Carib Cement hit by exchange loss

Caribbean Cement traded at $45.200 on Tuesday.

Sale revenues at Caribbean Cement rose 6.7 percent for the quarter, to $4.46 billion from $4.18 billion in 2017 and rose 7.9 percent for the year to date, to $13.2 billion from $12.25 billion in 2017.
A $464 million foreign exchange loss hit the results for the September quarter pulling the strong 44 percent increase in operating profit to $1.2 billion from $836 million, into lower net profit of $305 million than $748 million for the prior year’s period. For the nine months to September, profit fell 28 percent to $1.3 billion from $1.8 million in 2017.
Energy cost climbed by $233 million in the quarter and $342 million year to date but other operating cost declined, with the repurchase of the mill and kiln, previously leased from Trinidad Cement with only $213 million was incurred in the third quarter versus $1.1 million in 2017. For the nine months $1.57 million was incurred compared to $3.3 billion. On-the-other-hand finance cost excluding foreign exchange loss rose to $227 million up sharply from just $11 million in 2017 in the quarter and $299 million versus $4 million year to date. Depreciation and amortisation cost rose to $342 million from $132 million in 2017 and for the nine months to $808 million from $400 million in 2017. The net effect is that the company enjoyed a savings of $500 million per quarter or $2 billion per annum as a result of the buy of the lease, but virtually none of this, benefited shareholders.
Earnings per share came out at 39 cents for the quarter and $1.54 for the nine months and should end the fiscal year ending to around $3.50, as the company reverses the foreign exchange loss in the December quarter and picks up some gains, as well as increased revenues resulting from a price increase of just over 4 percent, effective on October 22.

Carib Cement could earn $5.30 in 2019.


But IC Insider.com is forecasting a jump in earnings for 2019 around $5.30 per shares, as the plant upgrades is completed and commissioned, allowing for the elimination of costly imports that negatively impacted cost in 2018 and will see them moving back into exports.
Gross cash flow brought in $849 million but growth in receivables, inventories, addition to fixed assets, loan repayment and increased payables resulted in negative total flows thus reducing the cash on hand to $468 million. For the nine months the operations brought in $2.6 billion but working capital needs and capital transactions saw cash funds reduced from $1.67 billion to $468 million.
The sharp changes in funds is due to the repurchase of equipment that was previously leased that drove fixed assets to $23 billion from $7.7 million in 2017 and borrowing to $12 billion.
Shareholders’ equity stood at $10.26 billion with borrowings at just $12 billion and net current assets ended the period was negative $1 billion.
The stock traded at $45.20 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 13 times 2018 earnings and sits around the centre of the market valuation. the price could double in 2019. Net asset value is $12 with the stock selling at almost 4 times book value.
Going forward, the company results should be helped from the improvement in the Jamaican economy and growth that is likely to flow from the construction sector including buildings and roads and bridges as well as from increased exports. There is also focus on cost reduction with the high energy cost being the next centre of attention.

