Jamaica Stock Exchange

More fall for Junior Market on Wednesday

July 21, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Trading closed on Wednesday with the Junior Market index falling as the volume of stocks traded decreased by 16 percent and the value falling 26 percent from Tuesday levels as declining stocks clobbered those rising.
Market activity led to 34 securities trading compared to 37 on Tuesday and ended, with nine stocks rising, 23 declining and two closing unchanged. At the close, the Junior Market Index fell 22.01 points to settle at 3,347.07.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute an appropriate stock value, averages 13.2 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
A total of 3,516,276 shares changed hands for $8,817,575 down from 4,167,111 units at $11,943,035 on Tuesday.
Future Energy Source led trading with 62 percent of total volume after exchanging 2.18 million shares, followed by Lumber Depot 14.8 percent, with 520,691 units and Tropical Battery 4.2 percent, with a transfer of 146,716 units.
Trading averaged 103,420 units at $259,340 in contrast to 112,625 shares at $322,785 on Tuesday. Month to date averages 158,552 units at $454,006, compared to 162,286 units at $467,191 on Tuesday. June closed with an average of 225,705 units at $644,459.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Blue Power dropped 20 cents to $3.40 with an exchange of 2,498 shares, Caribbean Assurance Brokers fell 19 cents to $1.86 with 3,467 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream lost 9 cents to finish at $6.39, with 10,003 stocks traded. Caribbean Flavours rose 5 cents to $2.11, with a transfer of 22,965 shares, Consolidated Bakeries rallied 29 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $1.99, with investors switching ownership of 3,500 units, Elite Diagnostic shed 29 cents to $3.20 with an exchange of 24,034 stocks. Express Catering declined 11 cents to $5.50, with 13,000 shares changing hands, Fosrich fell 12 cents to $8 with 40,000 units traded, General Accident advanced 34 cents to $5.60 with a transfer of 41,099 stocks. GWest Corporation slipped 5 cents to $1.01, with 1,234 shares passing through the market, Indies Pharma rallied 13 cents to $3.79 with an exchange of 16,895 units, KLE Group dropped 24 cents to $1.05 with 100 stocks changing hands. Knutsford Express spiked $1.20 to $8.40, with 1,572 shares traded, Lasco Distributors lost 9 cents to close at $3.90 with a transfer of 6,791 units, Lasco Financial slipped 5 cents to $3.15 with 3,669 stocks passing through the market. Lasco Manufacturing shed 25 cents to $5 with an exchange of 37,462 shares, Limners and Bards fell 15 cents to $3.15, with 37,367 units changing hands, Lumber Depot lost 5 cents to settle at $3.40 with 520,691 stocks traded. Main Event dropped 20 cents to $5.20 with a transfer of 1,500 shares, Medical Disposables climbed 23 cents to $4.99 with investors switching ownership of 8,653 stocks, SSL Venture declined by 22 cents to 73 cents with 11,397 units changing hands and Stationery and Office Supplies fell 10 cents to $7.40 with 19,493 shares crossing the exchange.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Access Financial, AMG Packaging, Best performing stock market, Blue Power, Cargo Handlers, Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Caribbean Cream, Caribbean Flavours, Consolidated Bakeries, Daily Trading, Derrimon Trading, Elite Diagnostic, Emerging markets, Everything Fresh, Express Catering, Fontana, FosRich, General Accident, GWest, Honey Bun, iCreate, Indies Pharma, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, Jamaican Teas, KLE Group, Knutsford Express, Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial, Lasco Manufacturing, Limners and Bards, Main Event, Medical Disposables, SSL Venture Capital, Stationery and Office, Trading Activity

