NCB ups dividend as profit climbs

April 25, 2014 by

National Commercial Bank approved an increased dividend payment of 35 cents per share payable on May 22, 2014 for stockholders on record as at May 9, 2014.  For the same March quarter last year, the bank cut the dividend paid on May 24 to 16 cents per share, down from 23 cents they paid in March 2012. A dividend of 32 cents per ordinary stock was paid on February 20 this year.

NCB also released the second quarter results to March and as expected the results showed strong improvement over the 2013 quarter with a net profit of $2.99 billion, up from the NDX affected $1.74 billion in 2013. The latest quarterly figures exceeds the amount reported in the December quarter when they made $2.86 billion, which was boosted by a $300 million gain from acquisition of a subsidiary. Without that one off non-operating income, profit would have grown by 17 percent over the December 2013.

NCB_TheAtrium280x150Huge progress has been made in recovering from the negative impact that the NDX debt swap had on net interest income last year as $5.89 billion to $6.11 billion. For the six months to March, the bank generated net profit $5.85 billion, up from $4.53 billion last year resulting in earnings per share of $2.38 for the current year to date. In achieving these results, NCB was able to put a hold on expenses in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. The latest figures of $6.97 billion are slightly higher by just $74 million than the March 2013 quarter. For the year to March, expenses are up by $1.73 billion to $14.3 billion.

The bank is to be on target to clock around $5 per share earnings for the current fiscal year that ends in September.

The bank grew loans from $141.1 billion to just over $150.5 billion and made provision for bad loans of $492 million versus $390 million in December and $494 million in the 2013 March quarter. For the 2014 six months period, bad loan provisioning amounted to $882 million, a decline from $1.07 billion.

Related posts | 39% hike for NCB dividend | NCB ill-fated IPO cost $680m | NDX slaps NCB profits

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

Paramount grows profit 68%

April 24, 2014 by

Paramount Trading Company enjoyed strong gains in 2013 as profit before tax jumped an attractive 68 percent from revenues that are up 10 percent year over year but it was partly aided by an increase in other income growing by 87 percent to $7.6 million.

As of November 2013, gross profit margin increased to 46 percent from 43 percent for the same period in 2012. This improvement contributed $10 million to profit and is aided by slower growth in cost of sales of $227.8 million that increased by 8 percent at slower pace than revenue, while administration cost moved up by only 6 percent. The various areas of improvement, profit margin and cost containment enabled the company to make a profit of $35.2 million for the six month period, up from just $21 million in 2012, while sales grew to $339.5 million from $300.8 million. There was no major reduction in finance cost which came in at $10.6 million compared to $11.2 million in 2012 even as borrowings declined by just over $20 million. Movement in foreign exchange would have been a factor in pushing the cost in this area.

berger_construction-paintingFor the November quarter, revenues grew by 9.2 percent but profit before tax increased by 85 percent as gross margin climbed to an attractive 50 percent up from 43 percent in 2012, while administrative cost fell from $31 million to $28 million and finance cost slipped slightly to $4.8 from $5.1 million resulting in profit before tax of $19 million versus $10.3 million in the 2012 quarter.

During the November quarter, the company indicated that it expanded the food chemical product range and this should add to revenues and profit going forward.

The company seems set to earn $90 million in profit or around 60 cents per share and should go on to earn around 80-85 cents per share for 2015. Based on this projection, the stock is priced at 5 times 2013 earnings, well below the 8 times that many junior market stocks are priced at currently, leaving room for a good potential gain in the months ahead.

Balance Sheet | Receivables climbed to $130 million at the end of the quarter from $89 million at the end of November 2012 but is down from $146 million at the end of May (the company’s financial year end) but inventories climbed to $229 million from $172 million at both November 2012 and May 2013.

Payables, on the other hand, was up from $75 million at the end of November 2012 to $107 million in November 2013 but it is slightly better than the $110 million owing at the end of May 2013. These changes result in cash falling from $60 million at the end of the fiscal year to $37 million. The increased inventory is expected to fill increased demand for the goods during the high demand third quarter. At the end of the November, shareholders’ equity stood at $278 million or $1.88 per share after setting aside $21 million for a dividend payment.

Related posts | Paramount misses Buy Rated crown | Higher cost flattens Paramount’s profit

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

Access & its CEO in Court

April 11, 2014 by

The Jamaica Stock Exchange has been advised by the Company Secretary of Access Financial Services Limited in a letter dated 9th April, 2014, of an ongoing dispute with its Chief Executive Officer, Marcus James.

