The main indices of the Jamaica Stock Exchange fell again on Wednesday with 40 securities changing hands, in all market segments and ended with 13 stocks rising and 20 declining. Trading accounted for 7,303,091 units valued at $119,963,779 changing hands in all markets with the junior market accounting for 898,831 units valued at $4,498,985 changing hands.
The JSE Market Index suffered a loss of 587.05 points to end at 149,350.58, the all Jamaica Composite Index fell 656.54 points to 165,860.26 and the JSE combined index declined 530.26 points, to close at 157,213.08.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, 
the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
At the end of the market activities, Barita Investments ended with 20,617 units traded, to close at $3.30, with a loss of 20 cents, Berger Paints traded only 2,300 shares to lose 20 cents and closed at $3.80, Cable & Wireless rose 8 cents to $1.21 in trading 1,222,482 units. Caribbean Cement dropped $2.61 to close at $19.89 with 1,335,571 shares changing hands Carreras ended trading only 66,741 shares to end $1 lower at $65, Ciboney gained 4 cents to close at 21 cents with 74,000 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy lost $1 and closed with 41,858 shares changing hands at $80.
Jamaica Broilers traded 27,750 units to close at $14.50. Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 13,110 shares but lost 50 cents to end at $19, JMMB Group had 10,352 shares changing hands at $9.75 after easing by 25 cents, National Commercial Bank fell by 4 cents with 1,817,770 shares changing hands to close at $40.01. Pan Jamaican Investment traded 17,626 shares to close at $90, Sagicor Group ended with 13,200 shares changing hands at $23. Scotia Group traded 8,700 shares to close with a gain of 50 cent at $30, Supreme Ventures gained 50 cents to close at $5.50 with 30,000 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary shares traded 62,418 units to end at 16 US cents and the JMMB Group 7.50% preference share fell 13 cents in trading 1,611,098 units at $1.07.
JSE Majors down again on Wednesday
JSE majors dived sharply – Tuesday
Scotia Group fell $3.40 to help inflict much damage to the JSE on Tuesday.
Trading accounted for 8,660,890 units valued at $141,376,836 changing hands in all markets with the junior market accounting for 1,258,428 units valued at $7,440,298 changing hands.
The JSE Market Index suffered a sharp loss of 2,997.40 points to end at 149,937.63, the all Jamaica Composite Index nosedived 3,352.19 points to 166,516.80 and the JSE combined index fell sharply by 2,832.52 points, to close at 157,743.34.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers. At the end of the market activities, Berger Paints traded only 1,300 shares to gain 50 cents and closed at $4, Cable & Wireless rose 4 cents to $1.13 in trading 188,038 units, Carreras ended trading only 1,900 shares to end $1 higher at $66. Ciboney gained 1 cent to close at 17 cents with 300,000 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy rose $1 and closed with 245,819 shares changing hands at $81, Jamaica Broilers traded 505,700 units to close at $14.50. Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 5,027,520 shares valued at $98.5 million but lost 5 cents to end at $19.50 as MVL Stock Brokers crossed 5 million units for their own account at $19.60. JMMB Group had 13,934 shares changing hands at $10, 
National Commercial Bank rose by 4 cents with 5,826 shares changing hands to close at $40.05. Pan Jamaican Investment traded only 265 shares but fell by $3 to $90, Pulse Investments gained 20 cents to close at $3.19 with 64,000 shares changing hands. Radio Jamaica traded just 251,538 shares to close at $1.15, Sagicor Group fell $1 and ended with 47,465 shares changing hands at $23. Scotia Group traded 73,300 shares to close at $29.50 after declining $3.40, Seprod jumped $1.25 to $17.25 with 32,500 shares trading, Supreme Ventures gained 5 cents to close at $5 with 31,275 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary shares traded 93,200 units to end at 16 US cents and the JMMB Group 7.50% preference share traded 487,151 units at $1.20.
More JSE stocks up than down – Monday
Prices on the Jamaica Stock Exchange were mixed on Monday but with more gains than losses. On Monday 37 securities changed hands, in all market segments and ended with 12 stocks rising and 6 declining.
The market closed with 4,039,547 units valued at $84,778,917 changing hands in all markets. The junior market accounted for 1,018,853 units valued at $4,061,844 changing hands.