Stocks push lower in Junior Market

July 20, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Trading closed on Tuesday ended with a sizable fall in the Junior Market Index of 37.32 points to 3,369.08, with the volume of stocks traded rising 43 percent and the value traded rising by 34 percent over Monday trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
A total of 37 securities traded, up from 33 on Monday and ending with 12 rising, 13 declining and 12 closing unchanged, while Paramount Trading closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.14.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute an appropriate stock value, averages 13 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
Overall, a total of 4,167,111 shares traded for $11,943,035, up from 2,922,552 units at $8,935,750 on Monday.
Jamaican Teas led trading with 33.2 percent of total volume after an exchange of 1.38 million shares, followed by Future Energy Source 29.1 percent, with 1.21 million units and Lumber Depot 10.3 percent with an exchange of 428,347 units.
Trading averaged 112,625 units at $322,785 in contrast to 88,562 at $270,780 on Monday.
Trading month to date, averages 162,286 units at $467,191, versus 166,238 units at $478,681 on Monday. June closed with an average of 225,705 units at $644,459.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ending with the bid higher than its last selling price and four with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial climbed 67 cents to $21.50 with an exchange of 2,325 shares, AMG Packaging advanced 11 cents to $1.64 with a transfer of 10,101 units, Blue Power dropped 11 cents to $3.60 with 5,000 stocks traded. Cargo Handlers surged 88 cents to $8.49 with 249 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Assurance Brokers popped 14 cents to $2.05 with 3,947 shares passing through the market, Caribbean Cream shed 27 cents to $6.48 with an exchange of 15,063 units. Consolidated Bakeries rose 5 cents to $1.70 with a transfer of 26,147 stocks, Express Catering fell 43 cents to $5.61 with 9,500 stock units traded, Fosrich rallied 7 cents to $8.12 with 2,863 shares traded. Future Energy Source rose 5 cents to $1.69 with 1,211,153 units traded, Honey Bun dropped 24 cents to $6.53 with 10,000 stocks changing hands, iCreate popped 8 cents to 86 cents with investors switching ownership of 240,000 stock units. Knutsford Express dropped $1.20 to $7.20 in an exchange of 789 shares, Lasco Financial lost 10 cents to settle at $3.20 with a transfer of 3,331 units. Lasco Manufacturing fell 12 cents to $5.25 with 35,979 stocks traded, Limners and Bards spiked 18 cents to $3.30 with a transfer of 118,679 stock units and Medical Disposables shed 43 cents to $4.76 with 35,421 shares crossing the exchange.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Access Financial, AMG Packaging, Best performing stock market, Blue Power, CAC2000, Cargo Handlers, Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Caribbean Cream, Caribbean Flavours, Consolidated Bakeries, Daily Trading, Derrimon Trading, Dolphin Cove, Elite Diagnostic, Emerging markets, Everything Fresh, Express Catering, Fontana, FosRich, GWest, Honey Bun, iCreate, Indies Pharma, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, Jamaican Teas, Jetcon Corporation, Knutsford Express, Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial, Lasco Manufacturing, Limners and Bards, Medical Disposables, Paramount Trading, SSL Venture Capital, Stationery and Office, Trading Activity, tTech

Profit up at AMG

July 20, 2021 by IC Insider.com

AMG Packaging posted nine months results recently, with flat revenues for the May quarter after recording lower income for the nine months in 2021 versus last year. Still, the company reported a strong 26 percent increase in profit to $21 million for the May quarter, pushing the year to date results to $42 million ahead of $38 million in 2020.
The improved results for the latest quarter came about with a big fall in inventory input that fell 11 percent from $94.6 million to $84 million, while cost for the nine months declined 9 percent from $295 million to $268 million. Other direct manufacturing costs fell in the May quarter from $30 million to $29 million and for the nine months from $104.4 million to $91 million.
Resulting from the fall in direct manufacturing costs, gross profit rose from $46 million in the quarter to $57.4 and for the nine months $150 million from $134.4 million.
Administrative and other expenses rose four percent, from $30.7 million in the 2020 quarter to $32 million and for the nine months, from $98 million to $102 million excluding gains or losses from foreign exchange movement. Foreign exchange movement contributed a loss of $2.3 million in the May quarter, down from a gain of $2.3 million in 2020 and a loss of $4.6 million for the nine months to May this year versus a gain of $4.5 million in 2020. Other income brought in $1.2 million in the May quarter versus $1.4 million in 2020 and for the nine months, $4.4 million compared to $2.2 million in 2020. Loss on disposal of fixed assets contributed a negative input of $4 million in the nine months period last year while taxation cost $3 million in the 2021 quarter and $2.4 million last year and $6 million for the year to date versus $5.4 million in 2020.

