JSE: Big day with crosses

July 30, 2013 by

Tuesday, 30th July 2013 | Crosses was the order of the day on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The number and value of shares trading on market was filled with crosses done mainly by Pan Caribbean, leading the stocks of 28 companies to trade with a pumped up volume of 24,917,651 valued at $310.7 million. There were 9 stocks advancing and 13 declining which is an improvement on Monday when only 4 stocks had price advances and 14 declined.

Main market trades of note | The all Jamaica Index shed 489.39 points to close at 86,873.38 and the JSE market index lost 278.14 to close at 86,204.62.

Carreras traded 1,393,327 for a value of $71,652,396 and closed at $51.30 losing 21 cents, Desnoes & Geddes traded 6,787,525 valued $32,345,202, Jamaica Broilers 6,023,761 valued at $29,998,805, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 2,227,588 valued at $18,032,274 as the stock closed at $8.50 up 49 cents, Jamaica Producers 1,569,960 valued at $30,001,936 as the price gained 10 cents to close at $19.11, National Commercial Bank traded 3,149,543 with a value of $61,035,799 as the stock closed at $19.06 down 44 cents, Pan Jamaican Investment Trust 300,458 valued at $15,500,707 with 39 cents being shaved from the price which closed at $51.11, Scotia Group 2,220,944 units valued at $47,061,328, gaining 15 cents to close at $21.30.

Grace Kennedy traded 41,130 units and fell to a $53.60 at the close, off $2.40 on the same day the group reported a 40 percent jump in profits in the latest quarter to June and 20 percent for the six months period but after trading had closed.

Jamaica Stock Exchange ordinary shares traded for the first time since the company was listed but in the form of ordinary shares. Subsequent to the recent IPO, the stock traded at $3.25 up 40 cents on the IPO price with just 2,218 shares. Sagicor Investments lost 50 cents as it closed at $18 and Sagicor Life closed down 41 cents at $9 both with small volumes.

Junior market | 9 stocks in the junior market traded as the index moved up moderately by 4.89 to 806.04.

Trading continue to be dominated by the three Lasco companies followed by General Accident which traded 95,092 units to close $1.92 and Caribbean Producers traded 54,000 units to close $2.03. Blue Power chipped in with 34,199 units valued at $342,073 and closed at $10, a loss of 40 cents. Lasco Distributors traded 112,266 shares and closed up 4 cents to $1.50, Lasco Financial traded 131,516 shares and was up 10 cents to $1.60, and Lasco Manufacturing traded 318,315 shares and closed down a cent to $1.60.

Eppley shares which were listed on Monday has shown no signs that it will trade any time soon as there are no bids nor offer in the market for the stock.

Proven Investment Preference shares traded 196,000 units valued at $1 million. There was no trading in the ordinary shares which are quoted in US dollar.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 4 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price.

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

Epply fast listing

July 29, 2013 by

Shares of Epply Limited, the latest initial public issue to make it to the junior market that came to market last week, started trading today. The public issue, which closed on the July 22, is the fastest IPO listing since the junior market started and probably the fastest listing on the JSE ever. For the listing to take place within a week suggests that something must have gone right with it. Nevertheless, it’s a snail pace compared to international standards.

Previously, the listing of the JSE’s own shares took 2 weeks after the issue closed on July 8th and that was one of the fastest. There clearly is much improvement needed in the timeframe between listing and IPO close. There is no reason why the JSE can’t get to international standards a list within a day or two after closure of an IPO and so ensure greater liquidity in the market. All that is required is the reconciliation of subscriptions application, money paid and the allocation of shares where there is oversubscription. In this regard, the formula for dealing with oversubscription can be determined ahead of the closure of an issue.

All the other things such as paying stock exchange fees and final approval can surely take place within a day if the application for listing is effectively done ahead of the IPO.

Well into its first trading day, there were no stocks of Epply on offer nor was there any listed to be bought. One week after listing, the JSE ordinary shares are yet to traded even as the bid is now up to $3.25 in Monday’s trade.

Related Posts |  Eppley 18th junior market listing |  IPO: Epply closes, JSE to trade |  IPO: What or who is Eppley?

