The year-end rally, continued on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday, as Kingston Properties hits a new high having gained 87.5 percent for the December. Trading in the overall market resulted in the prices of 10 stocks rising and only 3 declining as 25 securities changed hands, ending in 3,028,876 units trading, valued at $10,239,236, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with the offer lower a clear sign of rising prices ahead.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 196.62 points to 75,757.06, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 219.83 points to close at 83,418.22 and the JSE combined index climbed 261.34 points to close at 77,656.27.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless with 1,710,367 shares changing hands, to close 3 cents higher, at 50 cents. Carreras ended with 3,452 shares and gained 30 cents to $36.50, Grace Kennedy closed trading with 1,700 shares changing hands with a 50 cents rise, to $61. Hardware & Lumber traded 3,000 shares with the price rising 49 cents to $8. Kingston Properties closed at a new all-time high of$7.50, with a 60 cents rise with 403,000 units trading. National Commercial Bank finished with only 100 shares changing hands to close 1 cent up to $18.51, Salada Foods concluded trading with 268,045 shares, 19 cents higher at $8 and Seprod ended trading with 8,600 shares changing hands to close with a 25 cents gain at $12.50.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Gleaner trading just 879 units to close at 95 cents. Jamaica Broilers ended trading with 39,136 units at $4.10, Jamaica Money Market Brokers closed with 1,640 ordinary shares and finished trading at $7, Jamaica Producers ended with 6,100 shares trading, at $17.50, Mayberry Investments ended with 12,883 shares changing hands at $1.52 and Proven Investments closed with 12,385 shares at 19 US cents.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Sagicor Group with 80,500 shares trading lost 3 cents to end at $9.97 and 92,753 Scotia Group shares changed hands 1 cent lower at $20.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share finished with 903 shares trading at $2 and Proven Investments 8% preference share finished with 150 units to close trading at $5.50.
Kingston Properties up 88% in December
Rising prices hold sway on JSE
Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, continues with a bullish bias and ended in the prices of 10 stocks rising and only 2 declining as 17 securities changed hands, ending in 4,801,191 units trading, valued at $30,772,622, in all market segments. The IC Bid offer indicator is pointing to continuation of rising prices having the upper hand, over declining ones.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 2 stocks with offers that were lower. This is a positive indicator for the market pointing to rising prices ahead.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 190.04 points to 76,113.19, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 212.50 points to close at 83,816.44 and the JSE combined index gained 192.73 points to close at 77,801.62.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Berger Paints finished trading with 46,668 shares with the price rising 9 cents to $1.60, Carreras ended with 195,379 shares, the price jumped $1.10 to $37.25 but at the close there was an offer to sell at $36.20, Hardware & Lumber ended trading with 2,666 shares changing hands to close 4 cents higher at $7.51. Jamaica Broilers completed trading with 2,325,782 shares with the price rising 4 cents to $4.10, National Commercial Bank contributed 420,000 units to trading and put on 10 cents to $18.50, Sagicor Group ended trading with 151,205 shares with an increase of 13 cents to $10.09 and Salada Foods finished trading with 19,200 shares as the price jumped 20 cents to $8.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless finished with 156,869 shares trading at 50 cents, importantly, today’s trade exposes the offer at 55 cents with 95,000 units being offered and just above that, is 97,000 units at 58 cents. The highest bid is now at 48 cents for 1.8 million units. Caribbean Cement ended trading with 27,711 shares changing hands to close at $2.40, Proven Investments ended with 19,520 shares trading at 19 US cents and Scotia Group closed with 104,305 shares changing hands at $20.50.
Declines| The Gleaner Company was the only main stock to end with a loss as there was trading in 59,570 but ended losing 4 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 95 cents.
13 stocks gained Friday on JSE
Gleaner’s stock is poised to drop with the offer priced below the last selling price.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower. Included in the list of stocks closing with lower bids than the last selling price is the Gleaner Company with an offer to sell 47,850 shares at 95 cents, compared with the last traded price of 99 cents.
There were no bids to buy at the end of trading as the stock seems set to trade at a new 52 weeks’ low when it next trades.Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 597.83 points to 75,366.92, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 668.46 points to close at 82,982.00 and the JSE combined index gained 576.45 points to close at 77,152.08.
