The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market closed with trading in 2,979,208 shares with Grace Kennedy dominating with more than 2 million units. the all Jamaica Composite index fell nearly 336 points and the JSE market index dropped just above 300 points.
The closing trading data shows the volumes for the highest bids and lowest offers for each stock that investors can use as guides as to where demand and supply may be like. Other than the shares traded in Grace volumes were moderate and only 12 securities were active.
JSE closes down
March 2, 2015 by
JSE could gain 40% for 2015
February 28, 2015 by
The all Jamaica Composite index is up 6.3 percent for the first two months of 2015 and the JSE index is up 6.2 percent and could be up nearly 40 percent for 2015 if the trend continues. The 2015 increase is the highest since the all Jamaica composite gained 9.4 percent in the first two months.
The JSE select index gain 9.2 percent over the same period. The movements to date translate to close to a 40 percent rise in the market for the year. If the movement was to continue at the same pace for the rest of the year it would take the all Jamaica index to 118,000 points by year-end and the JSE Index to 107,000.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange’s all Jamaica Composite index closed above 89,000 for the first time on Thursday, February 26, since mid-July 2103, and is a little more than 2,300 points from potential resistance at 91,720, the January, 2013 high. The market as measured by the index, has broken out of a channel going back to late last year, see green lines.
The junior market in contrast to the gains in the main market, is up only 1.7 percent.
Insider sold 2.77m Student Living shares
February 4, 2015 by
Newly listed 138 Student Living advises that a related party sold 2,775,000 of the company’s shares on January 30, 2015. T
he shares traded at $4.40 and realised $12,210,000. When the company went public in December last year, some of the initial investors offered shares they owned to the public which was packaged with the public offer. Shares offered by the company were taken up in full, but those by shareholders were only partially bought by the public.
A related party to a directors sold 250,000 Jamaica Broilers Group’s shares on February 2, 2015, the Company advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Lasco Financial profit up 50%
January 30, 2015 by
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Profit at Lasco Financial jumped a noticeable 50 percent, in the December 2014 quarter, on rising revenues of 11 percent. The company recorded profit of $68 million in the quarter versus $46 million in 2013 and recorded a 33 percent rise in its nine profit to $181 million from $136 million.
Lasco reported improvement in gross profit margin of 152 percent, in the December quarter, from 108 percent in the same period in 2013, the margin, year to December, is 155 percent from 137 percent in the nine months of 2013. Administrative expense rose by 8 percent for the quarter and 13 percent year to December while marketing expenses fell 8 percent in the quarter but was up 9 percent year to date, compared with the prior year, but still below the rise in revenues.
Earnings per share for the quarter amounted to 6 cents and for the nine months 15 cents. Earnings for the full year to March should end up around 20 cents per share. The stock now priced at $1, remains a buy, with prospects for increased profits for 2015/16.
The company is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange junior market and is primarily involved in cambio and money transfer and has with equity of $795 million no debt, and cash funds of $502 million.
10 JSE stocks rose 6 declined Monday
January 26, 2015 by
National Commercial Bank stock price hit a new 52 weeks high of $20 in trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday with 1,066,318 shares changing hands. One million units of the stock was bought and sold by Stockbroker, Sagicor Investments at $20 each.
