In early trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Cable & Wireless was the most active stock trading with more than 9.6 million shares changing hands.
Investors stepped up and bought the stocks as high as 64 cents at the opening of the market, inducing sellers to enter the market at lower levels, pushing the price back down to 54 cents. Increased offers are currently posted for 4.45 million units between 58 and 65 cents. Bids to buy, remain mostly in the low 40 cents region.
Elsewhere Grace traded 1.3 million shares as high as $62, the price is up $3.90 from Tuesday’s close and National Commercial Bank traded 4,848 shares at $17.50 up by 50 cents. Carreras fell 99 cents with 17,680 shares trading, to $35.
The price movements helped to push the All Jamaica Composite index up by 283.67 points, to 80,722.91 at 10.30.
Heavy trading in C&WJ shares
Republic drops 72 cents on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended with Republic Bank dropping 72 cents at the end of trading. There was activity in the market, with 11 securities changing hands, of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 4 traded firm with a total of 638,480 units, valued at $1,740,915.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.80 points to close at 1,145.6 the All T&T Index rose fell by 1.68 points to close at 1,962.76 and the Cross Listed Index increased by 0.01 points to end at 43.04.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund gained 4 cents to end at $22.15 while trading 9,366 shares valued at $207,457, Jamaica Money Market Brokers was the volume leader with 518,756 shares changing hands for a value of $233,440 and gained a cent to 45 cents, Scotiabank traded 682 shares at $58.13 up a cent and West Indian Tobacco traded 537 shares at $119.03 for a 1 cent gain.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Grace Kennedy contributed 40,000 shares with a value of $153,600, to close 1 cent down at $3.84 while by Sagicor Financial Corporation with a volume of 57,622 shares traded for $346,893, to end at a new 52 weeks’ low, of $6.01 after falling 4 cents, conversely, Republic Bank suffered a loss 72 cents to close at $120 as 1,285 shares traded.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings with 1,000 units ended at $12.75, First Citizens Bank had 2,472 units trading at $36.76, Massy Holdings added 6,260 shares valued at $429,123 to close at $68.55 and National Enterprises traded 500 shares at $17.49.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
C&W jumps 28% more gains ahead
In Monday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Cable & Wireless traded just 25,000 shares at 41 cents, the highest price the stock could trade at for the day as it gained 28 percent form the last traded price of 32 cents that it traded on Thursday. At the close the bid was at 47 cents with buying for 1,391,360 shares. Just below the highest bids are 7.92 million units on the bid at 41 cents. Supplies that were offered a 50 cents were pulled shortly before trading closed, leaving offers at 60 cents, but the stock cannot trade above 54 cents, on Tuesday.
Trading resulted in the prices of 7 stocks rising and 3 declining as 24 securities changed hands, ending in 2,567,049 units trading, valued at $7,942,673, 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 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 185.93 points to 72,656.95, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 207.8 points to close at 79,951.87 and the JSE combined index gained declined by 169.98 points to close at 74,491.53.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless closed with 25,000 shares changing hands 9 cents higher at 41 cents, Desnoes & Geddes exchanged 9,420 shares while gaining 35 cents higher at $4.95, Pan Jamaican Investment contributed just 1,545 shares traded 50 cents higher at $50 and Scotia Group ended trading with 101,774 units and put on 17 cents to $19.77.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Gleaner saw trading in 1,550,630 shares at $1.05, Grace Kennedy ended with 500 units to close at $60, Jamaica Money Market Brokers closed with 47,800 ordinary shares at $7, Jamaica Stock Exchange concluded trading with 792 shares to end at $1.84, Proven Investments contributed 17,000 shares to end at 18 US cents, Sagicor Group ended trading with 24,545 shares at $9.65, Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended trading with 33,650 shares changing hands ended at $6.60 and Supreme Ventures closed with 77,202 shares trading at $1.73.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Ciboney finished trading with 3,000 units to fall 1 cent to 7 cents and Mayberry Investments exchanged 209,025 shares traded with a loss of 1 cent to $1.50.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share finished trading with 193,450 units at $3.
