JSE: Light trading

January 7, 2014 by

Tuesday, 7th January 2014 | Trading level was light on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with 1,887,470 units valued at $12,923,387 as 30 stocks were active accounting for prices rising for 10 and declining for 6.

The JSE Market Index declined by 354.40 points to close at 79,651.03, the JSE All Jamaican Composite declined by 537.55 points to end at 80,359.75 and the JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 3.95 points to reach 770.19.

Main Market | Stocks trading were Caribbean Cement with 235,081 units closing at a new 52 weeks high of $3.70 up 25 cents; Hardware & Lumber 13,447 units firm at $8.50; Jamaica Broilers 47301 units as the price gained 5 cents to $4.71; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 11,665 units down 4 cents to $7.50; Sagicor Group 319,737 units unchanged at $8.05; Sagicor Investments 10,822 units firm at $15.66; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 11,302 shares up 30 cents to $6.50; Scotia Group 285,546 units at $20.45; Seprod 20,000 at $13.50; Supreme Ventures 62,300 shares as the price dropped 28 cents to $2.50.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares traded 84,000 units firm at $3.

JSEIndicesJan7Junior Market | AMG Packaging traded 10,000 units at $3.50 up 2 cents; Caribbean Producers 91,500 unchanged at $2.70; Dolphin Cove 33,000 units at $8.50; General Accident 100,000 up 8 cents to $1.88; Lasco Distributors 6,000 shares unchanged at $1.30 and Medical Disposables & Supplies 500,000 shares at $2.15.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 8 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices versus only 2 stocks with lower offers.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE: Market lost ground

January 6, 2014 by

Monday, 6th January 2014 | The Jamaican stock market lost ground in trading as 31 stocks were active with the advance decline ratio being equally matched at 10 each as 11,404,344 units changed hands with a value of $10,332,376.

The JSE Market Index declined by 471.33 points to close at 80,531.48, the JSE All Jamaican Composite declined by 714.90 points to end at 81,695.23. The JSE Junior Market Index bucked the trend of the others and advanced by 8.12 points to 768.49.

Main Market | The stocks with the main impact in trading were Cable & Wireless with 10,000,000 units, the price closed at 17 cents; Caribbean Cement 178,160 units to close at $3.45; Carreras lost $1.20 to close at $36.80 with 10,000 shares; Grace Kennedy had 25,806 units, the price closed at $54.01; Hardware & Lumber swapped 10,279 units to close at a new 52 weeks high of $8.50; Jamaica Broilers 9,390 units as the price rose 5 cents to end up at $4.66; Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 23,049 shares to close at $7.54; Kingston Wharves 10,000 closing firm at $6.06; Mayberry Investments 211,935 units closing firm at $2; National Commercial Bank 10,000 shares closing at $16.50,up by 35 cents; Sagicor Group 151,832 units at $8.05, off by 23 cents; Sagicor Investments 108,445 shares at $15.66 down by $1.34; Scotia Group 18,651 units as the price close up 42 cents at $20.42 and Seprod 13,000 units to close at $13.50 by gaining 50 cents.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares traded 174,500 firm at $3.

JSEIndicesJan6Junior Market | Caribbean Producers Jamaica 241,130 units traded firm at $2.70; Cargo Handlers held firm with 9,246 units to close at $13.50; Consolidated Bakeries traded firm with 92,267 shares at $1.20; Jamaican Teas traded 10,700 units at $3.60, down 40 cents; Lasco Financial Services traded 37,000 units to close at $1.27 and Medical Disposables & Supplies 27,000 shares at $2.14.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices versus 4 stocks with lower offers.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE could face law suit over Knutsford

January 5, 2014 by

IC Insider understands that Proven Wealth received a letter from the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) indicating that Knutsford Express failed to be approved for listing under the junior market rule 501 governing listings.

Christopher Williams, CEO of Proven Wealth, stated that the brokerage firm received the letter from the JSE to which their lawyers have responded. According to Williams, “the lawyers pointed out in their response that the company qualified under section 502 of the listing” amongst other issues.  This is in keeping with IC Insider’s report of Tuesday December 31, the day the listing was turned down. The stock exchange is being given the opportunity to respond before more drastic action, if needed, is taken, Williams stated.