JSE makes big recovery on Tuesday

The Jamaica Stock Exchange closed a big gain on Tuesday as trading levels rose much higher than on Monday, from 34 active securities in the main and US dollar market compared to 31 on Monday.
The market ended with the prices of 17 securities rising, 7 declining while 10 remained unchanged leading to the All Jamaica Composite Index surging 8,178.20 points to close at 398,615.81 and the JSE Index jumping 7,451.27 points to close at 363,184.12.
Trading closed with 10,005,164 units valued at $94,380,140 trading, compared with just 3,098,511 units valued at $31,049,457 changing hands, on Monday.
Main market trading closed with JMMB Group 7.50% preference share leading with 7,780,000 units trading, or 78 percent of the day’s volume and NCB Financial with 517,883 units and 5 percent of volume traded and Carreras closed with 372,736 units with 3.7 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 3 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 2 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 333,505 units valued at over $3,146,005, in contrast to 110,661 shares valued at $1,108,909 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 293,971 shares, valued $5,289,432 and previously, 291,988 shares, valued $5,142,412. September closed, with an average of 1,022,243 shares, valued $15,752,876, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments rose 90 cents and closed at $19 while trading 288 shares, Berger Paints climbed $1.40 to $22.90, in exchanging 24,500 stock units, Caribbean Cement rose $1.20 trading 14,777 shares to close at $45.20, Jamaica Broilers gained $1 trading 64,499 stock units to close at $31, Jamaica Producers jumped $1.651 and finished trading 28,494 units at $27.51, Jamaica Stock Exchange climbed $1.30 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $9.80, trading 22,926 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 80 cents and settled at $10.80, trading 234,551 units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities lost 40 cents and settled at $11.40, in exchanging 13,025 units, NCB Financial Group added $5 and ended trading 517,883 shares to close at $125, PanJam Investment closed with a rise of $1.20 to end at $64.50, trading 55,001 stock units, Sagicor Group climbed $1.85 and settled at $46.85, exchanging 10,431 shares, Scotia Group rose $1.74 in trading 8,363 units to close at $53.74, Seprod jumped $2, in finishing trading at $39, with 3,348 shares, Stanley Motta rose 55 cents trading 25,000 shares to close at $5, Victoria Mutual Investments rose 33 cents and concluded trading of 78,638 stock units at $4.13 and Wisynco Group rose 26 cents and finished at $10.50, with 198,252 units changing hands.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 48,323 units valued at $8,927 changing hands, with Margaritaville falling 1 cent and closing with 3,800 units trading at 24 US cents, Productive Business Solution gained 4 cents to close at 59 US cents trading just 100 units, Proven Investments fell 1 cent trading 34,223 shares to close at 20 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments US dollar based ordinary share, traded 10,200 units to end at 10.9 US cents after slipping 0.1 cent The JSE USD Equities Index advanced by 1.36 points to close at 163.29.

Junior Market down again – Tuesday

Medical Disposables traded at new all-time high of $10.

The Junior Market Index lost 18.06 points to close at 3,289.45, on Tuesday with 29 securities trading, versus 26 on Monday. At the close 11 advanced, 10 declined and 8 remained unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 9 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while 3 closed with lower offers.
The market traded just 1,044,222 units valued at $3,800,904, compared to 758,861 units valued at $3,466,162 on Monday.
Trading ended with an average of a mere 36,008 units for an average of $131,066 in contrast to 29,187 units for an average of $133,314 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 59,915 units valued at $276,934 and previously 61,226 units valued at $280,213. September, ended with an average of 484,335 at $2,628,299 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended trading at $1.80, with 108,833 stock units exchanged, CAC2000 finished trading 200 shares at $16, Caribbean Cream ended with a loss of $1.10 at $5.65, trading 20,000 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded 510 stock units and rose $1 to $18, Caribbean Producers finished trading with a loss of 1 cent at $6.50, with 40,000 units. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 11 cents at $2.29, in exchanging 167 shares, Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 41 cents at $2.41, in trading of 46,715 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished trading 28,229 stock units at $3.17, Eppley settled with a loss of 85 cents at $8.15, with 1,000 units changing hands. Everything Fresh fell 6 cents in trading 18,369 shares, to close at $2, Express Catering ended trading 6,486 shares and rose 10 cents to $8.10, FosRich Group traded at $3.10, in exchanging 103,268 shares, General Accident finished trading 1,500 shares and closed 25 cents higher at $3.75, GWest Corporation closed 10 cents higher at $1.70, with 23,477 stock units. Honey Bun ended with a loss of 5 cents at $4.05, trading 61,379 units, Indies Pharma rose 10 cents and closed at $3.20 with 128,477 shares changing hands, Iron Rock concluded trading 20 cents higher at $5, in swapping 9,500 shares, ISP Finance finished trading 3,300 shares at $20, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 9 cents at $4, in exchanging 2,435 shares. Jetcon Corporation gained 20 cents to end at $3.70, in trading 298,550 stock units, Knutsford Express closed 20 cents higher at $12, with 366 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, in exchanging 83,099 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading of 16,666 stock units and closed 5 cents higher at $5.50. Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 16 cents at $3.60, exchanging 16,031 units, Main Event settled 40 cents higher at $6.50, trading 1,000 shares, Medical Disposables jumped $2.50 to an all-time high of $10, with 9,174 shares being exchanged, Paramount Trading ended at $2.75, with 300 shares changing hands, SSL Venture Capital traded 7,173 shares but lost 5 cents to close at $2 and Stationery and Office finished trading of 8,018 stock units at $9.50.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