Grace profit up but much work needed
Grace Kennedy’s profit is growing nicely at 21 percent but the nice bump up is due to lower taxation than from normal trading gains. Revenues in the September quarter, rose by the highest level for the year, with an 18 percent increase, against a lower 15 percent year to date, hitting $20.76 billion from $17.56 billion in 2013, for the quarter and $59.28 billion in the nine months to September, from $51.46 billion in 2013.
Pretax profit only grew by 9.5 percent well below the revenue growth, to $1.12 billion from $1.02 billion in 2013 and for year to date, $3.7 billion versus $3.36 billion, a 10 percent gain. Lower taxes helped push net profit up by 21 percent for both the quarter and the nine months’ period, to $704 million from $584 million in 2013, for the quarter, and $2.38 billion from $1.98 billion year to date.
As impressive as the profit gains appear, the sprawling group has much work to do, with annualized return on equity below 10 percent, based on the net profit to date. Management in commenting on the results states “the domestic segment has been focusing on several projects to enhance efficiency, capacity and profitability. These projects include product improvement, more efficient energy utilization and providing assistance to our local raw material suppliers.”
Elsewhere, the acquisition of Le Foods is expected to start the full marketing of the Grace products in 2015, which is expected to deliver higher margins for the group, a spokesperson for the group indicated shortly after they acquired the company, earlier this year.
Margin got squeezed, as operating cost rose faster than the growth in revenues, helping to keep profits down, but Grace’s traditional stream of business lines in foods, have not delivered increased profits so far, in 2014.
Segment results tell an eloquent tale of what happening within the group and the stagnation that exist. The food business that so much hope is pegged on, delivered little increase profit year over year, with the 2014 period delivering $879 million versus $874 million in 2013, in spite of revenues rising 21 percent to $40 billion from $33 billion, in 2013. Banking and finance showed lower results, with a fall to $275 million from $505 million in 2013. The insurance segment recovered from insurance liability adjustment in 2013, to post a profit of $448 million from a loss of $25 million in 2013. The money transfer business has been the star performer for the group with segment profits of $1.64 billion versus $1.35 billion in 2013.
The stock traded at $60 on Friday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and is priced at a PE around 5 times 2014 earnings which should come in around $12 per share. The net book value is $106 per share, well ahead of the price. There is room for growth for the stock and a buy for medium to long term gains can pay off well. Grace just declared a dividend of 85 cents per share bringing the total for the year to $2.33.
Scotiabank making slow recovery on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange closed the week with 11 securities changing hands, of which 2 advanced, only 1 declined and 8 traded firm with a total of 215,713 units, valued at $2,278,896.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.04 points to close at 1,146.02, the All T&T Index fell by 0.08 points to close at 1,964.35 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 42.94.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund with 26,301 shares valued at $581,487 and advanced by 1 cent to $22.11 and Scotiabank contributed 9,586 shares with a value of $557,018, increasing 5 cents to end the day at $58.12, as the stock continues to make a slow recovery from the sharp fall it has suffered since end of May.
Declines| The only stock declining at the end of trading, is Republic Bank, with 300 shares at $120.72, as the price slipped a cent.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged, at the end of trading are, First Citizens Bank which traded 1,610 shares, to close at $36.75, Grace Kennedy closed with 740 shares at $3.85, Guardian Holdings with a volume of 13,995 shares traded for $189,662, closed at $13.55, while Massy Holdings added 7,894 shares valued at $541,134 to close at $68.55, National Enterprises closed with 100 units at $17.49, Point Lisas Industrial Port had 490 units trading at $4.05, Trinidad Cement with 154,497 shares changing hands, for a value of $307,449.03, closed at $1.99 and L.J. Williams B traded 200 shares at 90 cents.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 1 stock with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
CWJ trade at 37C cancelled on JSE
In Friday’s Jamaica Stock Exchange activity, Cable & Wireless (C&W) that is now in hot pursuit by just about all the brokers, flowing from the release of the announced acquisition of Flows operation worldwide and news of continued strong growth in new cell customers, traded at 37 cents, but did not trade in the end, as the trades were cancelled, having exceeded the maximum level permitted in a day and no sellers prepared to sell below, before trading closed.