AMG Packaging pfoit rise

Cash inflow generated in the period to May amounts to $71 million versus $60 million in 2020. After working capital changes, inflows rose to $117 million. A sum of $62 million was expended on the acquisition of fixed assets resulted in a net outflow of $116 million, leaving cash on hand of $143 million, down from $233 at the end of May 2020.
Current assets stood at $394 million and current liabilities $87 million, resulting in net current assets of $306 million. Shareholders’ equity grew to $591 million from $530 million as of May 2020 and loans amounted to $122 million, of which $19 million is due to be repaid in the next twelve months.
IC Insider.com projects a profit of $66 million or 13 cents per share for the 2022 fiscal year. The stock last traded at $1.64 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at a PE ratio of 12.6, just below the Junior Market average of 13. Still, with more of the local economy opening up, the results for 2022 could prove to be better than the current year. Investors have to watch supply chain issues such as increased cost and dislocation of sourcing raw materials.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: AMG Packaging, Derrimon Trading, Emerging markets, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican Stock, Jamaican stocks, junior market

Main Market pull back

July 20, 2021 by IC Insider.com

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Rising stocks just edged out those declining on Tuesday, with the market indices declining for a second consecutive day, with the volume and value of shares traded climbed 219 percent and 273 percent, respectively compared to Monday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index fell 587.12 points to 453,898.22, the JSE Main Index shed 595.66 points to end at 416,337.09 and the JSE Financial Index slipped 0.30 points to 102.36.
Trading ended with 49 securities similar to Monday, with 20 stocks rising, 19 declining and 10 remaining unchanged, as Radio Jamaica closed trading at a 52 weeks’ high of $2 after hitting an intraday high of $2.10. The PE Ratio, a measure that determines an appropriate relative value of each stock, averages 16.2 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 45,475,975 shares trading for $256,468,028, up from 14,266,703 units at $68,667,411 on Monday. Stanley Motta dominated trading with 76.3 percent of total volume after an exchange of 34.70 million shares followed by Transjamaican Highway 7.4 percent with 3.35 million units, Wigton Windfarm 2.9 percent, with 1.34 million units, Radio Jamaica accounted for 2.7 percent, with 1.23 million units and Sagicor Select Financial Fund ended, with 2.4 percent after exchanging 1.09 million units.
Trading averaged 928,081 units at $5,234,041, compared to 291,157 shares at $1,401,376 on Monday. Trading month to date averages 365,726 units at $22,554,751, in contrast to 322,738 units at $23,878,799 on Monday. June ended with an average of 249,610 units at $3,877,606.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has thirteen stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments spiked $1.90 to $84 with 6,516 shares crossing the market, Berger Paints shed 85 cents to $13 with an exchange of 4,205 stocks, Caribbean Cement rallied 50 cents to $91.50 in trading 1,980 shares, First Rock Capital dipped 28 cents to $13.72 after transferring 46,395 units, GraceKennedy picked up 29 cents in ending at $99.99 with 35,976 units crossing the exchange, Guardian Holdings declined $10 to $646 in an exchange of 1,552 shares. Jamaica Broilers shed 83 cents to $36.03 with the swapping of 13,891 units, Jamaica Producers fell $1.50 to $21 in switching ownership of 705,137 stock units, JMMB Group gained 35 cents to finish at $38.50 in an exchange of 129,470 stocks, Mayberry Investments rose 61 cents to $6.15, with 2,503 units crossing the market, Palace Amusement declined $40 to $1,060 in transferring 87 shares. PanJam Investment popped $3.99 to $65 after exchanging 1,110 stock units, Sagicor Group slipped $3 to $52 with the swapping of 110,420 stocks, Sagicor Select Manufacturing & Distribution Fund popped 5 cents to 90 cents, with 440,711 stock units crossing the market. Scotia Group dipped 25 cents to $38.75, with 12,993 units crossing the exchange and Victoria Mutual Investments lost 49 cents after ending at $6 with 107,913 shares changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.75% preference share lost 29 cents in closing at $7.20 after exchanging 4,083 stocks.
In the corporate bond market, Guardian Holdings 2027 7% traded 4.99 million units at $110 after falling 28 cents.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: 138 Student Living, Barita Investments, Berger Paints, Caribbean Cement, Carreras, Community & Workers Credit Union, Daily Trading, Emerging markets, Eppley, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund, First Rock Capital, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Broilers, Jamaica Producers, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, JMMB Group, Key Insurance, Kingston Properties, Mayberry Investments, Mayberry Jamaica Equities, NCB Financial, PANJAM Investment, Portland JSX, Proven Investments, QWI Investments, Radio Jamaica, Sagicor Group, Sagicor Select Fund, Salada Foods, Scotia Group, Seprod, Stanley Motta, Sterling Investments, Supreme Ventures, Sygnus Credit, Trading Activity, Transjamaican Highway, Victoria Mutual Investments, Wigton Windfarm, Wisynco Group

