Knutsford Express traded a big block of 20,000,002 shares at $10.65 with the price falling 65 cents, helping the junior market to lose ground on Tuesday. The record of the company showed Proven Investments as the holders of the exact amount traded, representing 20 percent of the shareholdings with their brokerage house being the seller with NCB Capital Markets being the brokers buying.
The junior market index falling by 24.27 points to 1,666.91 points as the market retreated from the all-time high reached on Monday. Trading ended with 14 securities trading of with 7 advanced and 2 declined with 20,742,505 units, valued at $215,634,789 changing hands as 2 stocks closed at 52 weeks’ highs.
At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 6 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 2 stocks closed with bids higher than their last traded prices while one closed with a lower offer.
In trading, Access Financial Services closed at $16 with 2,646 units changing hands, AMG Packaging closed with 8,964 units changing hands at $7, Blue Power had 581 units changing hands to close at $13.10, Caribbean Cream gained 43 cents with 13,000 shares changing hands at $3.70. 
Caribbean Flavours traded 450 units to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $10, by adding 97 cents, Caribbean Producers closed at $4.62 to gain 17 cents with 290,856 units changing hands, Consolidated Bakeries rose 10 cents while trading 35,000 shares at $1.20, Derrimon Trading ended with 27,247 shares changing hands at $3.80. General Accident closed at $1.95 with 4,500 shares trading, Honey Bun finished with 2,000 shares changing hands, to close at $6, Lasco Distributors closed with 80,000 shares changing hands at 25 cents higher at $4.60. Lasco Financial rose 43 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.55, with 241,631 shares changing hands and Lasco Manufacturing lost 55 cents to close at $3 with 298,484 shares trading.
Proven sells Knutsford shares
December 22, 2015 by
Another new record for juniors
December 21, 2015 by
The junior market closed at a record high on Monday
Trading ended with 11 securities trading of with 3 advanced and 3 declined with 1,290,587 units, valued at $4,845,099 changing hands as 2 stocks closed at 52 weeks’ highs. At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 4 stocks closed with bids higher than their last traded prices while one closed with a lower offer.
In trading, AMG Packaging closed with 26,378 units changing hands at $7, Blue Power had 646 units changing hands to close at $13.10, Caribbean Producers closed at $4.45 to gain 5 cents with 290,856 units changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended with 10,000 shares changing hands at $3.80. Dolphin Cove closed at $17 with only 100 shares trading,
Honey Bun finished with 1,000 shares changing hands to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $6 after rising by 50 cents, KLE Group gained 15 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.15, as 37,000 units changed hands. Lasco Distributors closed with 17,855 shares changing hands at $4.35 after declining by 15 cents, but it traded at an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $4.70. Lasco Financial fell 21 cents to closed at $3.12 with 461,995 shares changing hands as high as $3.50, Lasco Manufacturing rose 25 cents and closed at $3.55, with 443,813 shares trading and Sweet River ended with 944 units changing hands at $3.95.
Record Friday for JSE stocks
December 18, 2015 by
138 Student Living led the majors with 59m shares on Friday.
The junior market accounted for 55,544,624 units, valued at $296,776,261 as 13 stocks in the combined markets gained, 6 declined, 4 stocks closed at 52 weeks’ high.
138 Student Living had the largest trade in the main market with 58,949,590 units valued at $265,273,155 to close 10 cents up at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.50 while Honey Bun traded 55.2 million units valued at $295,438,307 in the junior market.