JSE main market marching slowly up
Grace stock gained $1 to end at $62.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower as demand increases to buy stocks ahead of the year end close.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 419.22 points to 74,769.09, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 468.75 points to close at 82,313.54 and the JSE combined index gained 394.17 points to close at 76,575.63.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Grace Kennedy completed trading with 10,952 shares changing hands, with a gain of $1 to $62, National Commercial Bank saw trading in 17,306 units with a gain of 16 cents to $18.16. Sagicor Group finished trading with 337,678 shares with the price rising 2 cents to $9.90, Scotia Group ended trading with 24,212 units, the price put on 46 cents to $20.01 and Scotia Investments concluded trading with 25,000 shares changing hands with a gain of 5 cents to $22.55.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless ended with 34,400 units and closed at 45 cents, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 41,577 shares at $4 each, Kingston Wharves concluded trading with 9,700 shares changing hands to close at $6. Proven Investments had 525 shares changing hands to close at 18.5 US cents, Radio Jamaica contributed 4,758 shares to close at $1.18 and Supreme Ventures ended trading with 8,300 shares at $1.90.Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras ending with 11,848 units, as the price slipped 1 cent to $36.99, Gleaner closing at a new 52 weeks’ low while trading 20,000 shares at 99 cents, by slipping by 1 cent and Jamaica Money Market Brokers finished with 14,600 shares with a loss of 4 cents to $7.06.
Preference| Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 150 units at $5.50.
12 stocks rise 4 declines on JSE
In Thursday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Sagicor Investments bought and sold 5,130,557 National Commercial Bank shares at $92.8 million, accounting for the bulk of trading on the exchange. At the close the prices of 12 stocks rose and 4 declined as 27 securities changed hands, ending in 8,932,509 units trading, valued at $99,815,205, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had only 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 stocks with offers that were lower, reflecting short term negative sentiments.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 137.73 points to 74,025.31, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 154.01 points to close at 81,481.88 and the JSE combined index gained declined by 68.49 points to close at 76,011.41.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless with 7,500 units to close with a gain of 1 cent at 44 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers concluded trading with 4,500 units to close with a gain of 5 cents at $7.05, Jamaica Producers concluded trading with 2,123 units and put on 50 cent down at $16, Sagicor Group closed with 209,069 shares as the price climbed 2 cents to $9.90 and Scotia Investments closed with 1,500 shares changing hands to close with a gain of 4 cents at $22.55.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Caribbean Cement ended trading with 713 shares at $2.40, Carreras exchanged a mere 100 shares at $37, Gleaner in trading with 100,000 shares, to close at $1. Grace Kennedy exchanged 4,380 shares at $60.40, Kingston Wharves ended trading with 12,000 shares changing hands at $6, Proven Investments contributed 3,300 units at 17.99 US cents, Radio Jamaica ended trading with 1,635 shares at $1.18, Sagicor Real Estate Fund finished trading with 22,000 units changing hands at $6.85 and Seprod closed with 18,593 units at $12.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Desnoes & Geddes ended with 2,020 units as the price slipped 6 cents to $4.76, Jamaica Broilers closed with 9,318 shares trading 1 cent lower at $4, National Commercial Bank finished with 5,149,153 shares with a loss of 8 cents to $18.01, Scotia Group finished trading with 2,300 units and fell 5 cents to $19.50
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share traded 12,000 units and gained 7 cents to $3.50 and Proven Investments 8% preference share ended with 3,846 shares changing hands to close with an increase of 70 cents to stocks closed at all-time highs $5.70.
JSE up 3,100 points for November so far
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed the week with the main index up 1,116.30 points, the all Jamaica Index gained 1,248.18 points and the combined index 1,251.75 points, as the market recorded gains in all but one day for the week. For November, to date, the main market index is up 2,816 points, the all Jamaica Index 3,149 and the combined index 2,848 points.
Friday’s activity resulted in the prices of only 4 stocks rising, 8 declining as 21 securities changed hands, ending in 9,320,763 units trading, valued at $91,472,038, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 52.12 points to 74,621.16, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 58.27 points to close at 82,148.13 and the JSE combined index gained 22.81 points to close at 76,503.91.