JSE USD market falls

July 20, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Trading on Tuesday ended with the market declining after the volume of shares traded plunged 99 percent bellows Monday levels as the value nosedived by a similar percentage at the close of the US dollar market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Similar to trading on Monday, five securities traded, with one rising, three declining and one remaining unchanged. The JSE USD Equity Index slipped 0.61 points to end at 184.41.
The PE Ratio, a measure that computes an appropriate stock value, averages 11.9 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
Just 14,874 shares traded for US$1,480, plunging from 2,078,672 units at US$107,586 on Monday.
Trading averaged 2,975 units at US$296, compared to 415,734 shares at US$21,517 on Monday. For the month to date, trading averages 126,980 units at US$9,807 in contrast to 136,375 units at US$10,528 on Monday. June ended with an average of 87,444 units for US$6,162.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ending, with the bid higher than the last selling price and three with lower offers.
At the close, First Rock Capital investors traded 3,899 shares at 8 US cents, Margaritaville popped 0.97 o a cent in closing at 9.99 US cents, with 1,000 stock units changing hands, Proven Investments declined 0.65 of a cent to 24.05 US cents in switching ownership of 2,902 units. Sterling Investments fell 0.15 of a cent and ended at 2.15 US cents with the swapping of 5,000 stock units and Sygnus Credit Investments lost 1.79 US cents to end at 12.2 US cents trading 2,073 shares.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Global Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Emerging markets, First Rock Capital, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, JSE US dollar market, Margaritaville, Proven Investments, Sterling Investments, Sygnus Credit Investments, Trading Activity

Gains & losses shared for JSE Main Market

July 19, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Market activity ended on Monday with the main indices losing significant ground after an equal number of stocks advanced and declined after trading ended with an exchange of 10 percent fewer shares valued 24 percent higher than on Friday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
The All Jamaican Composite Index tumbled 3,626.92 points to 454,485.34, the JSE Main Index plunged 3,138.91 points to 416,932.75 and the JSE Financial Index fell 0.63 points to 102.66.
Trading ended with 49 securities compared to 48 on Friday, with 20 stocks rising, 20 declining and nine remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio, a measure that determines an appropriate relative value of each stock, averages 16.2 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
The market closed with 14,266,703 shares trading for $68,667,411 versus 15,819,699 units at $55,510,412 on Friday. Radio Jamaica led trading with 57.9 percent of total volume for an exchange of 8.25 million shares followed by Sagicor Select Financial Fund 15.8 percent with 2.25 million and Mayberry Jamaican Equities with 4.9 percent for 705,539 units changing hands.
Trading averaged 291,157 units at $1,401,376, compared to 329,577 shares at $1,156,467 on Friday. Trading month to date averages 322,738 units at $23,878,799, versus 325,352 units at $25,739,261 on Friday. June ended with an average of 249,610 units at $3,877,606.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 15 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments fell $1.90 to $82.10, with 29,322 shares trading, Caribbean Cement shed $1 to $91 in an exchange of 56,037 shares, GraceKennedy slipped 30 cents to $99.70 in trading 27,020 stock units, Jamaica Producers fell $1.70 to $22.50 in switching ownership of 249,763 shares, JMMB Group skidded 85 cents to $38.15 with a transfer of 81,182 stock units. Kingston Properties spiked $1.05 to $9.05 with the swapping of 1,495 shares. Margaritaville picked up 25 cents to end at $14.75, with 1,600 units crossing the exchange, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy rallied $2.29 to $119.49 in trading 700 stocks. Palace Amusement advanced $5 to $1,100 in an exchange of 99 stock units, PanJam Investment declined $2.99 to close at $61.01 in switching ownership of 41,437 shares, Radio Jamaica spiked 32 cents to finish at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.99 with 8,253,929 shares changing hands, following the release of full year’s results, showing profits jumping from $38 million to $171 million and Seprod lost 55 cents after ending at $70 in transferring 11,666 stocks.
In the preference segment, Eppley 8.75% preference share rose 98 cents to $7.49 in switching ownership of 5,985 units and JMMB Group 7.35% – 2028 lost 30 cents to $3.20 with 290,403 shares crossing the market.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: 138 Student Living, Barita Investments, Berger Paints, Caribbean Cement, Carreras, Community & Workers Credit Union, Daily Trading, Emerging markets, Eppley, First Rock Capital, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Broilers, Jamaica Producers, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, JMMB Group, Key Insurance, Kingston Properties, Kingston Wharves, Mayberry Jamaica Equities, NCB Financial, PANJAM Investment, Proven Investments, QWI Investments, Radio Jamaica, Sagicor Group, Sagicor Real Estate Fund, Sagicor Select Fund, Salada Foods, Scotia Group, Seprod, Stanley Motta, Sterling Investments, Supreme Ventures, Sygnus Credit, Trading Activity, Transjamaican Highway, Victoria Mutual Investments, Wigton Windfarm, Wisynco Group