The development is black eye on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the sponsoring broker and an embarrassment to all concerned with the capital market. The stock exchange and the Financial Services Commission would have reviewed the prospectus and ought to have been aware of any deficiencies that could have derailed the listing before giving the approval. Nevertheless the JSE gave their approval subject to the listing committee meeting. The process is backhanded, which is a view that Williams is in agreement with. The approval of the powerful listing committee should have been done ahead of the IPO and not after, with the JSE executive to ensure that administratively all the post-IPO conditions were met.

KnutsfordBus150pxThe Rules | The preamble to the rules states: For the purposes of initial admission, an eligible company shall issue its participating voting shares by way of an initial public offering in accordance with the requirements set out in Rule 502.

Section 502 states: An eligible company shall, for the purposes of its initial admission, issue participating voting shares by way of an initial public offering subject to a prospectus seeking a minimum subscription of new shares (or allotment of existing shares) of not less than J$50 million and not more than J$500 million only.

Rule 501 Minimum Requirements differs from 502 with the former saying: No request for the initial admission of any eligible company will be considered by the JSE unless the eligible company has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the JSE that, following its initial public offer:

  1. It has not less than 25 participating voting shareholders who hold, in aggregate, not less than 20% of the fully paid, subscribed participating voting share capital; and
  2. The fully paid, subscribed participating voting share capital is not less than J$50 million and not more than J$500 million, and such capital is fully paid.

Discretion of the JSE | (a) Initial admission of any eligible company to the Junior Market shall be in the absolute discretion of the JSE. (b) For the purposes of (a) above, the JSE may waive or supplement the provisions of certain of these Junior Market Rules as it sees fit.

In summary, the JSE had the power to use the discretionary clause with conditions for the company to increase the issued capital.

Related posts | JSE rejects Knutsford Express | Knutsford Express share allotment | Knutsford IPO gets in before door closes

Image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: ,

JSE: Stocks mostly up for 2nd day

January 3, 2014 by

Friday, 3rd January 2013 | Advancing stocks out distanced declining ones 8 to 3 making it the second straight trading day of the year that this ratio has been positive on the JSE, which is a continuation of the trend from mid-December. Trading resulted in 1,681,231 shares changing hands valued at $23,421,414, a better performance than yesterday with Hardware & Lumber hitting a new 52 weeks high of $8 as the price gained $1.90 on 5,000 units.

Market activity resulted in the JSE Market Index declining by 471.33 points to close at 80,531.48 and the JSE All Composite declining by 714.90 points to close at 81,695.23 as a result of pull back in the prices of National Commercial Bank, Grace Kennedy and Sagicor Group shares. The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 8.12 points to close at 768.49.

Main Market| The main movers in trading in the main market are Caribbean Cement with 112,485 units to close unchanged at $3.50; Carreras gained $2 to close at $38 while trading 44,750 shares; Jamaica Broilers with traded 100,000 shares as the price moved up 8 cents to $4.61; National Commercial Bank had just 6,000 units changing hands as the price closed down 35 cents at $16.15; Sagicor Group shed $2.32 in trading 4,145 shares as the price dropped to $8.28; Sagicor Investments  gained 47 cents to end at $17 with $6,700 units, and Scotia Group exchanged 906,022 units as the price moved up during trading to $21.96 but closed unchanged at $20.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference shares traded 205,438 unchanged at $2.

JSEIndicesJan3Junior Market| It was a subdued day for trading of junior market companies with Caribbean Cream trading 10,000 units to close firm at $1; Caribbean Producers swapped 70,852 shares at $2.70 with no change in the price; General Accident Insurance had a volume of 20,000 shares as the price rose 18 cents to $1.80; Lasco Manufacturing traded 131,751 shares and the price closed up 3 cents at $1.28 and Medical Disposables & Supplies swapped 30,000 shares to close firm at $2.15.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids that were higher than the last selling prices versus only 2 stocks with the offer lower than the last sale price.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE: Light trading greets the new year

January 2, 2014 by

Thursday, 2nd January 2014 | Trading on the first day of 2014 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was very moderate but prices closed mostly higher with stocks of 17 companies be active of which 7 advanced and 3 declined as 494,825 units valued at $3,580,089 changed hands.