Gains| Stocks gaining with the last traded prices, at the end of trading, in the main market are, Cable & Wireless finishing trading, with 380,042 shares, 2 cents higher to 45 cents. Grace Kennedy concluded trading with 1,778 shares changing hands, 10 cents higher at $60.60 and Scotia Group closed with 2,324,106 shares trading, with a gain of 30 cents to $20. Barita Investments was the broker selling the most Scotia shares, and NCB Capital Market, the broker purchasing the bulk of the stock to trade, with most traded at $20.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in their last traded price are, Caribbean Cement with 3,375 shares, changing hands, to close at $2.26, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 7,900 ordinary shares changing hands at $7, Jamaica Stock Exchange finished trading with 6,000 shares at $1.55. National Commercial Bank had 987,977 shares changing hands at $19 and Radio Jamaica concluded trading with 378 shares changing hands, to close at $1.18. Sagicor Investments was the broker to trade the largest portion of the NCB trade with a cross of 967,497 units. At the close of trading there were only 12 offers posted between $19.15 and $35 for just under 200,000 shares, while there are a number of bids at $18 to $18.30 for more than 370,000 shares.
Declines| The last traded price of stocks with losses, at the close of the main market are, Desnoes & Geddes ended with 4,021,000 units trading, as the price slipped 5 cents to $4.85, Gleaner closed with 600 shares trading 1 cent lower at $1. Jamaica Broilers finished with 2,000 shares trading at a loss of 8 cents to $4.02, Mayberry Investments closed with 178,267 shares trading 2 cents to $1.50, Proven Investments had 269,400 shares changing hands to close 0.20 cents at 17.30 US cents and Sagicor Group ended trading with 3,500 shares changing hands to close 9 cents to $9.91.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share ended trading with 194,400 shares at $2.
9 up 6 down on JSE
Thursday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 9 stocks rising and 6 declining as 24 securities changed hands, ending in 4,155,612 units trading, valued at $38,853,829, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 80.66 points to 74,569.04, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 90.19 points to close at 82,089.86 and the JSE combined index increased by 91.69 points to close at 76,481.10.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Gleaner finishing with 30,000 shares at 1 cent gain at $1.01, Jamaica Broilers with 2,330 shares changing hands, closed 9 cents higher to $4.10. Jamaica Money Market Brokers ended trading 664,120 ordinary shares and gained 40 cents to $7, Mayberry Investments saw trading in 230,000 units to close with a gain of 2 cents at $1.52, Pan Jamaican Investment ended with 3,000 shares rising 24 cents to $50.50 Sagicor Group closed with 183,270 units and put on 1 cent to $10 and Scotia Group finished trading with 269,756 shares at 30 cents higher at $19.70.
Firm| Stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded price are, Grace Kennedy with 12,394 shares to end at $60.50, Kingston Wharves with 23,000 shares at $6. Proven Investments had 7,097 ordinary shares, changing hands at 17.50 US cents and Sterling Investments concluded trading with 30,000 shares changing hands, to close at $134.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless ended with 198,271 units as the price slipped 7 cents to 43 cents, Caribbean Cement closed with 2,500 shares trading 14 cents higher to $2.26, Margaritaville ended with 200 units, the price slipped 1 US cent to a 52 weeks, low of 10 US cents and National Commercial Bank closed with 978,842 shares trading, but lost 5 cents to $19.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 273,624 units at $3.
NCB & Carreras dominant on JSE
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, on Wednesday was extend by an hour, to close at 2 PM, instead of the usual 1 PM close, problem with the stock exchange computer system, prevented some brokers from logging on to the system during the regular hours, hence the extension.
At the conclusion of trading the prices of 8 stocks rising and 6 declining as 25 securities changed hands, ending in 6,166,523 units trading, valued at $52,443,460, in all market segments. Of the total amount traded Carreras and National Commercial Bank that reported improved results for the period to September this over 2013 had $26,045,350 and $18,446,572 being invested in their stocks respectively.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 475.78 points to 74,488.38, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 531.99 points to close at 81,999.67 and the JSE combined index gained 506.05 by points to close at 76,389.41.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless finished trading with 2,623,534 shares to close with an 8 cents gain to 50 Cents, Carreras concluded trading with 723,500 shares, and climbed $1 to $36, Desnoes & Geddes exchanged 29,700 shares to gain 5 cents at $4.90, Jamaica Broilers dealt in 34,809 shares as the price ended at 1 cents up to $4.01. Jamaica Money Market Brokers contributed 4,534 ordinary shares with the price moving 3 cents higher at $6.60 and National Commercial Bank finished trading with 969,173 shares, to end with an increase of 54 cents at $19.05.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Ciboney with 1,600 shares changing hands, closed at 7 cents, Hardware & Lumber concluded trading with 9,100 shares, at $6.50. Mayberry Investments finished trading with 258,123 shares changing hands at $1.50, Radio Jamaica with 6,005 shares changing hands, ended at $1.18 and Supreme Ventures ended trading, with only 1,900 shares, at $1.76.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Gleaner closing with 10,000 units, the price slipped 5 cents to a new l52 weeks’ low $1. Jamaica Stock Exchange finished with 10,000 shares trading, 29 cents lower to an all-time low of $1.55, Pan Jamaican Investment with 2,155 shares trading, lost 1 cent to end at $50.26, Scotia Group finished trading with 60,649 shares changing hands, 22 cents down, at $19.40 and Seprod shed 38 cents in trading 273,005 units, to close at $11.50.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 34,600 units at $3.