Junior Market trading drops on Monday

July 19, 2021 by IC Insider.com

The volume of stocks traded on Monday dropped 62 percent and valued 72 percent less than on Friday but closed, with declining stocks overwhelming those advancing more than two to one at the end of activity on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
At the close, 33 securities traded, down from 37 on Friday and ended with prices of eight rising, 19 declining and six closing firm.
At the close, the Junior Market Index rallied 5.67 points to 3,406.40. The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute an appropriate value of a stock, averaged 13 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
Trading resulted in a total of 2,922,552 shares changing hands for $8,935,750 compared to 7,615,922 units at $31,395,162 on Friday.
Future Energy Source led trading with 27 percent of total volume, after an exchange of 788,482 shares, followed by Lumber Depot 15 percent with 437,520 units and Jamaican Teas with 14.7 percent after trading 429,310 units.
Trading for Monday averages 88,562 units at $270,780, down sharply from 205,836 at $848,518 on Friday. Trading month to date averages 166,238 units at $478,681, compared to 172,172 units at $494,563 on Friday. June closed with an average of 225,705 units at $644,459.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial fell $2.04 to $20.83, with an exchange of 1,881 shares, AMG Packaging dipped 13 cents to $1.53, with 48,764 units changing hands, Blue Power advanced 18 cents to $3.71 with 19,679 stock units traded. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 14 cents to end at $1.91 with a transfer of 34,033 shares, Caribbean Cream declined by 10 cents to close at $6.75 with 2,981 units passing through the market, Derrimon Trading slipped 5 cents to $2.45, with an exchange of 52,823 stock units. Elite Diagnostic fell 10 cents to $3.50 with 558 stocks changing hands, Everything Fresh rose 5 cents to $1.05 with 39,129 shares traded, Fosrich slipped 7 cents to $8.05 with a transfer of 11,020 units. Future Energy Source lost 6 cents to finish at $1.64 with investors switching ownership of 788,482 stocks, iCreate declined 8 cents to 78 cents, with an exchange of 31,416 stock units, Knutsford Express jumped $1.25 to $8.40 with 25 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing rallied 12 cents to $5.37 with 28,436 units traded, Lumber Depot slipped 6 cents to $3.44 with a transfer of 437,520 stock units, Mailpac Group rose 8 cents to $3.88 with 377,504 shares crossing the market. Medical Disposables lost 9 cents to close at $5.19, with 1,090 stocks changing hands, SSL Venture advanced 18 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of 98 cents with 18 units traded, Stationery and Office Supplies dipped 10 cents to $7.50 with a transfer of 6,688 stock units and tTech shed 33 cents to close at $4.42, with 563 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Access Financial, AMG Packaging, Best performing stock market, Blue Power, Cargo Handlers, Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Caribbean Cream, Caribbean Flavours, Consolidated Bakeries, Daily Trading, Derrimon Trading, Elite Diagnostic, Emerging markets, Everything Fresh, Fontana, FosRich, General Accident, GWest, Honey Bun, iCreate, Indies Pharma, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, Jamaican Teas, Knutsford Express, Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial, Lasco Manufacturing, Limners and Bards, Main Event, Medical Disposables, SSL Venture Capital, Stationery and Office, Trading Activity, tTech

