Disclosure of relevant information by listed companies provides information for proper investment decision making and reduces concerns and mistrust if all materially important information is disclosed, thus improving investor confidence in those companies.
In order to deliver pertinent information to investors, management including directors of listed companies will have to go beyond providing the minimum information stipulated by law or accounting regulations.
Against that background, it is instructive to examine MPC Caribbean Energy a company with its shares listed on the Jamaica and Trinidad stock exchanges. In looking at this company and its extremely poor reporting it is worth noting that the state-owned Development Bank of Jamaica invested US$1 million in the company’s shares. It has become the norm that companies that hold subsidiaries must consolidate the financial results of the subsidies with that of the parent company so that investors can get a full picture of the financial performance and standing of the group as a whole.
The company has been an excellent example of how not to communicate with investors as they destroy credibility with investors. That is pitiful when it is considered that it has a need to go back to the market for fresh capital to continue expansion.
The company made two public share offers to raise funds from the public with both coming up short of the target, due to poor communication and the management’s lack of understanding investors and how to communicate with them effectively.
MPC recently reported comprehensive income of US$1.14 million for the year to December 2021, flowing from the net change in unrealized gain on investment amounting to $1.136 million less expenses of US$205 million. Both the auditors and directors failed to inform investors as to the true nature of the gain. At the end of the year, the above mentioned gains, pushed shareholders’ equity to US$20.8 million with total funds invested at US$30.9 million.
The auditors’ report states, “as required by IFRS 10.31, the Company has reflected the 85.69 percent ownership in MPC CCEF at fair value through profit or loss.”
Of course, the above method of providing financial Statements to investors is clearly not acceptable for a publicly listed company as investors are not getting a clear picture of what is happening within the group. The question that arises is whether the fair value gain is equal to normal profit from operations or not? Investors should not have to guess about this. This is important due to the most important method that investors use to value companies.
In addition, shareholders should know what is the income, expenses and profit that are generated by the group and what the full financial status is. The current approach does not disclose this information which is critical, but awfully sad. There is no other company on the JSE that reports in the above manner.
Shareholders deserve better from MPC
The structure between the listed company and its subsidiary is confusing with each having similar names making it much more difficult to understand which one does what. The company’s management is German, which adds uncertainty to it. The directors by and large are not well known and the manner of communicating with the public makes it abundantly clear that they are not in sync with investors.
Another issue that exists with the company, is that directors tend to use industry jargon in their commentary. The December report starts with – “In the fourth quarter of the year, the commercial and technical performance of the underlying assets of the Company’s investment in the Investment Company were within the expected range. Necessary technical measures were carried out, thereby, stabilizing the production of the underlying assets. ”That is great but they go on to spoil it by talking about OpEx value in the next paragraph. What is OpEx value? They know but few others do.
The bright spot is to be found in the Outlook released at the time of the interim report. “After implementing all the technical measures to resolve limitations that took place in the course of 2021, we are looking forward to 2022. In addition to the expected performance improvement of the underlying assets, the Investment Company expects to further diversify its portfolio with the operational asset Monte Plata Phase 1 Solar Park (33.4 MWp) in the Dominican Republic. The expansion of the Monte Plate Asset with Phase 2 (40.5 MWp) is progressing well and financial closing with the senior lenders FMO and DEG is expected to take place in Q2 2022. The completion of the acquisition remains subject to CNE approval, which is expected to be obtained in the course of Q1 2022. The start of operations of the expanded solar park with a total capacity of 74 MWp is targeted for Q2 2023. The PPA was signed on 15th October 2021 for a period of 15 years starting from the Commercial Operation Date. It will become the largest asset in the portfolio expanding the geographic footprint to a total of four countries incl. Jamaica, Costa Rica, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.”
Here again, investors are left in the dark as none except the directors have any indication as to what is to be expected. Investors cannot be asked to invest in companies with such poor reporting. The Jamaica Stock Exchange owe the investing public to bring this terrible reporting and lack of information on the finances of the group to an end. The least that can be done is for investors to be presented with the audited accounts of the subsidiary along with those of the listed company for the annual as well as quarterly, that way the full picture will be disclosed.
“This huge uplift in profitability for the three months is a result of several factors including the hugely successful re-introduction of the popular Instants “Scratchaz” game and our successful implementation of significant cost-savings initiatives,” Gary Peart, Executive Chairman, stated in his report accompanying the results.
The All Jamaican Composite Index jumped 6,436.56 points to 457,454.74, the JSE Main Index surged 5,124.13 points to 401,741.38 and the JSE Financial Index rose 0.47 points to settle at 94.42.
Transjamaican Highway, 2.52 million units for 16.6 percent market share and Wigton Windfarm that ended with 2.33 million units changing hands for 15.4 percent market share.
Sagicor Group fell $1.35 in closing at $56 after exchanging 979 stock units, Salada Foods lost 32 cents to end at $6.08 while exchanging 2,147 shares, Scotia Group rose 20 cents to $35.20 with an exchange of 45,747 units. Supreme Ventures rallied $4.50 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $32, with 341,205 stocks crossing the exchange after the price hit an intraday high of $33.41. Sygnus Credit Investments declined 20 cents in ending at $15.20 after an exchange of 178,651 stocks, Sygnus Real Estate Finance climbed 40 cents to $16 while trading 2,917 shares and Wisynco Group popped 53 cents in closing at $23.98 in trading 230,185 stock units.
At the close, First Rock Capital USD share ended at 7.95 US cents after exchanging 136 shares, 
As was the case on Thursday, 44 securities traded on Friday and ended with 22 rising, eight declining and 14 unchanged.