At the end of trading, C&W had 9,997,276 units to buy at 36 cents and just under 232,000 units to sell at 50 cents. The market ended with the prices of 7 stocks rising and 7 declining as 23 securities changed hands and 5,811,093 units trading, valued at $41,708,849, 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 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower. This positive indicator is in keeping with the technical signal from the main market, showing the short term moving average, crossing over the medium term moving average, amongst other positive indicators.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 59.52 points to 72,842.87, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 66.55 points to close at 80,159.75 and the JSE combined index declined 67.63 points to close at 74,661.51.
Gains| Stocks gaining at the last traded prices, at the close of the main market are, Grace Kennedy ending with 75,798 shares, 50 cents higher at $60, Kingston Wharves closing with 1,345 shares while gaining 15 cents to $5.30, Mayberry Investments saw trading in 106,028 shares while rising 1 cent to $1.51 and Supreme Ventures ended with 48,800 units and put on 3 cents to $1.73.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints, finishing trading with 36,700 shares, changing hands at $1.60, Desnoes & Geddes concluded trading with 1,984,085 shares at $4.60, but closed with the bid at $4.80, to buy $20,600 shares.There was dealing in 35,462, Jamaica Broilers shares at $4, Jamaica Money Market Brokers contributed 2,158 ordinary shares in closing at $7, Palace Amusement concluded trading with 27,970 shares at $90 and Sagicor Group exchanged 392,771 shares at $9.65.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement, closed with 10,000 shares, to end 20 cents lower at $2.40, Carreras saw trading in 45,173 units, to end with a decline of 2 cents at $34.48, National Commercial Bank closed with 742,177 shares traded, with a loss of 80 cents to $17 and Proven Investments finished trading with 3,240 units to fall 0.01 cent at 17.99 US cents.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 241,000 units at $3.
A D&G and Cable & Wireless market
Desnoes & Geddes (D&G) with more than 27.3 million shares and Cable & Wireless (C&W) with 7.5 million units trading, dominated Thursday’s activity, on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Except for less than a few thousand unit virtually all of D&G shares traded, were crosses done by NCB Capital Market. The C&W trade, flowed from increased buying, following the announcement of the takeover of Flow by CWC Communications plc.
At the close of trading, the prices of 4 stocks gained and 4 declined as only 14 securities changed hands, ending in 35,240,771 units trading, valued at $129,810,630, 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 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell 350.96 points to 72,902.39, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined 392.43 points to close at 80,226.30 and the JSE combined index lost 210.18 points to close at 74,729.14.
Gains| IC Insider BUY RATED Cable & Wireless, finished trading with 7,481,913 units and put on 4 cents to end at 32 cents, to be the sole stock to gain at the end of trading, in the main market. The stock which was responding to news of a takeover of Columbus International, operators of Flow, enjoyed very strong bids at the close with 1,389,745 units to buy at 32 cents at the top of the bids, 2,954,100 units on the bid at 30 cents and 3,658,619 units at 28 cents. There are 2,288,839 on offer between 35 to 50 cents, an almost certain recipe for further gains to come.
Cable & Wireless HQ Kingston
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Jamaica Broilers closing with 24,819 shares at $4, Jamaica Money Market Brokers finished trading with 487 shares at $7, Proven Investments with 5,425 shares at 18 US cents, Radio Jamaica ended with 3,615 units to close at $1.18 and Sagicor Group closed with 50,000 shares at $9.65.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading, in the main market are, Caribbean Cement, ended with 105,000 units, to close 5 cents lower at $2.60, Desnoes & Geddes closed with 27,346,412 shares, valued at $125.8 million to end 35 cents down, at $4.60, Sagicor Real Estate Fund finished trading with 82,100 shares changing hands, lost 15 cents at $6.60 and Scotia Investments with 500 shares fell 9 cents, to $21.51.
