In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 8 stocks rose and 9 declined as 28 securities traded resulting in 8,384,697 shares trading valued at $39,568,098 but the two main market indices fell a bit to add to the losses on Wednesday. The advance decline ratio at the close was an improvement on Wednesday’s 5 to 9.
Main Market| 6 companies in the main market advanced and 7 declined as the indices moved down with the JSE Market Index shedding 555.97 points to 73,058.32 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell by 621.68 points to close at 80,400.65 just a shade from the low for 2014 of 80,359.75 reached on January 7th.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Carreras that gained 8 cents to close at $33.65 with only 1,000 units changing hands, Desnoes & Geddes trading 72,966 shares to close with a gain of 20 cents at $4.30, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 73,808 ordinary shares to close at $7.30 with 3 cents gain, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share 72,000 units to close up a cent at $3.51, Sagicor Group with 415,594 shares to close at $9.10 up by 20 cents and Seprod with 968 units to close at $11 with a 20 cents gain.
Firm| There were 7 stocks in the main market to close without a change in price, with Gleaner trading 548,887 shares in closing at $1.10, Jamaica Broilers with 1,030,997 shares and closed at $4.85, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share with 1,104,250 units and closed at $3.03, Mayberry Investments 20,560 shares as the price closed at $1.71, Proven Investments 8% preference share, 13,100 units to end at $5.09, Radio Jamaica 10,000 shares and closed at $1.28 and Scotia Investments with 18,790 units and closed at $23.10.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Cable & Wireless with 2,869,910 shares in losing 5 cents to end at 35 cents, Caribbean Cement with 71,784 shares to end at $3.50 with a 50 cents fall, Grace Kennedy 51,906 shares while closing at $56, down by 50 cents, National Commercial Bank 33,961 units as the price ended at $18 with a loss of 50 cents, Pan Jamaican Investment 4,000 units, closing at $48.50 for a fall of a cent, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 3,464 units at $6 as it shed 50 cents and Scotia Group with 885,471 shares in closing at $20.06 for a 49 cents drop.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by only 4.74 points to close at 745.65 as 8 stocks traded with 2 advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are Caribbean Producers trading 456,206 units to close at $3.10, up 10 cents and Lasco Distributors with 424,000 shares to close at $1.35 with a gain of 5 cents.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Access Financial with 6,000 units and closed at $11.50, Blue Power 4,000 units and closed at $9.01, General Accident Insurance 53,068 units, closing at $1.50 and Lasco Manufacturing with 77,934 shares as the price closed at $1.20.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are Lasco Financial with 21,800 units at $1.25, down by 5 cents and Paramount Trading in trading 38,273 shares, landed at a 52 weeks low of $2.68 with a decline of 23 cents.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had only 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 9 stocks with offers that were lower, continuing to indicate a negative market sentiment.
More losses for the market
JSE Market gains 2,000 points
Scotia Group traded as high as $22.89 before closing at $20.50 and was the main factor in the big jump in the Jamaica Stock Exchange two main indices while the prices of 9 stocks rose and 8 declined as 27 securities traded resulting in 5,724,168 shares trading valued at $32,909,845.
Main Market| The prices of 5 companies in the main market advanced and 6 declined as the indices jumped as the JSE Market Index gained 2,054.10 points to 76,042.79 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index jumped by 2,296.84 points to close at 83,737.81.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Cable & Wireless with 1,290,256 units to close with a 2 cents gain at 44 cents, Carreras traded 3,594 shares to close with a gain of a cent at $33.57, Gleaner gained 5 cents to close at $1.15 with 20,000 units changing hands, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 1,494 units to close at $7.27 up by 5 cents and Supreme Ventures with 79,975 shares to close with a gain of 5 cents at $2.10.