The price changes were reflected in the main indices of the market with the JSE Market Index advancing by 369.26 points to close at 81,002.81, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 560.09 points to close at 82,410.13 and the JSE Junior Market Index increased by 2.51 points to close at 760.37.

Main Market | Carreras traded 59,217 units at $36 for a decline of 75 cents; Kingston Wharves traded 37,894 units to close firm at $6.06; Mayberry Investments had 44,335 shares changing hands at $2; National Commercial Bank dropped $1.50 to close at $16.50 with 5,251 units traded; Scotia Group exchanged 10,850 units and closed firm at $20; Seprod put on $2.50 to end at $13 while trading just 1,400 units.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 250,000 units, firm at $2.00.

JSEIndicesJan2Junior Market | Access Financial Services reached a new all time high in trading 1,500 units to close at $12.20 up 20 cents; Caribbean Producers traded 50,940 units to close unchanged at $2.70; Lasco Manufacturing traded 16,390 units at $1.25 with a gain of 5 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 8 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices versus only 3 stocks with offers lower than the last sale price.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

Knutsford Express share allotment

December 31, 2013 by

Knutsford Express Services’ IPO of 20,000,000 ordinary shares at the price of J$5,11 per share was oversubscribed on Friday December 27,2013 with only 66 applications received.

All Reserved Share applicants will receive 100% of the amount of the Shares for which they applied. Applicants for the general pool with 5,000 or less units will receive the full amount. The remaining applications will be allocated at approximately 97.477 percent of the application amount. Refund cheques will be available for collection from Proven Wealth Ltd on Monday January 6, 2014.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange voted today, Tuesday December 31, to block the listing of the company’s shares that should have started trading this morning. IC Insider understands that the company had moved a belated resolution to allot shares to some directors thus increasing the amount of shares in issue, as well as the value of those shares, in an attempt to get listed before the year closed. That resolution, however, would have been improper as it conflicted with the terms of the prospectus, which incorporated all material contracts the company had at the time Investors would have applied for shares in the public offer, and the change would in all probity, require the approval of the new investors to approve same.

Related posts | Knutsford IPO gets in before door closes | JSE rejects Knutsford Express 

Filed Under: Company News, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: ,

JSE: Market closes year positively

December 31, 2013 by

Tuesday, 31st December 2013 | Knutsford Express, the latest IPO to hit the market, was scheduled to be listed on JSE market today bit it never made it after frantic attempts were made so to do after the Listing Committee turned down the application to list.

IC Insider understands that the company had moved a belated resolution to allot shares to some directors thus increasing the amount of shares in issue, as well as the value of those shares, in an attempt to meet the $50 million minimum capital figure to get listed before the year closes. The funny thing is that based on the junior market rules, the company does meet the conditions set out for listing.

jse_logo150x150The last day of trading for the market for 2013 saw 10,865,481 shares changing hands with a value of $71,844,965 as 9 stocks recorded price gains to 8 that declined. Jamaica Money Market Brokers dominated trading with 8,045,488 units as the price closed at $7.50 with a total value of $60,341,160.

The junior market index, which had a gain of 17 percent for the year, ended at 757.86 but declined by 10.20 on the last trading day of the year. The all Jamaica index ended the year at 81.850.04, gaining 2,061.32 on the final day of the year and the main market index finished the year at 80,633.55, up by 1,185.67.