At the close the JSE Market Index climbed 2,213.58 points to 146,623.79, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 2,473.80 points to end at 162,816.65 and the JSE combined index added 2,381.16 points to close at 153,343.26. The main market continues to face a test at the 165,000 points resistance level, on the all Jamaica composite index, but based on the churning of price movements in recent weeks, it is likely to take some more trading days to break through that level if the break takes place.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading of 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.In trading, Berger Paints ended with 19,344 units trading at $3.15, Cable and Wireless lost 10 cents with 266,406 units changing hands to close at $1.30, at the close, there were over 1.84 million units on the offer at $1.40 with bids not looking particularly strong at $1.30 and below. Caribbean Cement closed with a rise of 20 cents to end at $18.20, with 19,955 shares changing hands, Carreras gained 99 cents in closing at $60 with 18,184 units trading, Ciboney traded at 27 cents with 54,500 units changing hands, Grace Kennedy gained 50 cents, with 77,778 units changing hands, to finish at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $80. Jamaica Broilers price fell $1.86 to $8.64, with 32,234 shares changing hands, the stock was offered for sale at $9.90 at the close, Jamaica Producers traded 13,000 shares at $31.90,
The Jamaica Stock Exchange share traded 5,000 units to close at $18.95, Kingston Wharves saw trading in 10,000 shares at $11.35 as the price slipped 5 cents. National Commercial Bank rose 30 cents and ended at $39 with 22,500 units changing hands, Pan Jamaican Investment had 20,000 units changing hands at $92.50, having risen 39 cents, Sagicor Group closed with 50,628 units changing hands but the price gained 69 cents to end at $17.50 for a new 52 weeks’ closing high. Scotia Group gained $1.99 with 73,780 shares changing hands at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $30.99 and Supreme Ventures fell 50 cents to end at $4, with 2,300,000 units changing hands.
Honey Bun trades 58% of shares
December 18, 2015 by
Honey Bun had trading in 55 million shares a short while ago representing more than 58.5 percent of the shareholdings of 94,253,390 shares.
Mayberry Investments as brokers executed the transactions with two blocks of 25,681,800 units and 1,894,000 each for a total value of $295 million.
Michelle Chong and Herbert Chong the two largest shareholders controlled 37.5 million shares each in the company. The trades represent about 73.5 percent of their holdings. It is unclear at this time if the principals have sold out the majority to a new owner.
Today’s trade follows a 40 million trade or 14.53 percent of Derrimon Trading’s shares purchased on Thursday by a large shareholder.
Juniors drop on Friday
December 11, 2015 by
Derrimon traded at a new high on Friday.
The junior market index dropped 35.19 points to 1,608.64 with 1,013,694 units, valued at $10,311,911 changing hands. At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 6 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 5 stocks closed with bids higher than their last traded prices while one closed with a lower offer.
In trading, Access Financial Services closed with a gain of 1 cent at $14.01 while 7,000 units changed hands. Derrimon Trading ended with 73,203 shares changing hands at a new 52 weeks’ high of $3.66, for a gain of 14 cents, General Accident Insurance fell 1 cent in trading 51,762 units at $1.91,
Honey Bun lost 20 cents with 13,500 shares changing hands at $5.75, Lasco Distributors closed with 467,553 shares changing hands at $4.50, Lasco Financial ended with a loss of 30 cents at $3.10, with 25,773 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing lost 51 cents and closed at $2.99, with 289,903 shares trading, Medical Disposables closed at $3.55 with 75,000 shares trading as the price rose by 15 cents and Eppley cumulative preference share 2019, ended with 10,000 units changing hands at $6.09 after rising 1 cent.
4 new highs for Junior market – Tuesday
December 8, 2015 by
Derrimon hits a new high in fairly heavy trading in the stock on Tuesday.
The traded volume in the stock is down compared to 5,881,908 units, valued at $20,586,056 that changed hands on Monday.
Overall, trading ended with a meagre increase of 0.36 points in the junior market index to 1,623.15 as 15 active securities ended with 9 stocks advancing and 2 declining with 5,858,828 units, valued at $21,128,004 changing hands.
At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 8 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 3 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 2 closed with lower offers. Four stocks closed at 52 weeks’ high in the junior market.