3 stocks closed at 52 weeks’ low on TTSE

Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange Head Quarters

Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange remained at low levels on Tuesday as 132,451 shares traded with a value of $2,138,171, compared to 142,297 shares valued $2,046,355, changing hands on Monday as 3 stocks closed at 52 weeks’ low.
Market activities ended with 11 securities trading against 14 on Monday, 1 advanced, 4 declined and 6 remained unchanged with the Composite Index falling 3.55 points to 1,226.76. The All T&T Index fell 5.76 points to 1,694.65, while the Cross Listed Index shed 0.17 points to close at 102.06.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 4 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 5 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, Agostini’s, Ansa McAl, Grace Kennedy, Republic Holdings, Point Lisas and West Indian Tobacco.
Stocks closing with gains| Trinidad & Tobago NGL rose 9 cents and completed exchanging 16,141 shares at $29.50.
Stocks closing with losses| Calypso Macro Index Fund traded 200 shares and lost 2 cents to close at $15.81, Guardian Media traded with a loss of 70 cents and settled at a 52 week’s Low of $15, after exchanging 100 shares, National Enterprises fell 44 cents to a 52 week’s Low of $8.52, with 100 stock units changing hands and Sagicor Financial closed with a loss of 25 cents and ended at a 52 week’s Low of $7.45, trading 87,571.
Stocks trading with no price change| Clico Investments ended at $20.15, with 3,745 stock units changing hands, First Citizens completed trading at $32.70, after exchanging 20,050 shares, Massy Holdings settled at $46.92, trading just 6 shares, National Flour ended at $1.69, with 583 units trading, NCB Financial Group completed trading at $6, after exchanging 1,050 shares and West Indian Tobacco ended at $90, exchanging 2,905 units.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

JSE falls with modest trading on Monday

The Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with more decline following Friday’s big decline as trading volume decline to very low level.
The market ended with the prices of 11 securities rising, 11 declining while 9 remained unchanged leading to the All Jamaica Composite Index diving 3,396.00 points to 390,437.61 and the JSE Index dropping 3,094.14 points to close at 355,732.85.
Trading closed with 31 active securities in the main and US dollar market compared to 29 on Friday but with higher volume and value as 3,098,511 units valued at $31,049,457 traded, compared with 4,241,799 units valued at $75,795,522 changing hands, on Friday.
Main market trading closed with 1834 Investments with the leading volume of 1,200,000 units trading, or 39 percent of the day’s volume, Sagicor Real Estate Fund with 559,428 units and 18 percent of volume traded and Carreras closed with 344,581 units accounting for 11 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 5 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 110,661 units valued at over $1,108,909, in contrast to 151,493 shares valued at $2,706,983 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 291,988 shares, valued $5,142,412 and previously 300,895 shares, valued $5,350,785. September closed, with an average of 1,022,243 shares valued $15,752,876, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Berger Paints lost 51 cents and ended at $21.50, exchanging 12,999 stock units, Caribbean Cement dipped $3 to finish trading with 43,795 shares at $44, Grace Kennedy gained 99 cents, trading 34,473 shares to close at $55.99, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 70 cents to close at $8.50, trading 160,996 shares, JMMB Group lost $1 and ended at $33, exchanging 42,590 shares, Kingston Wharves jumped $8 and finished at $78 trading 6,301 stock units, Mayberry Investments lost 35 cents and settled at $10 in trading 22,721 units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities lost 40 cents and settled at $11.40, in exchanging 13,025 units, Salada Foods jumped $3.50 ended trading 11,274 stock units to close at $25, Scotia Group declined $2 in trading 5,599 units to close at $52, Seprod jumped $5, finishing trading at $37, with 2,100 shares and Supreme Ventures rose $1.50 to end at $18, in an exchange of 29,677 shares.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 39,347 units changing hands with Proven Investments trading 37,436 to close at 21 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments US dollar based ordinary share traded 1,911 units but lost 0.5 cent to end at 11 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index lost 2.73 points to close at 161.93.