After three consecutive days of declining stocks beating out advancing ones last week, breaking the trend that was in place since the start of the year, with no trading day closing with number of declining stocks being more than advancing ones, activity on the exchange returned to the trend prior to the days of decline on Monday. At the close on Monday, the prices of 10 stocks gained, 6 declined as 23 securities changed hands, ending in 4,912,390 units trading, valued at $30,624,883 in all market segments. The positive advance, decline ratio did not prevent large declines in the main market indices as Carreras gave back most of the gain it enjoyed on Friday.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 765.65 points to 77,062.39 , the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined 856.03 points to close at 84,877.64 and the JSE combined index declined by 716.44 points to close at 78,938.30.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless closing with 715,292 units changing hands, with a gain of 1 cent at 51 cents. Gleaner had 3,000 shares changing hands to close 2 cents up, at 82 cents, Grace Kennedy closed with 17,480 shares trading with a gain of 5 cents at $63, Jamaica Broilers ending with 2,000 units changing hands to close with 1 cents gain at $4.01. Jamaica Money Market Brokers finished with 4,000 ordinary shares with the price gaining 3 cents to $6.60, Jamaica Stock Exchange with 48,688 units changing hands to close with a gain of 10 cents at $2.10, National Commercial Bank closed at a new 52 weeks high with 1,066,318 shares changing hands and gained of 69 cents at $20. Proven Investments ended with 35,970 units changing hands to close 0.02 cent higher at 21.02 US cents, new all-time high and Sagicor Group closed with 20,820 shares trading with a gain of 5 cents at $10.20.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints closed with 1,439 units trading at $1.55, Desnoes & Geddes concluding trading with 1,100 shares changing hands at $4.80, Mayberry Investments ended with 1,381,873 units trading to end at $2 and Scotia Group in trading 30,195 units at $20.50.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, the price of Carreras slipped $1.88 to closed with 1,650 units trading as at $37.62 and Radio Jamaica ended with 1,986 shares trading lower by 20 cent to $1.10.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference share closed with 200 units being active, with the price rising 1 cents to $2.50, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% finished with 1,502,471 units trading at $2 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 1,555 units traded at $5.
Sagicor Expensive Real Estate Fund
January 25, 2015 by
Sagicor Real Estate X Fund has been selling significantly above its IPO price of $5 and has since risen by 40 percent to $7, making it one of the better performing stocks on the local stock market since listing.
One of the properties in the fund
Of import is the seasonality of the hotel operations—high income and profits in the period between December and April, July and August, and lousy in the other months, which are usually loss making months. Sagicor Real Estate X Fund had assets of $9 billion at the end of September and net book value of $6.09. The stock price is $7, for a near 20 percent premium, which is well over the market.
The fund with 1,495,336,750 shares issued, boasts a very high PE ratio of 12, which is far greater than the other stocks in the market, and without the growth prospects of the vast majority of them. In a market that values stocks based on earnings generating cash flow, the valuation placed on the fund is even higher than the PE suggests and may be as high as a PE of 30. But that is the value that would be placed on a company
growing profits at 30 percent per annum. Earnings growth will not be there to drive the stock price compared to many of the quality listed stocks. The stock is now being valued on hype not reality.
The Sagicor Real Estate X Fund has a number of hotels, but many hotels have been notorious for not being highly profitable. There is also a great level of seasonality in performance in the sector. Income from other local properties will be steady as
most are rented on a long term basis.
The company has strategically invested in the Sigma Real Estate Portfolio, which holds a mix of hotels, commercial, industrial and warehousing properties. At this time, the only investment for the Fund is the units in the Sigma Real Estate Portfolio.
The Fund is 67.7 percent owned by the Sagicor Pooled Pension Investment Funds, which are administered by Sagicor Life Jamaica and is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
Carreras climbs $2.29 pushes JSE
January 23, 2015 by
Carreras closed trading at $39.50 to end the day at a new 52 weeks’ high and Scotia Group after hitting $21.99 with 739,792 shares by mid-day, closed at $20.50 and were the main contributors to a strong increase in the main market indices on Friday. The gains were not adequate to stop the overall market from registering the third consecutive day of declining stocks out numbering advancing ones.
Activity on the overall Jamaican stock market, resulted in the prices of 6 stocks rising and 9 declining as 29 securities changed hands, ending in 5,019,576 units trading, valued at $36,430,375, in all market segments.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 1,175.44 points to 77,828.04, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 1,314.20 points to close at 85,733.67 and the JSE combined index gained 1,070.76 points to close at 79,654.74.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with offers that were lower.