In the course of the dispute, litigation has been initiated by James against the Company and it is reported that pending a full hearing of an application for injunction, a Judge of the Supreme Court granted an injunction to 23rd April 2014 to restrain the Company from holding disciplinary proceedings that could result in the removal of James as Chief Executive Officer.

From the report made to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, “the dispute involves serious allegations and counter-allegations having to do with the governance of the Company and its assets.”

James is the initiator in forming the company and holds one of the largest blocks of the issued shares.

Access Financial Services Limited is listed on the Junior Market of the JSE.

Related posts | Access moved to Market Watch | Access growth continues

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: ,

JSE needs revamping

April 9, 2014 by

There are clearly some major weaknesses at the Jamaica Stock Exchange but no one wants to fix it, not its executive management or any of the board of directors.

Those close to the JSE may feel that there are persons with a vendetta for them but nothing could be further than the truth. The problem is that in many cases, situations that make no sense are brought to their attention and no one does anything about it. Take the matter of the daily stock market report. It has been brought to the attention of the JSE that the report is erroneous as it does not summate the volume and value properly. For example, the volume associated with the main market includes the preference shares. However, those shares don’t form a part of the index and therefore should not be reported as such. Also, the market volume does not include Proven Investments shares even as it is reported on the daily report.

The information below is an extract of stock exchange report taken from Tuesday’s trading:

“Market volume amounted to 3,444,116 units valued at over $18,332,628. Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited 8.75% was the volume leader with 2,827,574 units (51.74%) followed by LIME with 1,850,500 units (33.86%) and Jamaica Broilers Ltd. with 435,184 units (7.96%).”

jse_logo150x150As reported, the volume of Cable & Wireless and JMMB preference shares adds to nearly 4.7 million shares yet the report says 3.4 million traded. What sort of nonsense is this? How can the stock exchange publish such erroneous information and no one does anything about it? In fact, there was trading in 6.27 million shares on Tuesday not 3.44 million.

Then there continues to be the matter of Cable & Wireless Jamaica that did not change its name, but changed its brand name to Lime. The Stock Exchange lists the ordinary shares as Lime and the preference shares as Cable & Wireless. However, there is no limited liability company with the name Lime, so why the JSE continues this practise is beyond good reasoning. Worse yet, is to have one listing as Lime and two as Cable & Wireless in the preference segment gives the wrong impression that these are two separate companies.

The JSE hardly made money in 2014, yet it pushed First Caribbean International Bank off the Exchange. This action happened shortly after the JSE went public at an elevated price, which would suggest that they would want to retain as much income as possible, but no, they delisted the bank, thus cutting its income and depriving some local investors the ready access to trade in those shares locally.

Another matter that the JSE needs to deal with is the 15 percent rule, which was instituted in the 1990s when it was thought that the rule would prevent wild swings in prices. The rule may be useful when prices are in triple digits, but when a stocks sells for less than $20, it makes little sense. Barbados has a similar rule, but they suspend trading in the stock for 15 minutes to allow information to go out to investors and then re-open trading. The rule that states that a stock cannot move by more than 15 percent in a day is far too restrictive and prevents liquidity in the stock until the price gets equilibrium. Jamaica must move to the more enlightened Barbados regulation in this regard.

Related posts | First Caribbean may be delisted | JSE IPO oversubscribed by 41%

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

JSE: Sharp jump in stocks rising will it last?

April 8, 2014 by

Tuesday, 8th April 2014 | In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 15 stocks rose and 6 declined as 28 securities traded resulting in 6,273,690 shares trading valued at only $18,352,886. Cable & Wireless with                  1,850,500 shares and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares with 2,827,574 units dominated the volume of stocks trading.

Main Market | Nine companies in the main market advanced and so did Proven US denominated ordinary shares and only 3 declined as the indices fell, with the JSE Market Index declining by 105.87 points to 76,289.54 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index falling by 118.34 points to close at 84,012.93.

Gains | Stocks recording gains at the end of trading are Cable & Wireless with 1,850,500 shares trading with a cent gain to close at 48 cents; Desnoes & Geddes closed at $5 as the price gained 55 cents with only 2,500 units changing hands; Gleaner 16,000 units to end at $1.20 for a 7 cents gain; Jamaica Broilers 435,184 shares to close 3 cents higher at $4.90; National Commercial Bank 45,340 shares in closing at $19.00 as the price put on $1; Pan Jamaican, a mere 158 units as the price ended a cent higher at $49.61; Proven Investments US dollar ordinary, 1,000 units at a new high of 18.5 US cents for a gain of  0.5 US cent; Sagicor Group 31,112 shares to close 10 cents up at $9.90; Sagicor Real Estate Fund 4,295 units as it closed up 5 cents at $6.75 and Scotia Group gained 30 cents to end at $21.50 as 52,480 shares changed hands.