Image courtesy of Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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

Eppley 18th junior market listing

July 29, 2013 by

Press Release 29-Jul-2013 | Eppley, the latest initial public which was closed on Monday July 22, was listed on the junior market of the Stock Exchange on Monday July 29 and brings the junior market listings to eighteen. Eppley is only the second company to be listed on the junior market for 2013 and only the third listing on the stock exchange this year. Eppley is one of Proven Wealth stockbrokers’ first introduction to the market. The stock did not trade on the opening day, had no bids or offer to buy or sell.

Marlene Street Forrest, General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange speaking at the ceremonial listing, stated that “We cannot overemphasize the importance of the Junior Market in ensuring that new creative ideas, whether manufacturing or in this case, service gets the chance needed to make it from idea to development. The benefit of this market is not only in creating longevity but transparency. The benefit is also in seeing the companies that are listed produce excellent financial results for the company and by extension the shareholders. Growth in companies is almost always accompanied by growth in the economy. We understand that these companies receive a temporary shelter whether from corporate taxes, reduced listing or annual fees but this is done against the backdrop of full disclosure of their financial statements and other pertinent information to shareholders. I believe we can proudly report the following statistics which compares prelisting results to results as at the end of December 2012:

  1. Percentage increases in revenue ranging from 7.75% to 1,626.32%
  2. Percentage increase in profit ranging from 8.08% to 589%
  3. Percentage increase in GCT from 4% to 3,770%
  4. Percentage increase in Statutory Deduction from 3% to 173%

I urge you to remember the advantages of raising capital and listing on the Junior Market; which continue to be the possibility of reducing debt burden and high interest payments by substituting or adding equity capital; the daily valuation of a company’s shares; the ten year corporate tax concession for companies listed on the Junior Market; the low listing fees and the improvement of a company’s profile among other benefits”.

Nigel Clake, Chairman of Eppley, told the audience that Eppley was delighted to have access to the capital market to raise funds to finance their business and to be listed on the Stock Market was a privilege and Eppley would do all in their power to ensure that their reporting would be of the highest standard. He went on to thank the shareholders for the confidents they displayed in Eppley by purchasing the stocks.

Chorvelle Johnson, CEO of Proven Wealth took the opportunity to thank all the persons involved in the listing. She stated that the process was fairly easy with the help that Proven got from the JSE, the lawyers and the regulators. Miss Johnson went on to say that Proven will be working assiduously to bring more companies to list not only on the Junior Market, but on the Main Market, along with other products.

Sharing the historic moment | Andrea Kinach; Marlene Street Forrest; Chorvelle Johnson; Andre Tulloch; Melanie Subratie; Keith Collister; Nicholas Scott and Nigel Clarke.

Related Posts |  IPO: Epply closes, JSE to trade |  IPO: What or who is Eppley?

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

JSE: Advancing stocks clobbered

July 29, 2013 by

Monday, 29th July 2013 | Trades on the Jamaican stock market amounted to 4 million units with a value of $97.18 million of which Grace Kennedy accounted for more than 25 percent of the volume and $65 million of the total value of trading.

There were only 4 stocks advancing stocks while 13 declined as 25 companies participated in trading. All the indices with price movements lost value as the junior market lost the most with a 2.75 percent decline. The rest of the indices fell by less than a half of one percent.

Main market trades of note | The all Jamaica Index shed 359.38 points to close at 87,362.77 and the JSE market index fell by 204.26 to close at 86,482.76.

The Carreras sell off continues as investors sold another 362,919 units, down to $51.51 as the stock closed with the last traded price at $51.70 and the total value traded $18.73 million. Today’s trading seems to leave $51 exposed as the next price barrier. Thereafter it looks like $50 is next, but the demand at that price is not great. Other than Grace Kennedy which traded 1.16 million shares, others to post good volumes were Desnoes & Geddes, traded 284,557 units while closing at $4.77, Jamaica Broilers 121,465, trading at $5, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 129,000 between $8 and $8.10 and closing at $8.10, National Commercial Bank 59,326 as the stock closed at $19.50 down 6 cents, Scotia Group 195,392 and closed at $21.15 off by 5 cents.

The ordinary shares of Jamaica Stock Exchange is yet to trade since last week’s listing, the stock now has a bid at $3.25 and an offer at $3.45.

Junior market | Eppley shares that was the subject of an IPO last week was listed today, the fastest such listing since the junior market started. There were no trades nor buyers or sellers positioning to trade so far.