The JSE Market Index suffered a mild loss of 55.30 points to end at 152,935.03, the all Jamaica Composite Index fell 61.84 points to end at 169,868.99 and the JSE combined index gained 49.20 points, to close at 160,575.86.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 12 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 2 with lower offers.
At the end of the market activities, Barita Investments surprisingly traded 62,383 shares to gain 25 cents and closed at $3.50, Cable & Wireless rose 8 cents to $1.09 in trading 22,817 units, Carreras ended trading 421,078 shares to end at $65. 1834 investments traded 43,000 shares with a loss of 10 cents at $1.50, Grace Kennedy closed with 231,970 shares changing hands at $80, Jamaica Broilers traded 55,156 units to close at $14.50. JMMB Group had 94,770 shares changing hands at $10, Kingston Wharves traded 2,965 shares to close at $11.50, 
Mayberry Investments added 30 cents to close at $4 with 32,500 shares changing hands, National Commercial Bank ended with 125,198 shares changing hands to close at $40.01. Radio Jamaica traded just 22,321 shares and recovered the 6 cents it lost of Friday, to close at $1.15, Sagicor Group rose 30 cents and ended with 917,593 shares changing hands at $24. Scotia Group traded 10,448 shares to close at $32.90 after rising $2.90, Supreme Ventures slipped 5 cents to close at $4.95 with 45,179 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary shares traded 179,009 units to end at 16 US cents. JMMB Group 7.50% preference share traded 293,449 units at $1.20 after recovering 3 cents and the Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 452,187 units at $2.15.
Cost hurts Lasco Distributors’ profit
Lasco’s ICool drinks.
Revenues for the nine months ended at $10.9 billion, 36 percent higher than in 2014 while revenues for the quarter were up 36.4 percent to S4 billion. Profit after taxation came in at $213 million and is up from $193 million in 2014, mainly driven by growth in new business.
Gross profit grew by only 20 percent for the quarter to $644 million and 23 percent for the year to December to $1.77 billion as profit margin declined. Gross profit margin slipped sharply from 19 percent in the December 2014 quarter to 16 percent in 2015 and for the nine months, gross margin ended at 16 percent from 18 percent in 2014.
Other operating income, inclusive commissions from principals and interest on investments generated $82.5 million, an increase of 19 percent compared to the prior year’s $69 million for the nine months and was up 47 percent for the quarter to $53 million.
Lasco’s products
Total assets at the end of the period stood at $7 billion, an increase of S2.5 billion or 54 percent over prior year. Growth was driven mainly by increased inventory of $950 million arising from new business lines and capital expenditure of $550 million relating to the warehouse expansion. Receivable balances grew by 25 percent over prior year to close at S2.7 billion, while Payable balances grew by 81 percent to $3.4 billion. Short term Investments, Cash and bank balances at the end of the period were $1.076 billion up from $600 million. Shareholders’ equity stood at S3.4 billion, or 26 percent growth and the return on equity for the nine-month period was 27 percent compared to 22 percent in the same period last year.
IC Insider’s forecast is for per share earnings of 27 cents after tax for the March 2015 fiscal year and 50 cents for 2016 from ongoing operations. The stock last traded at $5 on the junior market of Jamaica Stock Exchange, with a PE of 18.5 times 2016 earnings but 10 times 2017 estimated earnings. The likelihood of a large settlement for the claim against Pfizer could enhance the attractiveness of the stock.
2 new BUY RATED stocks
Jetcon Corporation and ISP Finance have been added to the IC Insider BUY RATED list. The list continues to sport selections that have some room to grow before they reach the stage of maturing. Some have reached levels that look like they may be close to the top and stay there for a while and the may be just be rated hold than BUY RATED at this stage of the market’s rally in Jamaica.
The Trinidad based companies appear to be saddled by the effects of the recession on their performance.
There are now a few that were previously listed as BUY RATED have moved to Watch, as these stocks are likely to be market underperformers. If these are already owned then investors may want to hold on a little longer, buying into them now, while such a move could be profitable such investment may not be the smartest move at this time. At this stage of the Jamaican market it has become more challenging to continue to back some of the strong performers to date, as their valuation has risen and future gains will most likely come from gain in profit, unless the market revalues the PE ratios higher, a factor that is expected with lower interest rates likely in the months to follow.