JSEIndicesApr8Firm Trades | The stocks in the main market to close without a price change are Hardware & Lumber with 500 shares closing at $11.80; Jamaica Money Market Brokers that traded 1,000 units and closed at $ 7.20; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share with 2,827,574 units at $3.03; Jamaica Producers with only 200 units at $18.26; Mayberry Investments 10,720 shares at $1.85; 1,000 units Proven Investments 8% preference shares at $5.09 and Salada Foods with 10,000 shares at $8.

Declines | The stocks that declined at the end of trading are Carreras while losing 50 cents to end at $35.25 with 16,950 shares; Grace Kennedy with 4,500 shares as the price closed at $56.01 for a fall of 79 cents; Radio Jamaica had 4,500 units in closing at $1.28, down by 2 cents and Seprod with 150,000 shares to close at $11.05 after shedding $1.95.

Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 7.63 points to close at 751.68 with only 7 securities traded.

Gains | Caribbean Flavours traded just 2,221 units to close at $2.80, up 35 cents; Dolphin Cove traded only 804 shares to end at $8.11 for a 1 cent gain; Jamaican Teas 22,060 shares as it closed with 5 cents gain to $3.20; Lasco Distributors 108,959 units in closing at $1.50 for an increase of 10 cents and Lasco Manufacturing which ended trading with 75,000 shares as the price gained 5 cents to end at $1.30.

Firm Trades| There were no junior market stocks trading firm.

Declines | Caribbean Producers traded 312,000 units to close at $2.75, down 25 cents and Medical Disposables 287,133 units as the price faded by 10 cents to $2.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

Margaritaville IPO oversubscribed

April 1, 2014 by

Margaritaville (Turks) Initial Public Offer (IPO) closed on Friday, March 28 after just exceeding the amount offered for sale.

The IPO opened on Monday, March 3, 2014 with an offer of 21,156,555 shares, at US$0.10 per share. The offer closed with a total of 214 applications for 21,178,100 units and the total amount raised was US$2,117,810. The amount fell short of an approximate US3 million the company was hoping to get which would have meant the sale of additional existing shares.

Chorvelle Johnson, President & CEO of PROVEN Wealth, brokers for the issue, stated that “Margaritaville (Turks) Ltd will be the first major listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) this year and will also be the second United States Dollar listing following PROVEN Investments.” However, varies from what was stated in the prospectus that it would be listed on the Main Market of the JSE.

Margaritaville+cargoMargaritaville (Turks) is a part of the Margaritaville Caribbean Group of Companies and a wholly owned subsidiary of Margaritaville Caribbean prior to the Invitation. The Group operates the Margaritaville chain of restaurants in various Caribbean destinations, inclusive of the flagship restaurant launched on the “Hip Strip” in the centre of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

In 2006, the company began operations in Turks and Caicos at the Grand Turk Cruise Centre which is a minutes walk from the cruise ship pier. On the property, there is a mixture of thatched roof restaurants and a swim-up bar that serves Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville’s signature flavours of Margaritas. The Company’s food service operation is complemented by the sale of beverages inclusive of the Margaritaville USA’s proprietary beer, Landshark, and branded apparel, bar ware, and other items. The establishment is well supported and it is expected that the number of visitors will increase from 750,000 recorded for the calendar year 2013 to 1 million persons in calendar year 2014.

Margaritaville (Turks) Ltd is in the process of making an application to be listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

Related post | Margaritaville, down the road with risk

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

More insider sales than buys

March 27, 2014 by

Recently, there was low-volume insider selling of stocks of 3 companies with one buying, which does not suggest much about the companies’ fortunes changing significantly.

The largest is Jamaica Money Market Brokers. However, the company’s stock has been rising in Trinidad following a briefing by the company where the management told investors that they were bullish on JMMB’s future including news about acquiring a bank in the Dominican Republic.

JMMB advised that a related party sold 270,007 of its shares on March 25.

Blue Power Group advised that a senior manager sold 20,000 shares of the company on March 18.

Mayberry Investments advised that a director sold 13,650 of its shares during the period March 20 – 21.

The Gleaner Company advised that a Director purchased 30,000 of its shares on March 20.

Related posts | JMMB Insiders sell big | JMMB in expansion mode | NCB insider buys, JMMB sells

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

JSE: 13 up only 4 down

March 24, 2014 by

Monday, 24th March 2014 | In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock market, the prices of 13 stocks rose and 4 declined, which is exactly in line with the IC bid offer indicator from Friday. A total of 22 securities traded resulting in 3,296,305 shares trading valued at $96,939,740.

