $7.85, FosRich Group traded with a loss of 60 cents at $3.20, with 169,917 shares, GWest Corporation closed 10 cents higher at $1.90, with 33,200 stock units changing hands. Honey Bun ended 10 cents higher at $4, with an exchange of 2,700 units. Indies Pharma ended trading 159,542 shares to close at $3, Jamaican 
Teas settled 5 cents higher at $3.95, with an exchange of 29,423 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading with a loss of 15 cents at $3.70, with 47,601 stock units, Knutsford Express closed at $12, trading 216 shares. Lasco Distributors ended 4 cents higher at $3.99, with 33,600 shares changing hands, Lasco Financial concluded trading 843,083 stock units, with a loss of 7 cents in ending at $5.30, Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 20 cents at $3.20, trading 33,514 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 40 cents at $5.60, with 26,858 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading traded 17 cents higher at $2.97, with 524 shares, SSL Venture Capital traded 317,645 shares and lost 19 cents in closing at $1.81 and Stationery and Office finished trading of 3,605 stock units 19 cents higher at $9.20.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.