In trading, AMG Packaging ended 5 cents lower at $6 with 31,600 shares trading, Caribbean Cream dropped 59 cents while trading 1,024,584 units to end at $3.42, Caribbean Flavours traded 5,599 units at a new 52 weeks’ high of $7.20 by adding 10 cents, Caribbean Producers traded 719,587 units to end at $5.60. Consolidated Bakeries ended with 127,708 shares changing hands to settle at $1.30 for a 7 cents rise, General Accident had 84,168 units trading and closed with a rise of 4 cents at $2, Honey Bun traded at a 52 weeks’ high of $5.85 with 5,348 shares to close with a gain of 4 cents.
Knutsford Express ended 60 cents higher, at a 52 weeks’ high of $10.50 with 400 shares changing hands, KLE Group ended with 25,000 units trading with a rise of 2 cents at 75 cents, Lasco Distributors gained 18 cents and closed with 78,051 shares changing hands, at $4.30, Lasco Financial ended at $3, with 345,682 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing added 22 cents and closed at $3.62, with 70,117 shares trading, Medical Disposables price rose 1 cent to close at $3.53 with 8,500 shares trading and Paramount Trading ended with 700 shares changing hands at $8.96.
Huge profit turn at Honey Bun – BUY RATED
November 27, 2015 by
Honey Bun turned around a loss of $17 million in the September 2014 quarter into a profit of $4 million in 2015 and a profit of only $23 million into a one of $68 million for the 2015 fiscal year or earnings per share of 72 cents.
The performance and IC Insider’s forecast for the next two years, (See EPS forecast below) have elevated the status of the stock to BUY RATED.
The change came from a 22 percent rise in revenue in the quarter to $215 million from $169 million in 2014 and from a 19 percent growth in revenues for the full year, to $887 million from $747 million in 2014. The profit in the September quarter is a major achievement for the company it being the first time since 2012 when a small profit of $550,000 was realized that the company is reporting a profit.
“The company services lots of schools and so the summer months are normally reduced due to the holiday season for July and August. We will always have this challenge but we have somewhat overcome a significant portion of it by way of the development of new products that are not directly geared for schools and by targeting other markets also.
One Honey Bun’s Products
Helping the growth in profits was an improvement in gross profit and gross profit margin with the latter being 42.8 percent up from 41 percent in 2014 and from a 9.5 percent increase in administrative and other expenses, selling & distribution costs of $307 million from $280 million.
Investments, cash and equivalents rose to $92 million, net current assets stood at $102 million, borrowed funds fell from $73 million in 2014 to $51 million while equity rose to $368 million.
The company’s shares are listed on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and last traded at $5.50, with the price being up 164 percent since 2015, and now sports a PE of 7.6 times 2015 earnings. IC Insider is forecasting earnings per share (EPS) of $1.15 for the 2016 fiscal year which gives it a PE of 4.8 and EPS of $1.70 for 2017.
The company advised that the Board of Directors will meet on Monday, December 7 to consider the declaration of a dividend. An interim dividend of 12 cents per stock, amounting to $11.3 million was paid in May this year.
Juniors make strong recovery on Friday
November 27, 2015 by
Knutsford closed at a new high of $9 on Friday
Only 2 securities ended with no bids to buy and 7 had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and none closed with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial Services traded 249 units with the price rising 7 cents to $13.57, AMG Packaging closed at $6 with 1,458 units changing hands, Blue Power rose by 1 cent and closed with 10,265 units trading, C2W Music ended with 61,000 units changing hands at 38 cents. Caribbean Cream had 87,000 units changing hands but lost 10 cents, to end at $4.40, Caribbean Flavours in trading 7,426 units and ended at $6.57, Caribbean Producers gained 35 cents in trading 462,506 units to end at $5.80 for a 52 weeks’ closing high, Consolidated Bakeries fell 10 cents trading 19,736 shares at $1.30. Dolphin Cove ended with 128,900 units changing hands with a $1 gain to $16, General Accident ended with 699,239 shares changing hands and closed at $2 after declining by 19 cents, Honey Bun with 1,000 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 15 cents at $5.65 for a new 52 weeks’ high. Jamaican Teas gained 5 cents with 3,000 shares trading at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $5,
KLE Group ended with 30,000 units with a loss of 10 cents at 70 cents, Knutsford Express jumped $1 in trading 30,000 units at $9 for a 52 weeks’ high. Lasco Distributors closed with 1,135,443 shares changing hands, to end with a rise of 5 cents at $4.05, Lasco Financial ended at $3, with 1,124,054 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing rose 16 cents to $3.71 with 651,985 shares trading, Sweet River Abattoir traded just 612 units at $3.95 and Derrimon Trading preference share ended with 3,500 trading at $2.20.