Firm| There were 6 stocks in the main market to close without a change in price with Desnoes & Geddes trading 1,064 shares and closed at $4.50, Jamaica Broilers 715,645 units and closed at $4.85, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share, 654,081 units to close at $3.03, Jamaica Producers 96,627 units at $18.26, Mayberry Investments 2,040 shares in closing at $1.70 and Scotia Group 868,539 shares to close at $20.50 but traded as high as $22.98.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Berger Paints with 10,000 units in losing a cent to end at $1.67, Caribbean Cement with 25,899 shares to close at $3.90 by falling by a cent, Hardware & Lumber 36,100 shares to close at $10.50 for a $1.20 fall, National Commercial Bank 57,933 shares to close at $18.10 for a 20 drop, Pan Jamaican Investment 2,400 units to end 23 cents lower at $49.05 and Sagicor Group with 23,157 shares in closing at $9.03 for a 47 cents fall.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 6.86 points to close at 747.40 as 10 stocks traded with 4 advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are Dolphin Cove that traded 1,000 units to close at $8.23 with a gain of 3 cents, Medical Disposables 391,382 shares to close with a one cent gain at $2.05, Jamaican Teas up 29 cents to end at $3.50 for 49,470 shares and Lasco Manufacturing traded 1,035,268 units to close up a cent at $1.20.
Firm Trades| 4 stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before with Access Financial Services trading 4,044 units at $11.50, Caribbean Producers with 200,000 units to close at $3, Consolidated Bakeries 108,000 to close at $1.10 and Lasco Financial Services 31,200 shares at $1.20.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are General Accident that traded 7,000 units at $1.50 as the price lost 10 cents and Lasco Distributors with 8,000 units, closed 5 cents lower at $1.35.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had only 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 8 stocks with offers that were lower.
General Accident dividend
General Accident Insurance has declared an interim dividend of 0.08728 cents per share payable on October 14, 2013 to shareholders on record as at October 9, 2013. The stock will trade ex-dividend on October 7, 2013. This means that investors who hold the stock prior to the and up to the start of the ex-dividend date will be entitled to the pay-out.
The company last paid an interim dividend of 4.85 cents per share payable on March 28, 2012 to shareholders on record as at March 15, 2013. This added dividend payment brings the total for the year to 13.578 or a yield of nearly 8 percent based on the current stock price.
In 2012, they made two payments of 4.85 cents each. The 2013 payment represents a 40 percent increase over the 2012 payment and is likely a signal of continuation of improved profits for this year.
General Accident performed well in both the first and second quarters of this year with profit increasing 48 percent to $80 million in the second quarter bringing the six month results to $177.7 million, an increase of 57 percent over the same period in 2012.
Related posts | General Accident undervalued, but . . . | Buy Rated stock list grows | General Accident’s profit up 65 percent
General Accident undervalued, but . . .
General Accident Insurance Company continued to perform well in the second quarter as they did in the first of this year with profit increasing 48 percent to $80 million in the second quarter bringing the six month results to $177.7 million, an increase of 57 percent over the same period in 2012. The company said they made more money in both our underwriting and investment operations and as a result were able to improve their overall profitability and capital efficiency.
Underwriting | For the two quarters, gross premiums grew to $3.2 billion, an increase of 21 percent over the first six months last year. Net earned premiums grew by 8 percent to $443 million. “Premium growth was driven by the healthy organic growth of our core commercial property and motor businesses as well as the execution of facultative transactions on behalf of large domestic and multinational clients,” the company said.
“Our combined ratio improved from 92 percent in the first six months of last year to 90 percent in the first six months of 2013. The improvement in our combined ratio, the insurance industry benchmark for underwriting profitability, occurred despite continued softness in insurance rates and a deteriorating loss ratio. As a result, our underwriting profit in the first half of 2013 stood at $42 million compared to $34 million during the same period last year”, management continued to state.
Claim expenses rose from $247 million for the year to June last year by 25.5 percent to $310 million in 2013. Management expenses rose from $145 million for the year to June 2012 by 14 percent to $165 million in 2013 and in the latest quarter from $75 million to $88 million, an increase of 17 percent.
Investment Performance | For the six months to June investment income amounted to $145 million, an increase of 68 percent compared to $86 million in the first half of 2012. Investment income in the June quarter was only $52 million much less than the amount generated in the first quarter. A slower fall in the value of the Jamaican dollar would have resulted in a lower gains from foreign currency trading or translation.
Summary | A sharp change in commission expense from a loss of $78 million in the June quarter of 2012 to a small surplus of $6.5 million helped in no small manner to boost the bottom-line in the quarter even as net premiums earned declined from $205 million to $187 million and claims jumped from $118 million to $157 million over the same period.