8 up 9 down on JSE
Tuesday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 8 stocks rising and 9 declining as 27 securities changed hands, ending in 4,235,650 units trading, valued at $51,526,408, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell 194.52 points to 74,012.60, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined 217.50 points to close at 81,467.68 and the JSE combined index dropped 146.86 points to close at 75,883.36.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers, finishing trading with 50,000 ordinary shares, 7 cents higher at $6.57. National Commercial Bank finished trading with 49,500 shares while gaining 1 cent to $18.51, Pan Jamaican Investment saw trading in 4,039 units, to close with a gain of 1 cent to $50.27, Scotia Group 108,965 shares traded at 22 cents higher to close at $19.62 and Supreme Ventures with 74,000 shares changing hands, gained 1 cent to $1.76.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Gleaner with 110 shares at $1.05, Jamaica Broilers closing with 501,266 shares changing hands at $4, Jamaica Producers concluded trading with 5,000 shares at $15.50. Kingston Wharves had 4,285 shares changing hands $6, Mayberry Investments ended trading with 74,610 shares changing hands to close at $1.50 and Scotia Investments closed with 30,000 shares at $22.51.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless finished trading with 1,670,678 units and fell 7 cents to 42 cents, Caribbean Cement concluded trading with 10,728 units with a decline of 1 cent to $2.40, Carreras exchanged 1,128,573 shares in trading, with a loss of $2 to close at $35, for Desnoes & Geddes there was dealing in 145,000 units, to close with a 5 cents fall to $4.85. Grace Kennedy contributed just 1,520 shares to trading but lost of 50 cents to end at $60.50, Palace Amusement concluded trading with 100 units to fall $13 to a 52 weeks’ low of $77, Proven Investments exchanged 80,033 units with a decline of 0.49 cent to 17.5 US cents and Sagicor Group ended trading with 145,000 units, with a decline of 1 cent to $9.99.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded with 155 units changing hands with a gain of 1 cent to $3 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% finished trading with 14,500 shares trading at $2.
Gleaner awaiting economic up turn
Profit at Gleaner Company, for the three months to September is up strongly, but that’s coming from a low level for 2013. Most of the improved figures came from a big upswing in finance income and not from the main activity of media.
Profit after tax rose 271 percent, to $16 million, up from just $4 million in 2013, and for the six months, growth was up 301 percent to reach $58.6 million from $14.6 million, but that is just 5 cents per share. Profit margins improved in 2014 over 2013 rising only 4 percent for the nine months and 11 percent in the quarter, but administration and other cost rose 11 percent in the quarter and a lesser 5 percent in the year to date period.
The other good news is the vast improvement in the results of the subsidiaries, for the year so far, having produced a profit of $10.5 million in the September quarter from a loss of $19 million last year and a reduced loss of $2 million for the year to September compared with a loss of $31 million in 2013.
Sales revenue remains flat, at just over $813 million for the 2014 and 2013 quarters and up a mere 2 percent for the nine months to September, at $2.43 billion. The economic conditions the country is in, coupled with stringent fiscal policies being pursued by the government, is not the environment that the media house relishes. The situation has been made worse by Claro mobile exiting the system, a few years ago. The acquisition of Flow by Cable & Wireless could well put more pressure on revenues down the road, depending on how the acquisition is handled. In the end, the acquisition will mean less advertising spend, nationally by the telecom sector if the acquisition goes through. Another negative, is that newspapers are not the in thing anymore, with newer readers preferring the internet, but they are not yet prepared to buy news on line the same way that news was sold in the past. Although, the Gleaner owns a radio station its profitability is at best small and can’t deliver much to the bottom line.
The company’s stock price is low compared to its historical norm, but compared with others in the market, it can be considered overpriced at a PE that is around 10 times current year’s earnings, with no sign of a major turnaround in its operations soon.