Main Market | The main stocks to trade were Barita Investments that closed at $2.50 with 8,497 shares changing hands; Caribbean Cement with 10,000 shares closing firm at $3.50; Carreras with 18,240 shares closing at $36.75 up  by 75 cents; Gleaner Company 63,000 shares to close at $1.10; Hardware & Lumber 1,000 to close at a 52 weeks high of $6.10 as the price rose $1; National Commercial Bank 52,545 units closing up by $1 to end at $18; Sagicor Group 58,852 closing up by $2.20 at $10.60; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 14,241 shares to close at $6.05, down 44 cents; Scotia Group 23,480 units closing up 73 cents at $20; Scotia Investments 9,904 closing at $25.50, declining by 38 cents; Proven Investments 229,200 units unchanged at 13 US cents.

In the preference sector Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% traded 75,000 units firm at $2.

JSEIndicesDec31Junior Market | The junior market ended 2013 with several of the listings with strong gains during the year. Caribbean Cream, which was listed during the year, closed the year at the IPO price of $1 as 126,300 units traded on the final trading day of the year. Caribbean Producers Jamaica exchanged 335,448 units as the price moved up 5 cents to a new 52 weeks high of $2.70, Consolidated Bakeries closed down 4 cents to end at $1.16 with 15,000 units; Lasco Financial Services 36,900 traded at $1.20 with a fall of 11 cents; Lasco Manufacturing saw 24,762 units changing hands to close at $1.20, off by 10 cents; Medical Disposables & Supplies had 1,613,853 units switching ownership as the price eased 5 cents $2.20 and Paramount Trading traded 78,663 units as the price gained 5 cents to close at $3.55.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 11 stocks with bids that were higher than the last selling prices versus only 1 stock with the offer that was lower.

Related posts | Knutsford IPO gets in before door closes | JSE rejects Knutsford Express | Knutsford Express share allotment

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE rejects Knutsford Express

December 31, 2013 by

Investors in the latest IPO to hit the market Knutsford Express may have to wait awhile to see their shares listed on the junior market as the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) this morning rejected the application to list only a few days after the sponsoring broker Proven Investments advised the stock exchange that the IPO was officially closed at 4:00 pm Friday, December 27, 2013 and that the offer has been fully subscribed. The company was trying to beat the December deadline in order to enjoy the ten years tax holiday.

The stock exchange deliberated for a long time on Monday but came to no decision as the company did not meet the minimum requirement of issued share capital of $50 million. The stock was included in the list of companies for trading at the end of Monday with the symbol KEX, but when trading started today, it was no longer in the list of tradable companies.

This is the first time in the stock exchange history that a company has gone to the public and raised the required sum as set out in the prospectus that the stock exchange has refused to approve the application. The development is black eye on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the sponsoring broker. The stock exchange and the Financial Services Commission would have reviewed the prospectus and ought to have been aware of any deficiencies that could have derailed the listing before giving the approval.

KnutsFordExpressIt appears that the stock exchange could have sanction the go ahead for listing as Section 502 of the rules governing listing of junior market companies states:

An eligible company shall, for the purposes of its initial admission, issue participating voting shares by way of an initial public offering subject to a prospectus seeking a minimum subscription of new shares (or allotment of existing shares) of not less than J$50 million and not more than J$500 million only.

It appears that the company complies with this provision. The problem is that the issued value of the shares on its books after such issue would only amount to $25 million even as the equity of the company would be more than $100m.

Related Posts | Knutsford IPO gets in before door closes

Photo courtesy of Knutsford Express social media 

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: ,

JSE: NCB trades 27m units for $475m

December 30, 2013 by

Monday, 30th December 2013 | The penultimate day of JSE trading for the year saw 29,063,554 shares changing hands with a value of $486,844,554 as 7 stocks recorded price gains to 5 that declined. National Commercial Bank dominated trading with 27,122,196 units as the price closed at $17 with a total value of $474,632,832.

The junior market index declined by 7.03 to close at 768.06. The all Jamaica index ended at 79,788.72, gaining 431.32 and the main market index finished at 79,447.88, up 248.10.

