The Junior Market Index dropped a further 22.00 points for a third consecutive day of decline on Wednesday to settle at 3,302.76 as trading closed, with the volume of stocks exchanged climbing 45 percent over Tuesday’s level, with the value up by 24 percent.
Market activity led to 33 securities trading compared to 34 on Tuesday and ended with the prices of just eight stocks rising, 14 declining and 11, closing unchanged.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 12.8 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
A total of 13,080,154 shares traded for $40,382,215 compared to 9,034,942 units at $32,570,639 on Tuesday.
Lumber Depot led trading with 78.7 percent of total volume in trading 10.29 million shares followed by Future Energy Source 11.1 percent with 1.46 million units and Tropical Battery 1.4 percent with 178,671 units.
Trading averages 396,368 units at $1,223,703 in contrast to 265,734 at $957,960 on Tuesday. Trading month to date averages, 172,116 units at $504,321, compared to 161,120 units at $469,047 on Tuesday. June trading averaged 225,705 units at $644,459.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging rose 5 cents to $1.55, with 24,120 shares traded, Everything Fresh popped 6 cents to $1.05 with an exchange of 2,573 units, Express Catering jumped 49 cents to $5.99 with a transfer of 37,700 stock units. Future Energy Source dropped 16 cents to $1.50, with 1,457,121 stocks changing hands, General Accident rallied 47 cents to $5.47 with a transfer of 6,000 shares, Indies Pharma fell 25 cents to $3.50, with 70,689 units passing through the market. Jetcon Corporation slipped 8 cents to $1.31, with 110,000 stocks traded, Knutsford Express shed 49 cents to settle at $7.20, with an exchange of 3,067 shares, Lasco Distributors slipped 5 cents to $3.81 with a transfer of 27,161 units. Lasco Financial rose 5 cents to $3.15 with investors switching ownership of 900 stocks, Lumber Depot fell 10 cents to $3.35, with 10,289,932 shares traded,
Main Event climbed 50 cents to $5.30 with a transfer of 1,928 stocks and Medical Disposables slipped 5 cents to $4.55 with 7,560 units crossing the exchange.
In the preference segment, CAC 2000 9.5% dropped 40 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 80 cents, with 38,147 shares changing hands as the yield on the stock climbed to 11%.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Market activity led to 37 securities trading compared to 33 on Friday and ended with the prices of 12 rising, 16 declining and nine closing unchanged and two stocks closed at 52 weeks’ low.
average of 225,705 units at $644,459.
Mailpac Group rallied 5 cents to $3.85 with a transfer of 253,262 stock units, Main Event lost 10 cents to end at $5.10 with 6,490 shares traded, Medical Disposables fell 20 cents to $4.55, with 12,600 units passing through the market. Paramount Trading dipped 9 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.06, with investors switching ownership of 101,382 stocks and SSL Venture rose 7 cents to 80 cents with 3,983 shares crossing the exchange.
The Junior Market recovered all of its Covid-19 related loss and more in hitting its highest level this week, since the first week of December 2019, helped by a number of ICInsider.com Top stocks of which 6 recorded gains between 69 percent and 81 and two over 100 percent, with the market up 29 percent for 2021 to date.
The top three stocks in the Junior Market are Elite, Caribbean Assurance and Medical Disposables, with the potential to gain between 223 and 287 percent, following the range of 254 to 276 percent last week. The top three Main Market stocks are Radio Jamaica in the number one spot, followed by JMMB Group and Guardian Holdings, with expected gains of 171 to 379 percent versus last weeks’ 188 to 385 percent.
For the Junior Market to trade at the historical average, the PE Ratio would have to rise by 31 percent and requires a rise of 54 percent to reach the targeted PE of 20 by March 2022. Main Market stocks would need to rise by 11 percent to hit a PE of 19 and 17 percent to get to the target of 20.
Main market had three days of decline but ended the week with a fall of points after recording a strong rise the previous week.
This past week the average gains projected for the Junior stocks slipped from 207 percent last week to 204 percent and the Main Market stocks moved up from last week’s 166 percent up to 172 percent with the upgrading of JMMB earnings.
The Junior Market closed the week with an average PE 13.1 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and currently trades well below the target of 20 and the recent historical average of 17 for the period to March this year based on 2020 earnings. For the market to trade at the historical average, the PE Ratio would have to rise by 31 percent and require a rise of 52 percent to March 2022 to reach the targeted PE of 20.