Nine stocks traded, with 6 declining and none gaining as the index fell 22.62 to 801.15. The three Lasco companies released results for the first quarter to June, with Lasco Distributors recording profit gains of 21 percent to reach $164.7 million. The stock traded a low volume of 174,127 units to close at $1.50, off just a cent. Lasco Financial recorded 50 percent gain in profit to reach $39.35 million. The stock traded 253,450 units and lost 8 cents to close at $1.52. Lasco Manufacturing reported profit decline of 10 percent in recording profit of $138.75 million. KLE Group lost a further 29 cents as the stock closed at $2 as only 1,000 units traded, a new low.  General Accident traded 142,265 units at $1.93 and Caribbean Producers 56,768 units at $2.03.

Proven Investment Preference shares traded 411,400 units valued at $2.1 million, there was no trades of the ordinary shares which are quoted in US dollar.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 5 stocks were higher with 4 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price.

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

Ready. Set. Go!

July 29, 2013 by

Monday, 29th July 2013 | The earnings season has begun! Over the next few weeks, our IC Insider analysts will be busy scouring over company quarterly reports, crunching the numbers and calling it as we see it.

As in any race to perform, there will be winners and losers. The markets will be sure to respond and with the JSE and TTSE having a limited supply of some stocks, the bulls could be on the run.

Buy Rated Stock | Of the 5 company quarterly reports reviewed to date, 3 have been added to our Buy Rated list. National Commercial Bank, One Caribbean Media and Berger TT have interesting story lines that could improve your wealth health.

Better than a broker’s ‘buy’ recommendation, IC Insider has no vested interest in any stock transaction or conflict of interest. Our research is backed by published reports of the company’s performance and insights of future earnings that can be found at ICInsider.com. The final decision to buy, or not, is your personal choice.

Related posts | NCB recovers from NDX hit | OCM profits growth slows | Berger TT profit poised for big gain

To search for published reports for a Buy Rated stock on IC Insider, please use ‘Search IC Insider’ and enter the company name, in full or in part.

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Filed Under: Company News, Stocks to watch Tagged With: , ,

Mayberry’s tough year so far

July 28, 2013 by

So far 2013 is not proving to be a good one profit wise for Mayberry Investments. First government debt swapped earlier in the year hit $337 million from profits in the March quarter and vestiges of the debt swap measures still reverberate in the numbers to June. For the latest quarter, net profit was $48 million after the company benefited from a tax credit of $16 million which raised the bottom-line from $32 million. This compares to profits of $36 million for the similar period in 2012.

For the 6 months, profit after tax amounts to a loss of $20 million and $149 million in 2012. Pre-tax profit of $214.6 million compares favourably to $165 million in 2012.

Revenues | Gross revenue for the quarter of $386 million is down on the same quarter last year of $432 million. During the quarter, there was growth in gain on sale of investments of 119 percent to end at $54.4 million, net foreign exchange gains moved from a loss of $10.6 million to a surplus of $30 million. There was a reduction in fees and commissions from $40 million to $17 and net unrealized market loss of $62 million on trading portfolio. All of these, along with interest expenses contribute to a net income of $186 million versus $217 million in the 2012 quarter before expenses.

First quarter recap | Containment in expenses and a slight boost in income helped Mayberry to record an operating profit of $158 million over the $104 million generated in the first quarter of the prior year. A one-off hit to the profit of $337.3 million arising from the NDX debt exchange plunged the operations into a loss of $178 million, before a tax credit of $87 million and share of associated profits of $24 million resulted in an overall loss of $67.7 million compared to a profit of $113 million last year. Revenues net of revaluation gains or losses came in at $473 million in the quarter up from $452 million in 2012.

mayberrylogo136pxThe company made increased profits from trading gains in the first quarter which rose to $117.9 million up from $36.4 million in the similar quarter of 2012. Mayberry sold 12 million shares in Access Financial Services for $69 million, reducing their shareholdings to 38 percent. The sale of Access would have contributed a large portion of the trading gains. Net foreign exchange gains helped too in boosting the top line with an increase from $9 million to $40 million. So did dividend income which moved from $15 million to $34 million, while fees and commission fell from $70.6 million to $19.4 million this year. Gains on investments fell to a loss of $11 million from nearly $3 million gain, the year before. For a full recap of the first quarter, read our post Mayberry profit bleeds from NDX

Second Quarter Expenses | Expenses for the quarter were $176 million compared to $194 million for the comparative period as loan loss provision fell from $40 million in 2012 to $9 million in 2013.  Other operating expenses rose from $69 million to $86 million, due mainly to a new asset tax imposed by the Government earlier this year. Year to June expenses are down from $354 million to $341 million due mainly to reduced loan losses which was partially offset by the asset tax.