Main Market | In the main market, trading took place in Cable & Wireless with 210,000 shares to close firm at 16 cents; Caribbean Cement 133,880 shares with the price closing up 20 cents at $3.50; Carreras 12,865 units to close firm at $36; Grace Kennedy 5,645 units closing down $3.75 at $55; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 497,752 shares at $7.50; Sagicor Group 20,428 units to close at $8.40 up 30 cents; Scotia Group 86,673 units at $19.27 for a gain of 21 cents; Proven Investments 288,050 shares at 13 US cents,

In the preference sector Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% traded 74,000 units at $2 and the 8.75% exchanged 32,370 shares at $3.

JSEIndicesDec30Junior Market | Derrimon Trading exchanged 27,400 units at $2.45; General Accident Insurance traded 74,000 units at $1.62; Lasco Manufacturing 208,060 units at $1.30 and Medical Disposables & Supplies 237,069 shares at $2.25 up 7 cents, a new high.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 8 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices versus only 1 stock with an offer that was lower.

Image courtesy of watcharakun/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

FCIB gets punched

December 30, 2013 by

For the fiscal year ending October 2013, First Caribbean International Bank generated $530 million in revenue, down from $543 million in 2012 but reported lousy net results of a loss for the year of $27.5 million compared with a profit of $72 million in the prior year.

The Bank would have generated $29.6 million of net income for the year but results were affected by a number of factors. Of note they incurred $37.6 million ($35.5 million after-tax) of restructuring expenses and an increase in the collective allowance for loan losses of $25 million ($21.6 million after-tax). The bank took a $151 million loan loss hit, an increase from $120 million in 2012. The 2013 write off is 2.4 percent of the net loan of $6.3 billion with loans falling from $6.8 billion in 2012.

FCIB saw operating expenses going in the opposite direction to income as expenses grew from $348 million in 2012 to $403 million but the 2013 amount would include the restructuring cost mentioned above.

Total assets also declined to $11.4 billion from $11.5 billion in 2012. Customers’ deposits remained at $9.6 billion, roughly the same as the year before. (All figures are in US dollars).

FirstCaribbeanLogo150x150The bank, in its report to shareholders, states that “Many of the economies in which we operate rely heavily on tourism and foreign direct investments. The overhang from the economic crisis continues to impede growth and by extension has negatively affected our results. Loan loss provisions this quarter were higher than normal and include an increase in the collective allowance. The Bank is focused on pursuing risk-controlled growth and has taken considerable steps during the year toward the goal of becoming a lower risk bank. While never easy in these difficult times, we have also taken the decision to right size the organization, to redefine how we operate and to address our cost structure. The restructuring we are undertaking will position us for future cost savings and give us the ability to serve our customers better. As we continue to pursue our strategic priorities, our Bank has recorded some significant successes this year. We have introduced new and relevant products to better serve our clients and continue to leverage the capabilities of our parent and majority shareholder, CIBC.

Our focus on addressing operational and administrative concerns has also led to improvements in the client experience”.

“Our Wholesale Banking segment has recorded significant strides in client service delivery. During 2013, we have significantly removed operational and administrative activities away from the front-line personnel to ensure Corporate Managers and Client Service Officers allocate more time to work and interact with, and provide solutions to clients. We have also streamlined and strengthened our credit adjudication processes to further enhance efficiency. In our Retail and Business Banking segment we have invested heavily in developing a series of products and services to enhance our customer experience”.

The bank states that, “We have also continued our investment in upgrading our branches and network of Instant Teller machines. Focusing on customer experience, we have expedited our account opening times through an innovative continuous improvement process. In the Wealth Management segment we have leveraged the strong Axiom Mutual Funds capability in our parent and majority shareholder, CIBC, to manufacture a Caribbean based version of these funds suitable for international investors who have funds and wealth managed through the Caribbean. We have also strengthened our capability to service our Wealth Management clients with the integration into our bank of the CIBC Bank & Trust business, located in the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas, further widening the scope of clients we can assist and the range of services we can provide”.

A final dividend for the year of $0.015 per share was declared. With some of the cost not likely to recur and reduction in others flowing from the restructuring, profits should pick up in 2014 if the asset base can be held and no more major loan write down.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: , ,