The company paid out $50 million in cash dividends to shareholders in the first quarter.
Assets jump | The company that had assets totaling $3.9 billion at the end of December last year, has seen a major jump to June to $7 billion mainly as amounts due from reinsurers and co-insurers doubled to $2 billion. The amounts due from policy holders climbed $1.3 billion to $41.8 billion and cash and short term investments increased by $500 million.
On the other hand, amount due to reinsurers and co‐insurers moved up by $1.75 billion, insurance reserves up by $1.3 billion and shareholder’s equity by a little over a $100 million to $1.4 billion since December last year.
Return on average equity is 25 percent which is attractive if the company can maintain the current profit levels. If they can, then earnings per share should reach 35 cents for the year, which makes the stock now priced at $1.85 cents a bargain.
The stock traded at $2.81 in 2011 when profits were not as strong as it is now. Additionally, a number of junior market companies are trading around 6-7.5 times 2013 earnings with General Accident at 5.3 times, suggesting there is room for capital gains in the medium term. Of course Jamaica is in the midst of the hurricane season and some investors may not want to be bold ahead of the end of the season, just in case there is major damage and claims. This stock ought to be watched for benefit from what could be a nice price gain before year end.
Insider call | General Accident is an IC Insider Buy Rated stock.
Related posts | Buy Rated stock list grows | General Accident’s profit up 65 percent
General Accident’s profit up 65 percent
Junior market listed company General Accident had a strong first quarter but only because higher investment income more than compensated for a decline in underwriting profit. Can we expect the same trend for the full year’s results? Based in the key factors contributing to the increase, the answer is no.
Profit | Net profit for the quarter was $97.6 million or $0.09 per share an increase of 65 percent over the prior year results. Last year, the reported profit was $59.3 million or $0.06 per share for the same period. The quarterly results have benefited from significant foreign exchange gains.
Premium income | Gross written premiums grew to $1.15 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the first quarter last year while net earned premiums grew by 5 percent to $257 million. Management stated, “The premium income growth was driven both by the organic growth of our core commercial property and motor businesses as well as a rise in large facultative transactions.”
Management further stated in their report, “Despite increasing our net earned premiums, our combined ratio worsened from 93 percent in the first quarter of last year to 96 percent in the first quarter of 2013. This was driven mainly by an increase in our loss ratio which deteriorated from 53 percent in the first quarter last year to 60 percent this year. As a result, our underwriting profit declined from $17.6 million to $10 million”.
Investment Performance | Investment income grew 96 percent to $92.4 million. Last year, the company made $47 million of investment income for the first quarter. The returns, the company says, “represent an annualized return on our average investment portfolio of 18 percent. When unrealized losses on our available for sale investments are included, our total annualized return was 14 percent. Increases in our investment income are the result of efforts to diversify our holdings. This decision also limited our losses in the National Debt Exchange to less than $2 million.”
During 2012, the company’s investments returns was 9.58 percent including foreign exchange gains. With the exchange rate of the local currency stabilizing, large scale gains from this area could be limited going forward.
A dividend of $50 million amounting to $0.0485 per share was paid in March this year. The company says it intends to maintain the dividend policy for the remainder of the year. The policy is set out in the prospectus that was published in 2011 and states that they pay no less than 25 percent of distributable profits per year as dividends.
Book value | General Accident ended the quarter with a book value of $1.31 billion and generated a return on average equity for shareholders of 31 percent. The company also has cash and investments amounting to $1.74 billion plus loans receivables of $384 million. Amounts that was due to reinsurers and coinsurers amounted to $790 million but amounts that are due to this same group was $1.04 billion and for clients and brokers $41 billion. Insurance reserves stood at $2.4 billion at the end of March.
Stock outlook | Looking forward, the rate of return generated on investments is high in an environment when rates on investments were less than 10 percent on most short term instruments. What clearly took place is that a large portion of the gains came from foreign exchange rate movement. The big question is, will they be able to maintain such returns going forward and if not, will the insurance claim experience be better? Last year the company earned 28 cents per share for the full year. With 9 cents already in the bag it’s quite possible to exceed last year’s earnings. Fortunately the stock is now priced quite well. Even a little disappointment on the earnings front will still allow room for some more appreciation in the stock price.