Knutsford Express has been to Market Watch as it close to our target price of $24 at this time and while there is more growth to come with increased frequency slated for the north coast routes, increased profits going forward could slow considerably from recent strong gains. 
Sagicor Group has done well since we selected it, with an increase close to 150 percent plus dividends, the immediate future looks like the gains are going to slow compared to the growth since the start of 2015. In past bull market, investors gave it a big premium over the rest of the market. That is not so now, but could change as the current bull market continues it run.
Lasco Distributors that was moved to a hold is now back to a buy, since the price has pulled back to $5, the company will benefit from taking over the overseas distribution of all of the manufacturing company products. The inflows expected from the lawsuit with Pfizer should add to the company’s value when the courts agree the amount, which management puts at more than US$300 million.
AMG Packaging, Caribbean Cream and Paramount are all up more than 300 percent but expansion into new products should give revenues and profit a kick in the not too distant future for AMG and Paramount. Caribbean Cream full year results are due shortly and should exceed 55 cents per share as the company benefited from sharp drop in raw material cost.
Jamaica Stock Exchange is now a Watch as it seems close to fairly valued currently, but dividend yield could well push it higher. In addition, of note is that while trading levels have improved they are still well off from historical highs, so there could still be much more gains ahead later on.
Trinidad is in recession and the results of companies are showing it with pressure on profit particularly for companies that earn the bulk of their income in the twin island state. As a result prices have been declining for many of the companies on the Trinidad market with a few exceptions. With the exception of Trinidad Cement that is undervalued, a hold has been placed on Trinidad based listed stocks for the time being but investors should wait for TCL to settle before buying.
RJR enjoys big trade on JSE – Friday
RJR had another big trade on Friday.
The market closed with 51,448,945 units valued at $171,764,929 changing hands in all markets. The junior market accounted for 470,000 units valued at $1,549,597 changing hands.
The JSE Market Index took a sharp upturn with a 3,192.15 points rally to end at 152,990.33, the all Jamaica Composite Index jumped 3,570.00 points to end at 169,930.83 and the JSE combined index shot up 3,489.28 points, to close at 160,526.66.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior
markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 17 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with a lower offer.At the end of the market activities, Cable & Wireless rose 5 cents to $1.10 in trading 409,741 units, Caribbean Cement lost $1.40 with just 2,922 shares changing hands to end at $22.50, Carreras ended trading 108,094 shares to end at $65. Grace Kennedy closed with 1,469 shares changing hands at $80, Jamaica Broilers traded 3,726,493 units to close at $14.50, after declining by 20 cents. JMMB Group had 6,803 shares changing hands at $10, Kingston Wharves traded 13,945 shares to close at $11.50, Mayberry Investments lost 30 cents to close at $3.70 with 5,000 shares changing hands, National Commercial Bank fell 49 cents with 42,113 shares changing hands to close at $40.01, while 138 Student Living, traded 30,550 shares at $5.50. Pan Jamaican Investments traded 3,999 shares to close at $93, Pulse Investments lost 24 cents to end at $2.99 with 10,000 shares trading,
Radio Jamaica with the largest trade for the day of 43,604,186 shares but lost 6 cents to close at $1.09, Sagicor Group rose 60 cents and ended with 65,158 shares changing hands at $23.70. Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 5,000 shares to close at $10.02 Scotia Group traded 1,238,437 shares to close at $30 after falling by 50 cents, the stock traded as high as $34.90 ahead of the close. Seprod dropped back $3 to end at $16 with 19,314 shares changing hands, Supreme Ventures gained slipped 14 cents to close at $5 with 44,364 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary shares traded 553,800 units to end at 16 US cents, down from 17.50 cents previously. JMMB Group 7.50% preference share traded 868,551 units at $1.17 after shedding 3 cents and the Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 218,200 units at $2.15.
More losses for JSE – Thursday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange lost more ground on Thursday with the combined index slipping 379 points. The main market continued to lose altitude but technical indicators point to a bottom not being too far away. On Thursday 31 securities changed hands, in all market segments ended with 9 stocks rising and 15 declining. One US market stock, traded at an intraday 52 weeks’ low.