Mayberry stock which was trading at $2.05 per share after the release of the first quarter results has since moved to $2.60 which it traded at for several weeks and closed at on Friday.

Financial Position | Assets on the balance sheet, declined from $23.7 billion at March 2012 and $20.77 billion in December, to $19.5 billion at the end of March but it is back up to $20.8 billion in the latest report. A decline in the investment portfolio of $5 billion countered by a decline of $4.5 billion on the liability side for securities sold under repurchase agreements accounted for the bulk of the change since March 2012. On the other hand promissory notes and loans increased over June last year by approximately $2 billion. The equity capital is holding steady at $3.7 billion.

Related posts | Mayberry profit bleeds from NDX

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

JSE: Market cooled but will it last?

July 26, 2013 by

Friday, 26th 2013 | The market cooled off today as only the stocks of 21 companies traded, resulting in a volume of 5,305,431 valued at $35.1 million. There were 8 stocks advancing and 6 declining. The prices of two stocks reached all-time highs and two others made a 52 weeks high by the end of the day.

Main Market trades of note| The all Jamaica Index shed 650.92 points to close at 87,772.15 and the JSE market index fell by 369.94 to close at 86,687.02.

Carreras traded 152,000 shares as the price closed at $52, off 25 cents from the last traded price on Thursday. Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) traded 1 million shares and lost 49 cents to close at $8 after trading as high as $8.50. National Commercial Bank after posting 92 cents earnings for the June quarter and $2.76 for the fiscal year to date, traded only 31,600 units to close at $19.56 after trading up to $20. Currently, the supply of this stock is limited. Pan Jamaican Investment Trust traded 19,600 units at $52, up 49 cents for the day. Scotia Group (SGJ) with a volume of 135,000 shares, traded between $21.11 and $21.50, the stock closed at $21.20 with no change in the last selling price. Supreme Ventures climbed 9 cents to $3.10, a 52 weeks high, with 176,000 shares trading.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange ordinary shares, the subject of an initial Public offering (IPO) in early July, was listed on Tuesday, is yet to find a compromise price for a willing buyer or seller. The stock closed the week with a bid of $3 for 97,000 shares and an offer at $3.45 by the same broker, Stocks & Securities the sponsoring broker for the IPO, which was priced at $2.85.

Junior market | 8 stocks in the junior market traded with the index moving up by 7.52 points to 823.77. The coming week could be telling for this market with the three Lasco companies releasing results on Monday. Access Financial Services gained 40 cents as 2,100 units changed hands to close at an all-time high of $9. AMG Packaging lost 25 cents while trading 3,900 units to close at $4. Dolphin Cove traded 20,500 units to close at a 52 weeks high of $9.10, gaining 40 cents for the day.  Lasco Financial moved up to an all-time high of $1.60, gaining 15 cents for the day while trading 380,206 shares. At the close, there was 1 million shares on offer at $1.60. Lasco Manufacturing traded 788,400 shares lost 10 cents to close at $1.60.

Proven Investment Preference shares traded 2.2 million units valued at $11.38 million, while there was no trading in the ordinary shares which are quoted in US dollars.

Market intelligence | Earnings season has begun for the second quarter results and are likely to impact trading over the next few weeks and could well impact stocks for the rest of the year.

jse_logo150x150Results dates | On Thursday, National Commercial Bank (NCB) released results that could encourage buying of the stock. On Friday Mayberry released their’s, after trading closed. Monday is the day all three Lasco companies are expected to release figures for the first quarter. These are important as they will send a message about likely 2014 earnings since there have been no new profit figures to positively guide investors for the new fiscal year about valuation of the stocks. Sagicor Investments and Grace Kennedy are also expected to release their results by the end of the coming week.