Volume popped for JSE USD Market on Monday

July 19, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Trading on Monday ended with the USD market declining moderately, after an exchange of 677 percent more shares than for Friday, as the value of stocks traded surged 1,033 percent and ending, with more stocks rising than falling.
Overall, 2,078,672 shares traded, for US$107,586 compared to 267,463 units at US$9,495 on Friday.
Trading averaged 415,734 units at US$21,517, compared to 53,493 shares at US$1,899 on Friday. Trading month to date averages 136,375 units at US$10,528 in contrast to 113,476 units at US$9,627 on Friday. June ended with an average of 87,444 units for US$6,162.
Trading ended with five securities changing hands, the same number as on Friday, with prices of two stocks rising, none declining and three remaining unchanged.
The JSE USD Equity Index lost 0.93 points to end at 185.02. The PE Ratio, a measure that computes an appropriate value of a stock, averaged 12.1 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with the bid higher than the last selling price and three with lower offers.
At the close, First Rock Capital traded 6,577 shares at 8 US cents, Proven Investments rose 0.7 of a cent to 24.7 US cents with investors switching ownership of 394,370 units, Sygnus Credit Investments settled at 13.99 US cents with the transfer of 2,021 stocks and Transjamaican Highway rose 0.05 of a cent to 0.80 US cents, with 1,675,649 shares crossing the exchange.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 6% remained at US$1.10 with 55 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Filed Under: Global Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Emerging markets, Equityline Mortgage Investments, First Rock Capital, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, JMMB Group, JSE US dollar market, Margaritaville, Mkt Daily Trading, Productive Business Solutions, Proven Investments, Sterling Investments, Sygnus Credit Investments, Trading Activity, Transjamaican Highway

RJR profit explodes

July 19, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Revenues at Radio Jamaica fell for the year to March 2021, by 7 percent to $5.2 billion, from $5.6 billion, but there ends the bad news for the group that comprises television, radio and newsprint as their main products. On the revenue front, the good news starts emerging with the final quarter climbing 11.6 percent to $1.4 billion from $1.25 billion in 2020.

Media house, RJR traded most shares on friday

Full year profit surged 351 percent over 2020 to hit $171 million and just 7 cents per share, from $38 million in 2020. The March quarter, which is usually one of the worse for the group, with mostly ends losses, generated $44 million profit after tax.
The profit for the fourth quarter in 2021 compares exceptionally well with a loss of $156 million in the final quarter of 2019 and a loss of $96 million in 2020, March quarter. The sharp turnaround is directly attributed to the cost surgery the group underwent last year.
The year’s performance comes against the backdrop of $366 million in what can be considered one off costs in a year when revenues fell 7 percent, redundancy payment amounting to $183 million and provisions for bad debt $158 million. In addition, included in operating cost is $164 million for web development, an item that appears to be more of a capital nature than an expense, but it has been reported as an expense for some years. Importantly, redundancy costs will not repeat, at least for the same workers but critically, it will result in an annual staff cost savings of a similar amount in the future. For the past year, those workers who were made redundant would have been employed for approximately half the year, so the reduction in wages in 2021 onwards would be around $90 million. In line with the above, salaries and wages fell $365 million to $1.5 billion for the 2021 fiscal year. Some of the reductions relate to a period when staff members were on reduced pay. Inventories expensed to direct production expenses during the year amounted to $213 million, well down on the $393 million for the Group in 2020.
Segment results show television revenues growing 7 percent for the year to $2.36 billion, with the March quarter surging an attractive 23 percent to $626 million. The segment had the worse period in the fiscal year with a 2.7 percent decline in revenues for the June quarter. Operating profit from this segment blasted off from $132 million to $479 million.