Dividends at Carreras, Grace & Proven
Carreras will be paying another interim dividend of $1.20 per stock unit out of accumulated profits on December 11, 2014, to stock holders on record at November 20.
The stock will trade Ex-Dividend on November 18, 2014.
Grace Kennedy will pay an interim dividend of $0.85 on December 16, 2014 to stock holders on record at November 28, 2014. The stock will trade Ex-Dividend on November 26, 2014.
Proven Investments has advised that a dividend of US$0.0012 will be paid on December 2, 2014. The record date is November 18, 2014 and the X-dividend date is November 14, 2014 and J$0.10 was declared to Preference Shareholders with record date December 9, 2014 and payable on December 23, 2014. The ex-dividend date for the stock is December 5, 2014.
Trading broadens with 17 securities
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended with 17 securities changing hands of which 3 advanced, 4 declined and 10 traded firm with a total of 89,562 units, valued at $2,032,287.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.77 points to close at 1,146.06, the All T&T Index rose 0.18 points to close at 1,964.43 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 0.23 points to end at 42.94. Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAl with 1,495 shares advanced by 2 cents to end at $12.75, Scotiabank contributed 7,666 shares with a value of $445,155, to close $58.07 and Unilever Caribbean increased 3 cents, to end at $64.22 with 4 units traded to close at a new 52 weeks’ high.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers that added 7,476 shares but lost 3 cents, to end at 42 cents, National Commercial Bank with 12,300 shares changing hands, for a value of $12,054 but lost 2 cents, to close at 98 cents, One Caribbean Media lost 2 cents with 721 shares in closing at $25.10 and Republic Bank with 2,273 shares changing hands for a value of $274,419 and closed at $120.73 as the price slipped by 1 cent.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings with a volume of 8,552 shares, traded for $109,036 and closed at $12.75, while Clico Investment Fund with 31,215 shares valued at $689,852 remained at $22.10, First Citizens Bank traded 1,319 shares, to close at $36.76, Grace Kennedy traded 765 units at $3.85, Guardian Media 925 shares $19.75, Guardian Holdings 3,184 shares at $13.55, Massy Holdings traded 3,689 shares valued at $252,918 and closed at $68.55, National Flour Mills 2,500 shares ended at $1.10, Sagicor Financial Corporation with 478 shares, closed at $6.05 and Trinidad Cement with 5,000 shares closed at $1.99.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 1 stock with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
6 stocks rose as market indices jump
Grace climbed $1.50 to help push indices
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 807.24 points to 73,253.35, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index jumped 902.62 points to close at 80,618.73 and the JSE combined index gained by 760.32 points to close at 74,939.32.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Grace Kennedy finishing trading with 3,000 shares while gaining $1.50 to $59.50, National Commercial Bank ended with 12,777 shares rising 80 cents to $17.80, Pan Jamaican Investment closed trading with 4,000 units and put on 45 cents to $49.50, Scotia Group finished trading with 927,422 shares to end with an increase of 35 cents to $19.60 and Scotia Investments with 3,000 units to closed 20 cents higher at $21.60.Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints closed with 14,750 shares trading to close at $1.60, Cable & Wireless finished trading with 5,310,349 shares at 28 cents after trading a small amount as low as 25 cents, Desnoes & Geddes fresh from reported a 30 percent increase in profit traded 100,000 units at $4.95, Jamaica Money Market Brokers ended with only 1,378 shares trading at $7 and Sagicor Group closed with 31,000 shares at $9.65.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras with 6,707 units to close 10 cents lower at $34.50 and Jamaica Broilers ended with 219,639 shares to end 20 down at $4.