Cable & Wireless remains under pressure with offers in excess of 28.7 million shares at 15 cents overwhelming what little demand there is for the stock. The demand has not changed much for the last three weeks as the supply is barely being eaten away. Desnoes & Geddes is stuck for the time between $4.65, where there are a few good bids, and $5.18 where a 1 million shares are on offer. Offers below $5.50 seems to have dried up for Jamaica Broilers; bidders who exposed their hands are not yet very aggressive, with bids mostly below $4.50. There are however, a few offers between $7.67 and $5.40, the next is at $13.50 for 800,000 units.

JMMB supply and demand seem fluid presently with some selling at $9 and under. At the end of trade on Friday, there were only 428,000 units of NCB on offer between $20.99 and $35 against 1.3 million units of bids from a low of $10 to $19.55. A bid for 4,549,573 Radio Jamaica shares at $1.23 remains in the system with very moderate supply. Supply of Sagicor Life is just over 300,000 units up to $15, demand is over 2 million above $7, SGJ has 876,000 shares on offer between $21.20 to $21.25 and $33, and demand for 1.17 million units from $14 to $21.12. Scotia Investment has limited demand and a few more offers close to the trading price but there are 6 million units on offer at $30. Supreme Ventures has only two offers amounting 22,400 units and good demand from $2.75 to $3. Carreras still has selling but there are still investors prepared to buy above $50 but those could be taken out in the coming week depending on exactly how much selling there still is.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows that bids for 5 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price, thus keeping the bullish bias in place.

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

NCB cuts dividend in half

July 26, 2013 by

NCB declared a dividend of just 8 cents in its latest dividend declaration. The last payment was 16 cents per share paid on May 24 and 23 cents in March 2013.

The latest dividend will be paid on August 26 and the ex-dividend date is August 9, 2013. The August payment represents a decrease from 17 cents paid in 2012 and the May 2013 payment represents a decrease from $0.21 paid in May last year. Further back in time, the dividend pay-out ratio for the 2012 financial year to September amounted to 27% and for the 2011 financial year 25.7% compared to 42.2% for September 2010.

The cut and carving of dividend payments from one period to the next is in keeping with an unpredictable policy the company has been executing despite a recent re-publishing of the Dividend policy (see below). This is in stark contrast with a very consistent and predictable policy of Scotia Group and many other companies on the stock exchange.

dividends2_280x150NCB Dividend policy, 2011 Annual Report | The Board of Directors of National Commercial Bank recognizes the importance of capital in meeting the needs of shareholders, investors and the business. To this extent, a dividend pay-out rate has been determined.

The Board of Directors will declare, at its discretion, dividends to shareholders. These dividends will be paid from the realised earnings of NCB. The dividends will be subject to a maximum of 50% of the ordinary realised profit earned each year and will be applied after taking account of all transfers. In the event that the pay-out is less than 50% in any one year, the Board of Directors reserves the right to increase future distributions proportionately.

Further, the Board, at its discretion, may distribute to its shareholders the full amount of any and all realised gains arising from non-recurring or extraordinary transactions.  The Dividend Policy is consistent with the Capital Management Plan and is reviewed annually or more or less frequently as determined by the Board.

Related posts | NCB recovers from NDX hit |  NDX slaps NCB profits |  Berger holds dividend, NCB cuts

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

NCB recovers from NDX hit

July 26, 2013 by

Despite the cost of the Government of Jamaica debt swap earlier this year the year, National Commercial Bank results to June are just a little distance away from the 2012 profit for the similar period. The banking group reported after tax profit for the nine months at $6.8 billion down from $7.36 billion in 2012 and profit of $2.27 billion in the June quarter compared to $2.587 billion in 2012. Contributing to the results is improvement in operating income which increased by 6.3 percent, or $1.7 billion, when compared with the nine months ended June, 2012. The increase is mainly as a result of net interest income, which increased by 7.9 percent ($1.3 billion) coming from the growth in loans, and investments, net fee and commission income increasing by 11.6 percent ($618 million), primarily due to increased card transaction volumes and increased fees earned from new loans.

Premium income, increased by 143.4 percent, or $2.1 billion, due mainly to the inclusion of general insurance premiums as a result of the acquisition of Advantage General Insurance Company. This is in contrast to the six months ended March when operating income declined by $26 million when compared with the six months ended March 2012. The decline was mainly caused by a $2.4 billion reduction in gains on foreign currency and investment activities arising from the bank’s participation in the debt exchanges, which plunged income for foreign currency and investment activities to a loss of $729 million in the March quarter, compared to a profit of $1.4 billion in 2012.