Junior Market slips – Monday

The Junior Market Index lost 7.26 points to close at 3,307.46, on Monday with 26 securities trading, versus 22 on Friday. At the close 9 advanced, 9 declined and 8 remained unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while 6 closed with lower offers.
The market traded just 758,861 units valued at $3,466,162 compared to 707,099 units valued at $2,876,348 on Friday.
Trading ended with an average of a mere 29,187 units for an average of $133,314 in contrast to 32,141 units for an average of $130,743 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 61,226 units valued at $280,213 and previously 62,882 units valued at $287,807. September, ended with an average of 484,335 at $2,628,299 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed $1 higher at $50, in trading of 1,229 shares, AMG Packaging ended at $1.80, with 20,000 stock units changing hands, Cargo Handlers settled 25 cents higher at $13, trading 1,461 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 85 cents higher at $6.75, while exchanging 18,700 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading 23,719 units with a loss of 29 cents at $6.51. Derrimon Trading ended 2 cents higher at $2.82, exchanging 18,750 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading 1,963 shares and rose 10 cents to $15, Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.17, trading 15,175 stock units, Everything Fresh gained 2 cents in trading 106,904 shares, to close at $2.06, Express Catering ended trading with a loss of 20 cents at $8, with 111,028 shares. FosRich Group traded 16,877 shares with a loss of 60 cents at $3.10, General Accident finished trading 108,000 shares, with a loss of 45 cents to close at $3.50, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 5 cents at $4.10, while exchanging 18,000 units, Indies Pharma rose 10 cents and closed at $3.10 with 126,444 shares changing hands, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 1 cent at $4.09, trading 25,926 shares. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 2,200 stock units with a loss of 30 cents at $3.50, KLE Group finished trading 550 shares at $3.75, Knutsford Express closed with a loss of 20 cents at $11.80, with 1,550 shares trading, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, trading 26,700 shares. Lasco Financial concluded trading 1,672 stock units with a loss of 5 cents at $5.45, Lasco Manufacturing finished 16 cents higher at $3.76, in exchanging 3,166 units, Main Event settled 15 cents higher at $6.10, with 91,364 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables ended trading 1,600 shares at $7.50, Paramount Trading ended at $2.75, in exchanging 13,224 shares SSL Venture Capital traded 400 shares at $2.05 and Stationery and Office finished trading 2,259 stock units, ending unchanged at $9.50.

Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Republic falls back on TTSE – Monday

Republic Financial Holdings gave back Friday’s gains in dropping $3.40, to close at $106.60, in trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday after exchanging 469 shares.
Market activities ended with 14 securities trading against 17 on Friday, 3 advanced, 5 declined and 6 remained unchanged, leading to trading of just 142,297 shares valued $2,046,355, compared to 375,557 shares valued $7,316,814 changing hands on Friday.
Trading closed, with the Composite Index falling 5.83 points to 1,230.31. The All T&T Index ell 10.12 points to 1,700.41, while the Cross Listed Index shed 00.19 points to close at 102.23.
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 5 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, Agostini’s, Ansa McAl, Grace Kennedy, Republic Holdings, Point Lisas and West Indian Tobacco.
Stocks closing with gains| First Citizens closed with an increase of 5 cents, settling at $32.70, after exchanging 6,675 shares, One Caribbean Media rose 8 cents to $12.03, after exchanging 5,000 shares and Sagicor Financial finished 20 cents higher and ended at $7.70, with 14,076 stock units changing hands.
Stocks closing with losses| Clico Investments fell 5 cents and ended at $20.15, with 8,017 stock units changing hands, National Flour share fell 1 cent and completed trading at $1.69, with 2,600 units, Republic Financial Holdings dived  $3.40 to end at $106.60, after exchanging 469 shares, Scotiabank lost 1 cent and completed trading 313 units at $64.74, and Trinidad & Tobago NGL ended trading 9 cents lower and settled at $29.41, after exchanging 1,250 shares.

Stocks trading with no price change| Ansa Mcal completed trading 316 units at $55.50, First Caribbean International Bank closed at $8.50, with the trading of 94,930 units, LJ Williams B share settled at 70 cents, after exchanging 1,000 shares, Massy Holdings concluded trading at $46.92, after exchanging 2,000 shares, Unilever Caribbean ended at $25, with 515 stock units changing hands and West Indian Tobacco completed trading of 5,136 units at $90.