RJR shareholders at the 2019 AGM at the Jamaica Pegasus

Radio suffered just a 4 percent reduction in revenues, with most of that coming in the June quarter, with a fall of 20 percent and the segment delivered an operating profit of $95 million for the year from a small loss of $4 million in 2020. For the final quarter, revenues for radio were up one percent over 2020 to $184 million.
The print division took the brunt of the hit to revenues last year, with a fall of 40 percent in the June quarter, 20 percent in the September quarter and 19 percent in the December quarter. Revenues fell 19 percent to $2.3 billion for the year but enjoyed a six percent bounce in the March quarter, putting it ahead of the 2019 revenues, but ended 2021 with an operating loss of $267 million from a small loss of $14 million in 2020. The bulk of the redundancy of 106 workers came from the print division, with a redundancy cost of $157 million. The March quarter results mark a major about turn for that division, with increased revenues, but the segment results show an increased loss in 2021 of $64 million versus $28 million in 2020; this could be due to bad debt provisions that may have been made in the final quarter.
Cash inflows for the quarter were $600 million versus $403 million in 2020, but after working capital changes, inflows slipped to $540 million, after paying $176 million on the acquisition of property and receiving loan proceeds of $132 million resulted in cash on hand growing by $426 million.
The group ended with cash and equivalent of $725 million at the end of March, up from $282 million, while borrowings stood at $528 million, up from $425 million at the end of the 2020 fiscal year. Receivables climbed to $1.2 billion from $1 billion at the end of March 2020, but allowance for impairment grew from $288 million to $395 million.
Current assets stood at $2.1 billion and current liabilities at $1 billion, resulting in net current assets of $1.1 billion. Shareholders’ equity grew to $2.5 billion from $2.3 billion as of March 2020.
ICInsider.com projects a profit of just over $970 million or 40 cents per share for the 2022 fiscal year and 55 cents per share for 2023. The stock last traded at $1.67 on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday and trades at a PE ratio of 4, well below the average of 16 currently for the Main Market. The stock is ICInsider.com BUY RATED.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Emerging markets, Emerging Stock, ICBuyrated, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, Radio Jamaica, RJR, RJR/Gleaner

Profit doubles at Caribbean Cream for Q1

July 17, 2021 by IC Insider.com

Caribbean Cream released first quarter results with revenues up a solid 28 percent to $549 million and profit doubled to $54 million after taxation of nearly $8 from $27 million after tax of $4 million with earnings of 14 cents per share.

Caribbean Cream’s Kremi product

Cost of sales rose 17 percent to $341 million from $292 million in 2020. Selling and distribution costs rose 21 percent to $15 million while administrative costs rose 41 percent to $126 million, finance costs came in at $5 million. Taxation rose to $7.7 million from $4 million in 2020.
Commenting on the results for the year in a joint statement Christopher Clarke, Chairman and Carol Clarke Webster director, operating expenses rose 35 percent or 38 million due to a number of factors, higher transport cost for an increased number of deliveries of product. “Internal reclassification of electricity from production to distribution to more fairly reflect energy usage by business segments’ salary increases and other staff related costs and the full annualized cost for the Ocho Rios depot. The directors stated that they are currently carrying out capital works at the properties for operations that will lead to reduced cost of utilities.
Cash inflows for the quarter were $98 million versus $64 million in 2020, but after working capital changes, inflows rose to $117 million, $62 million was expended on the acquisition of property and resulted in cash on hand of $264 million. Current assets stood at $453 million and current liabilities at $210 million, resulting in net current assets of $243 million. Shareholders’ equity grew to $888 million from $771 million as of May 2020 and loans amounted to $324 million, of which $29 million is due to be repaid in the next twelve months.
IC Insider.com projects a profit of $320 million or 85 cents per share for the 2022 fiscal year and $1.50 per share for 2023. The stocks last traded at $6.90, after releasing the results, on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, a 52 weeks’ high and the highest since October 2018. At Friday’s last traded price, the stock ended the week at a PE ratio of 8.3, well below the average of 13 currently for the Junior Market.