Loan Loss | A $450 million increase in provision for impaired loans compared to June quarter 2012 helped to keep earnings below that quarter’s net profit resulting in the net 2013 profit falling.

The data suggest that they have almost recovered from the low interest rates they are getting on Government of Jamaica debt instruments. The results for the quarter represents a recovery from the profit of $1.744 billion reported for the March quarter when the write down of the government bond was recorded. The NCBJ group accepted the Government’s debt swap offer and exchanged $118 billion of eligible securities. The primary impact of the exchange is a reduction in coupon rates and an immediate hit was felt from the lower interest rates from new instruments, compounded by the extension of the tenure of the securities.

NCB_buildingviaMLAArchitect.comExpenses up | Operating expenses increased by $670 million in the three months to June over the March quarter, of which $230 million is due to loan provisioning and $400 million to other operating expenses. For the nine months, operating expenses are up by $3 billion but much of this would be due to the acquisition of the general insurance company who financials are merged into the group’s figures.

Loans and advances, increased from $128.8 billion at the end of March 2013 to $135 billion and is up from $107.6 billion at June 2012, growing by 25.8 percent year over year. Investments of $227 billion have grown, but at a slower pace than loans, which is a good thing as the former has lower yields than loans. While the provision for loan losses is up, the total non-performing loans totalled $7.5 billion as at March is now at $6.6 billion due to writing off of loans that were previously provided for.

Dividend | NCB declared a dividend of 8 cents per share payable on August 24. The stock closed at $19.51 at the end of trading on Thursday with 368,314 shares trading before the results were released.

Insider call | NCB is now an IC Insider Buy Rated stock.

Related posts | NCB cuts dividend in half  |  NDX slaps NCB profits |  Berger holds dividend, NCB cuts

Photo via MLAArchitect.com

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

JSE: Another big trading day

July 25, 2013 by

Thursday, 25th July 2013 | It was another big day on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday as stocks of 29 companies traded of which 10 stocks advanced and 10 declined as focus continued in main market shares and the juniors played second fiddle on a day when 14 million shares traded valued at $419 million.

The junior market index along with the US dollar index declined marginally and the main market and all Jamaica indices put on a few hundred points.

Trades of note Main Market | The all Jamaica Index gained 318.84 points to close at 88,373.07 and the JSE market index moved up by 181.21 to close at 87,056.96.

The major volume of shares traded include Carreras 6,429,852 for a value of $335,630,891which closed at $52.25, Desnoes & Geddes 1,555,217 valued at $7,362,606 with a closing price of $4.70, Gleaner Company 375,398 costing $1.18 with a value of $442,970, Grace Kennedy 150,694 valued at $8,453,933, Jamaica Broilers Group 1,701,351 amounting to $8,572,488, Jamaica Money Market 711,882 at a value of $6,041,743, National Commercial Bank 368,314 at $19.51 valued at $7,221,190, Scotia Group 1,575,654 valued for $34,255,608 closing at $21.20, off 30 cents, Scotia Investments 247,115 closing price $26.5 and valued $6,538,197, Jamaica Producers with 105,483 at $19.35 costing $2,035,822.

Hardware & Lumber traded 75,000 and the stock closed at a 52 weeks high of $4.60 an increase of 60 cents in response to the good six months results. Pan Jam lost 49 cents to close at $51.51 on small volume, Pulse Investments closed at 94 cents, a 52 weeks low as it dropped 66 cents.

Junior market | Stocks of 8 junior market companies traded on Thursday with moderate volumes and price changes. Lasco Distributors traded 127,650 shares valued at $192,752 and closed at $1.51 down 9 cents, Lasco Financial traded 149,500 shares valued at $214,648 and dropped 5 cents to close at $1.45.

Lasco Manufacturing traded 118,900 shares valued at $202,130 and closed up a cent at $1.70, Caribbean Producers traded 45,000 units at $2.05, and Access Financial Services traded 11,000 units at $8.50. KLE Group traded down again to a low of $2.29 down 31 cents for the day. The stock is now down 36% percent from the IPO price of $3.60.

Proven Investment Preference shares traded a small volume of 4,200 shares and the price held firm.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 9 stocks were higher with none having offer that was lower than their last selling price

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