EM>Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Carib Cement chops $2B from lease cost

Jamaica Caribbean Cement Company slashed the cost formerly associated with leasing of Kiln 5 and Mill 5, from Trinidad Cement after acquiring direct ownership of the assets by $2 million per annum.
Data disclosed by Jamaica’s sole cement producer in their nine months interim report showed that excluding foreign exchange gains or loss that there was a $500 million savings in the overall cost associated with the two items formerly leased.
The equipment lease ended in April 2018 when both parties agreed to the ending of the arrangement leading the Jamaican company agreeing to purchase same. The interim figures show finance cost excluding foreign exchange loss rose to $227 million up sharply from just $11 million in 2017, in the quarter and $299 million versus $4 million year to date. Depreciation and amortisation cost rose to $342 million from $132 million in 2017 and for the nine months to $808 million from $400 million in 2017. The net effect is that the company enjoyed a savings of $500 million for the quarter or $2 billion per year.
A $464 million foreign exchange loss hit the results for the September quarter pulling the strong increase in operating profit of 44 percent to $1.2 billion from $836 million into lower net profit of $305 million than the $748 million generated for the prior year’s period. For the nine months to September, profit fell percent to $1.3 billion from $1.8 million in 2017.

Shake up in IC Insider Top 10

Volatility was the order for the Jamaican stock market for the past week as the market indices bounced around as declining stocks were plentiful as the Junior Market ended with three changes and the main market two.
The Junior Market lost Access Financial that closed the week at $49 from $45.50 to start the week. Iron Rock Insurance that climbed to $4.82 from $4.50 and Lasco Manufacturing that inched up to $3.60 from $3 exited as well. Coming into the Junior Market TOP 10 are Elite Diagnostic, Dolphin Cove and Lasco Distributors.
Caribbean Cement reported third quarter results with lower profit for the nine months than for 2017 but foreign exchange losses was the main factor. The exchange rate has now reversed and that should turnaround the negative impact by the end of the year, nevertheless IC insider.com downgraded full year earnings to $3.53 per share, resulting in the stock dropping out of the main market TOP 10 along with JMMB Group that rose back to $34 from $32. The moves allowed Barita Investments that fell to $18 and Salada Foods that slipped to $21.50 to re-enter the top list.
The main market closed the week with the overall PE slipping to 15.4 from 16 from the previous week, the PE of the Junior market moved up to 15.4 from 16.4 at the close of the prior week.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average 9.1 and the main market PE is now 9.6.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 41 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.
There will be no Market Watch report this week.

Margaritaville flat profit, growth coming

Margaritaville Turks traded 531,220 shares at 20 US cents on friday

Margaritaville posted flat profit for the first quarter of the May 2019 fiscal year, with net earnings of US$290,815, down slightly from US$296,412 in 2017.
Revenue was also down moderately to $1.8 million, from $1.86 million in the 2017 period, but growth should be coming when Carnival Lines expands the port facilities in Turks and Caicos in 2019.
Cost declined modestly, with direct expenses falling to $471,386 from $483,803 in 2017, resulting in a gross profit margin of 74 percent, while administrative and other cost declined to $1.057 million, modestly down from $1.082 million in the prior period in 2017.
Earnings per share came in at 0.43 cents. For the full year to May 2018, earnings per share was 1.58 cents resulting from net profit of $1.067 million. The stock trades on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US market at 25 US cents at a PE of 16.
Equity capital stood at $5 million while current assets amounted to $2.7 million with current liabilities of $1.1 million.

Ian Dear Chairman

Going forward Chairman Ian Dear, told IC Insider.com that Carnival Line is expanding the docking facility in Turks and Caicos Islands that will allow much larger ships to dock and will result in increase in the number of passengers landing and will bring more business for the company. According to Dear, the ships currently in use can accommodate up 3,000 passengers plus crew but the newer ships will carry 8,000 passengers and they could have two of these ships on a typical day. The expectation that the first ship should dock in Turks next year. The coming on stream of the increased business will see Margaritaville adding another restaurant, with construction to commence shortly after carnival advises them of date the news ships will commence operations.