Juniors recover sharply on Thursday
November 26, 2015 by
Jamaican Teas ended at a 52 weeks closing high on Thursday
Only 2 securities ended with no bids to buy and 9 had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 5 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 3 closed with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial Services traded 6,250 units, with the price rising $1 to $13.50, C2W Music ended up with 3,083 units changing hands with a gain of 1 cent to 38 cents, Caribbean Cream had 8,000 units changing hands and recovered 20 cents, to end at $4.50, Caribbean Flavours in trading 5,000 units ended at $6.57. Caribbean Producers gained 45 cents in trading 328,400 units to end at $5.45, Derrimon Trading ended with 25,700 units changing hands with a 5 cents loss to $3.45, General Accident ended with 12,900 shares changing hands and closed at $2.19 after rising 29 cents but was offered at $2 at the close.
Honey Bun with 15,512 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 50 cents at $5.50 for a new 52 weeks’ high, Jamaican Teas had 10,700 shares trading at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $4.95, after rising by 30 cents, Knutsford Express lost 20 cents in trading 1,900 units at $8. Lasco Distributors closed with 641,324 shares changing hands, to end with a rise of 10 cents at $4, Lasco Financial ended at $3, with 465,338 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing closed with a decline of 16 cents to $3.55 with 255,274 shares trading and Eppley 2019 Preference Share ended with 190,000 units changing hands with a gain of 1 cents to $6.08.
More juniors rise but index dips – Friday
November 20, 2015 by
Cargo Handlers at new high of $35.20 on Friday.
Only 2 securities ended with no bids to buy and 9 had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 3 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and none closed with a lower offer.
In trading, C2W Music traded 16,460 units at 39 cents, Cargo Handlers gained 20 cents and ended at a new 52 weeks’ high of $35.20, with 13,415 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream traded 50,300 units with a rise of 40 cents to $4.95, Caribbean Flavours traded 260,052 units to end at $6.50 after rising 54 cents. Caribbean Producers closed with a gain of 52 cents in trading 175120 units at $5.52, for a new 52 weeks’ closing high, Consolidated Bakeries fell 8 cents at the close, to end at $1.40 with 50,000 units changing hands. Derrimon Trading ended with 10,000 units changing hands at $3.50, Dolphin Cove fell $1.01 with 3,532 units trading, to close at $15, General Accident ended with 165,385 shares changing hands and closed with a gain of 5 cents at $1.90, KLE Group lost 21 cents and ended with 17,292 units trading at 75 cents. Honey Bun with 27,035 shares changing hands and closed at $5.30.
Jamaican Teas had 109,363 shares trading to close at $4.30 after trading after rising by 30 cents, Knutsford Express ended 95 cents higher, at a 52 weeks’ high of $7.50 with 210 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed with 347,004 shares changing hands to end at $4.20 after falling by 10 cents. Lasco Financial rose of 5 cents to $3.30, with a total of 210,557 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing closed with a 5 cents gain at $3.80 with 932,066 shares trading and Medical Disposables ended with 341,000 shares changing hands and lost 40 cents to be at $3.45 and Sweet River Abattoir traded 35,500 units at $3.95