Main Market | The main market dominated trading with the vast amount of advancing stocks coming from this segment. The JSE Market Index climbed 269.80 points to close at 76,448.11 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite advanced by 301.55 points to 84,190.18.

Gains | Cable & Wireless with 653,000 shares as the price gained 6 cents to end at 44 cents; Caribbean Cement with 7,476 shares as the price inched up a cent to close at $4.16; Carreras 21,499 units closing 25 cents higher at $35.50;  Jamaica Broilers 50,000 shares to close at $5.10 and gained 10 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers ordinary 395,010 units to close at $7.50 for a 30 cents gain; Mayberry Investments 200 units at $2 for a 10 cents gain; Pan Jam Investment 719 shares to close 4 cents higher at $49.05; Sagicor Group with 192,847 shares to close at $9.99 as it gained 68 cents; Sagicor Investments 3,536 shares closing at $18.40, up $1.30; Scotia Group with 78,157 shares as it closed at $21.12 for a gain of 6 cents and Scotia Investments 3,443 units while closing at $25, up 92 cents.

JSEIndicesMar24Firm | There were only a few stocks in the main market to close without a price change with Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% reference shares trading 50,000 units and closed at $2; Proven Investments with 121,000 ordinary shares closing at 18 US cents; Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 10,150 units at $5.07 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund with 3,000 units at $6.50.

Declines | The two stocks declined in the main market with Grace Kennedy putting in a solid trading of 1,499,578 units accounting for $85.8 million as the price slipped by $1.12 to close at $58.78 and National Commercial Bank that saw just 10,711 units changing hands at $19 at the close for a 50 cents fall.

Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 0.45 points to close at 731.01 with only 5 stocks trading of which 2 advanced and 2 declined.

Jr Market Gains | The two stocks that traded higher are Consolidated Bakeries with 42,202 units to close at $1.20 for a 10 cents gain and Lasco Manufacturing with 104,238 units to close at $1.26 having gained 6 cents.

Jr Market Firm Trades| The sole trade in the junior market to hold firm is Lasco Distributors with 2,780 shares to end at $1.41.

Jr Market Declines| Blue Power traded 17,894 units to close down 4 cents at $9.01 and Caribbean Producers that closed with 28,865 units at $2.71 with a 29 cents fall.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 8 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers lower.

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

JMMB in expansion mode

March 24, 2014 by

Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) has advised through its Trinidadian subsidiary, JMMB Investments (Trinidad and Tobago), that it received the approval of regulators for the acquisition of AIC Securities, a securities dealer and stockbroker headquartered in Trinidad. JMMB will now move to complete the transaction, which upon successful completion, will see it acquiring 100% of AIC Securities, a member of the AIC Financial Group Limited.

The Report out of Trinidad indicates that JMMB Group’s CEO Keith Duncan at an investors briefing “articulated that the Group continues to position itself as an integrated financial services provider with its regional expansion marked by the impending opening of JMMB Investments TT, its ownership of IBL Bank, alongside a pending bank acquisition in the Dominican Republic and the improved performance of the JMMB Merchant Bank in Jamaica.”

aic_Securitieslogo_JMMBIt should be noted that Michael Lee-Chin is the Chairman of AIC Financial Group Limited. In 2012, NCB Capital Markets  had previously acquired AIC Finance, a merchant bank that operates in Trinidad.

AIC Securities offers portfolio management, investment advisory, and stock brokerage services, and is a member of the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange.

JMMB is an IC Insider Buy Rated Stock.

Related posts | Buy Rated: Ja Teas & JMMB big gains | JMMB Q2 profits jumps 56% | JMMB grows assets $125B to $200B

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: , ,

JMMB Insiders sell big

March 24, 2014 by

Jamaica Money Market Brokers profits for the year to December 2013 was up 46 percent from ongoing operations putting earnings per share at $1.32 for the nine months period to December, which suggest that the stock is highly undervalued and should be very attractive with a PE of 4 times the 2013/14 earnings.

But some insiders can’t wait for the payoff down the road as the company advised that five related parties sold a total of 9,663,800 JMMB shares during the period March 17 – 18, 2014.

However, this is not the only sale of large amounts in recent times as a connected party sold 1,500,000 of the shares on March 4, 2014. A Director sold a relatively small amount of 31,146 JMMB shares on March 11, 2014 but there was a big sell out of 19,464,448 shares on February 17, 2014.

JMMB is an IC Insider Buy Rated Stock.

Related posts | JMMB in expansion mode| Buy Rated: Ja Teas & JMMB big gains | NCB insider buys, JMMB sells

Filed Under: Breaking News Tagged With: , ,