The market closed with 4,962,606 units valued at $68,438,047 changing hands in all markets. The junior market accounted for 785,366 units valued at $2,423,588 changing hands.
The JSE Market Index dropped 484.50 points to end at 149,798.18, the all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 541.85 points to end at 166,360.83 and the JSE combined index fell 379.21 points, to close at 157,037.38.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator
reading was 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
At the end of the market activities, Berger Paints traded 62,542 units but fell 26 cents to end at $3.50, Cable & Wireless sunk 4 cents to 96 cents in trading 2,100,134 units, Caribbean Cement lost 10 cents with just 18,082 shares changing hands to end at $23.90, Carreras lost $1.14 in trading 23,000 shares to end at $65. Grace Kennedy closed with 286,469 shares changing hands at $80 after losing 20 cents, Jamaica Broilers traded 323,265 units to close at $14.70, after rising 20 cents. JMMB Group had 11,750 shares changed hands at $10, Kingston Wharves gained 20 cents in trading 89,288 shares to close at $11.50, National Commercial Bank fell 50 cents with 169,634 shares changing hands, to close at $40.50,
Pan Jamaican Investments traded 41,878 shares to close at $93. Radio Jamaica with the largest trade of 51,800 shares but lost 10 cents to close at $1.15, Sagicor Group fell 50 cents and ended with 34,000 shares changing hands at $23.10, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 100,500 shares to close at $10.02. Scotia Group traded 336,878 shares to close at $30.50 after rising by 50 cents, Supreme Ventures slipped 14 cents to close at $4.86 with 32,376 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary shares traded 483,600 units to end at 17.5 US cents, up from 17.47 cents previously, but only after it traded at a 52 weeks’ low of 15 cents. At the close there are only 4 bids to buy the stock for 15 cents down to 10 cents.
JSE stable on Thursday morning
Trading the Jamaican Stock Exchange is off to a slow start with all the indices inching up after 75 minutes of trading on Thursday.
An average of 32,320 units of active stocks traded, up from an average of 40,324 units that traded in the prior mid-morning session.
A total of 20 securities, accounting for only 646,395 shares changed hands at 10.45 am as 4 stocks gained and 7 declined, continuing the negative trend in place for some time. Cable & Wireless is one of two stocks to trade more than 100,000 shares, as the price of the stock stabilized at $1 with 125,767 shares traded while recently listed Jetcon Corporation accounted for 363,344 units as the price slipped to $2.85.
The market saw all Jamaica Composite Index gained 3.10 points to 166,905.78, the JSE Market Index rose 2.77 points to 150,285.45 the JSE combined index ending with gain of 160.74 points to 157,577.33 and the junior market index moved up by 15.43 points to 1,771.45.
JSE to consider a dividend
The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) has advised that the Board of Directors will meet on April 19, 2016 to consider the payment of an interim dividend.
In December last year, the company made a second dividend payment of 47 cents per share on December 30, to shareholders on record as at December 23 following a payment in July of 53 cents per share which brought the total pay-out to $1 per share for a total $140 million. Last year’s dividends provided a staggering 63.7 percent yield based on the 2014 closing price of $1.57. With the price of the stock in the $20 range in 2016, the yield is bound to drop dramatically to around 10 percent or less. The stock last traded on Wednesday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $19.55.
The company reported earnings for 2015 of $1.25 per share or $175 million, up from only $3 million in 2014. JSE had the best quarter in March with revenues of $259 million and profit of $87 million after tax. The 2016 first quarter seems set to better that of the 2015 first quarter with a big $110 million income from trading a block of Desnoes & Geddes shares almost equal to the estimated $120 million hauled in from the block of Scotia Group shares that was transferred from the Canadian parent to a Caribbean based one.
Marlene Street Forrest – General Manager of the JSE
What should help boost the first quarter results is added business undertaken by the exchange particularly, the registrar services, for handling of the repo business and increased stock market activity in 2016 over the first quarter of 2015. Last year, for the first quarter, regular trading was $4.9 billion while for 2016 its $6.44 billion, for a 31 percent increase. The JSE also engineered increases in fees charged for some of it services.