The Main Market TOP 10 trades at a PE of 7.9 or 46 percent of the PE of that market, well off the potential of 20.
Scotia Group, along with Caribbean Cream, fell out of the TOP10 based on downward revisions to their earnings for the coming financial year ends. Moving into the Junior Market TOP10 is ISP Finance with the price dropping to $15.60 on Friday and the Main Market listed, Berger Paints moving back in the TOP10 with the price at $13.85 on Friday.
The targeted PE ratio for the market remains an average of 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results up to the second quarter of 2022. Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Stocks and 19 times for the Main Market. One reason why the Junior Market stocks have outperformed Main Market ones since last year can be seen from the big difference between the valuations of both markets, with the latter values close to maturity, based on present valuation metrics.
The Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere 6.7 at just 51 percent of the market average, indicating substantial gains ahead. The JSE Main Market ended the week with an overall PE of 17.1, a little distance from the 19 the market ended in March, suggesting just an 11 percent rise at a PE of 19 and 17 percent at a PE of 20 from now to March 2022. The Main Market TOP 10 trades at a PE of 7.9 or 46 percent of the PE of that market, well off the potential of 20.
Other than Jetcon, prices of other TOP10 stocks had notable increases during the past week; these include; Jamaica Broilers and Grace Kennedy from the main market but Radio Jamaica, PanJam and Scotia Group prices took hits. In the Junior Market, Caribbean Cream, Access and Stationery and Office Supplies had nice gains resulted in the average gains projected slipping from 216 percent last week to 210 percent. The average projected gains for the Main Market stocks inched up last week from 169 to 170 percent.
The JSE All Jamaica Composite Index hit 466,915.58 points during the morning session on Friday, before closing lower at 459,273.23, up from 456,395.73, at the close of the previous week, as the market continues to wrestle with resistance.
This week’s focus: Access Financial Services came out with full year results that reflected increased lending and EPS of 50 cents in the March quarter. ICInsider.com upgraded earnings to just under $3 per share for the current fiscal year. Scotia Group also reported results for the six months to April, with a 12 percent rise in profit for the April quarter over the 2020 same quarter and an 11.4 percent rise for the six months results. The big negative is that the loan portfolio continued its decline into the April quarter. ICInsider.com now projects 2021 earnings at $4 per share.
The targeted PE ratio for the market averages 20 based on companies’ profits reporting full year’s results, up to the second quarter of 2022. Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Stocks and 19 times for the Main Market.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2022 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on likely increase for each company, considering the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in periodic movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
All Jamaica Composite Index ended at 454,375.81 on Friday, marginally lower than 454,479.33 at the close of the previous week.
The impression given in the group’s December quarterly report is that the sharp fall in direct operating, selling and marketing costs were directly related to the fall off in revenues. That of course is only part of the story. The fall in cost has been far greater than the reduction in revenues suggesting that actual cost cutting was effected. ICInsider.com confirmed that the group that made some staff redundant also made changes by discontinuing unprofitable programs and publications. “Regarding cost reductions, some changes in the distribution network and workflows are permanent,” this publication was informed but revenues for some of the newspapers continue to run below pre Covid-19 levels.
Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Market stocks and 19 times for the Main Market.
trades at a PE of 7.8 or 48 percent of the PE of that market and well off the potential of 20.
The Junior Market has to decidedly break through the upper limit of the trading channel, to free it to move on to the next area of resistance, just over 4,000 mark, but the Main Market has room to run for a few thousand points before it hits the channel top at 460,000 points.
The top three Main Market stocks are Radio Jamaica in the number one spot, followed by Wisynco and PanJam Investments, with expected gains of 151 to 344 percent.
The company reported their full year results to March this year, with profit before tax of $141 million, up slightly from $137 million earned in 2020, but below the forecast in the prospectus.


The JSE Main Market is only up 4 percent year to date, but ICTOP15 stock selection saw Carreras and Grace Kennedy rising 37 percent, QWI Investments and Caribbean Cement up 29 percent, Seprod up 20 percent, Jamaica Producers 19 percent and Jamaica Broilers up 15 percent.
The targeted PE ratio for the market averages 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results, up to the second quarter of 2022. Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Stocks and 19 times for the Main Market. With interest rates on government paper below 5 percent and likely to remain there for a few years, the likelihood is for the average PE ratios to climb higher during the next twelve months.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 220 percent and 168 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2021-22 earnings. IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2022 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on likely increase for each company, taking into account the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in movements in and out of the lists weekly. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.