At the close, Access Financial rose $1 to $21, after 19,254 shares crossed the market, Blue Power popped 20 cents to close at $4, with 29,889 stock units clearing the market, Cargo Handlers climbed 80 cents in closing at $10.95 after exchanging 500 stocks. Caribbean Assurance Brokers increased 35 cents ending at $2.85 with the swapping of 135,650 units, Dolphin Cove gained 40 cents to end at $22, with 65,079 stock units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic rallied 19 cents to $3.79 in an exchange of 209,048 shares. Fontana advanced 11 cents in closing at $11 after trading 134,843 units, Fosrich dropped $1.07 after ending at $28.13 in switching ownership of 105,699 stocks, iCreate rallied 59 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.10 after exchanging 1,789,801 stock units. Indies Pharma gained 15 cents to close at $3.25 while trading 2,391,948 shares, Iron Rock Insurance lost 25 cents in closing at $3.50, with 3,587 units crossing the exchange, Jetcon Corporation increased 11 cents to end at $1.40, with 515,419 stocks crossing the market.
KLE Group rose 31 cents to $2.67 in exchanging 305 stocks, Lasco Manufacturing climbed 33 cents to close at $5.33 with 42,274 stock units changing hands, Mailpac Group rose 14 cents to $3.27 with an exchange of 180,175 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies popped 31 cents in ending at $9.11 after trading 40,070 units.
The JSE Combined Index that jumped 6,472.00 points on Thursday climbed 5,194.97 points on Friday to end at 414,921.64. The All Jamaican Composite Index added 6,426.56 points to 7,875.41 points gained on Thursday to close at 457,454.74, the highest close since early September last year. The JSE Main Index added 5,124.13 points on Friday to end at 401,741.38 and the JSE USD market index rose 2.49 points to end at 223.49. The Junior Market gained 44.79 points to finish at a record closing high of 4,369.94, to be up 27.5 percent year to date.
The ICInsider.com PE Ratio chart covers all ordinary shares listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. It shows companies grouped on an industry basis, allowing easy comparisons between the same sector companies and the overall market.
All Jamaican Composite Index rallied 7,875.42 points to 451,018.18, the JSE Main Index added 6,575.09 points to end at 396,617.25 and the JSE Financial Index increased 1.50 points to 93.95.
Barita Investments
Sagicor Group rallied $2.35 to end at $57.35 with 19,646 stock units crossing the exchange, Seprod rose $2.48 in closing at $61.98 with 7,955 shares clearing the market, Supreme Ventures advanced $2.50 to $27.50 187,127 stocks crossing the market and Wisynco Group gained 45 cents to close at $23.45 trading 132,559 stock units.
A total of 10 securities were traded, compared to seven on Wednesday, with two rising, three fell and five ended unchanged.
Productive Business Solutions finished at US$1.19 trading one unit, Proven Investments gained 0.99 of a cent in closing at 24.99 US cents after finishing trading of 30,121 stock units, Sterling Investments declined 0.01 of a cent in ending at 2.23 US cents after exchanging 3,068 units. Sygnus Credit Investments USD share popped 0.01 of a cent in closing at 12.9 US cents after 4,109 stocks changed hands and Transjamaican Highway lost 0.1 of a cent to end at 1.01 US cents, with 581,490 shares crossing the exchange.
Market activity led to 44 securities trading compared to 42 on Wednesday and ending with 17 rising, 17 declining and 10 closing unchanged.
At the close, Access Financial shed $1 to end at $20, with 35,750 shares clearing the market, AMG Packaging dropped 45 cents in closing at $3.50 with the swapping of 149,520 stock units, CAC 2000 fell 10 cents to close at $7.40 with an exchange of 1,055 stocks. Dolphin Cove climbed 10 cents to $21.60, with 896 units changing hands, EduFocal declined 19 cents in ending at $3.48 while exchanging 546,443 stock units, Elite Diagnostic lost 57 cents in closing at $3.60 after trading 773,735 units. Fontana advanced 44 cents to close at $10.89, with 100,573 stocks crossing the market, Fosrich rose $2.30 to a record $29.20 after exchanging 198,511 shares, Honey Bun gained 30 cents after ending at $9.90, with 32,555 units crossing the market. iCreate rallied 57 cents to end at record $2.51 trading 1,676,041 stock units, Lasco Financial fell 12 cents to $3.28 after trading 735,706 stocks, Lasco Manufacturing dropped 19 cents to $5 in an exchange of 138,845 shares. Mailpac Group declined 15 cents to close at $3.13 units 385,703 crossing the exchange, 
Main Event popped 20 cents to $8.10 in exchanging 113,177 shares, Paramount Trading shed 23 cents in closing at $1.91 in switching ownership of 54,862 stocks. SSL Venture increased 35 cents to end at $1.75 trading 570 stock units, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 30 cents to close at $8.80 after exchanging 937,462 shares and tTech rallied 30 cents to $4.05 in switching ownership of 3,800 stocks.
The JSE Combined Index that dropped 4,909.77 points on Wednesday spurted 6,472.00 points to end at 409,726.67. The All Jamaican Composite Index recovered all of the 7,446.51 points drop on Wednesday by adding 7,875.41 points to 451,018.18, the JSE Main Index bettered the 5,441.59 points drop by adding 6,575.09 points and ended at 396,617.25 and the JSE USD market index slipped 3.97 points to end at 221.00.
The ICInsider.com PE Ratio chart covers all ordinary shares listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. It shows companies grouped on an industry basis, allowing easy comparisons between the same sector companies and the overall market.