Scotiabank shares helped to push the index in Fridays trading.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints in trading 1,569 units ended at $1.55, Cable & Wireless closed with 31,881 shares changing hands at 50 cents. Ciboney ended with 10,000 shares trading at 7 cents, Desnoes & Geddes closed with 909,979 units trading to end at $4.80, Jamaica Broilers closed with 89,998 units traded at $4, Jamaica Stock Exchange finished with 10,000 units changing hands at $2. Kingston Wharves exchanged only 827 units at $5.60, Mayberry Investments traded at $2, in swapping ownership of 200,406 shares, Proven Investments traded 17,000 shares at 21 US cents, Radio Jamaica closed with 800 shares changing hands at $1.30 and Scotia Group ended up with 750,762 shares changing hands at $20.50.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Gleaner closing with 64,463 units trading as the price slipped 5 cents to 80 cents, for a new 52 weeks low, Grace Kennedy finished with 23,770 shares trading lower by 50 cents to $62.50, Kingston Properties closed with 29,925 shares changing hands to close lower by 50 cents at $7, National Commercial Bank closed with 50,453 units as the price slipped 19 cents to $19.31, Pan Jamaican Investment finished with 26,363 units trading, the price eased by 10 cents to $52, Radio Jamaica ended with 560 shares trading lower by 15 cents to $10.05 and Sagicor Group closed trading with 10,947 units as the price slipped 30 cents to $6.65.Preference| Eppley 10% preference share traded 34,500 units at $6 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share ended with 1,773,100 units trading at $2.
AMG flat sales push profit down 15%
January 19, 2015 by
Revenues rose a strong 36.56 percent for the year to August 2014 for junior market listed, AMG Packaging, hitting $607 million but it increased by a much slower pace of 28 percent in the final quarter of the financial year, to $165 million.
Those strong gains may have cannibalized sales in the November quarter with flat sales compared with 2013 quarter, with revenues of $151 million. But the performance comes against the back ground of volumes sold, climbing a very strong 19 percent for the year. The fall in volume started from the August quarter as units sold increased by 23.4 percent, management stated in a release accompanying the May results.
While sales increased impressively in 2014 fiscal year margins came under pressure with only 23.7 percent for the year to August down from 33 percent in 2013. For the latest quarter gross profit margin comes out at 25.9 percent but could end up at 31.5 percent for the current year if sales volumes increase by 10 percent for the rest of the fiscal year. Gross profit for the quarter amounted to $34.4 million up from $33.3 million in 2013 but increase mainly administrative cost that rose 28.4 percent eroded profit slightly by 15 percent to $15.4 million from $18 million in 2013. The company got a double whammy, with the Jamaican dollar losing value, resulting in a 28 percent more Jamaican dollars having to be found to purchase a US dollar since September 2012, and the price of paper on the world market moving 22 percent from US$720 per tonnes at September 2012 to US$830 in August 2013 and now US$875, which it has been since June last year.
Receivables are down by $12.7 million from the amount at the end of August last year and so too is amounts in payables by $26 million. Cash funds grew to $33 million from $22 million while inventories is down from to $118 million at August to $113 million, which is nearly 4 months supplies based on sales in the quarter and is up from just two and a half months back in 2013 and seems to be a hedge against devaluation of the Jamaican dollar. But that is only a part of the story. A check on world prices for pulp shows a pretty sharp increase since 2012.
AMG has to continue to grow its business by continued strong volume growth to become a more cost competitive producer with lower unit cost. The company needs to put strategies in place to return volume sales to growth and needs to continue cost containment measures to ensure profit improvement going forward. With increase through put, unit cost of production will fall allowing more growth in gross to flow into overall profits. A bright spot for the company is the fall in the cost of fuel and electricity will help in keeping cost down for the rest of the fiscal year.
IC Insider’s forecast for 2015 is 90 cents per share and $1.50 for 2016 on the assumption that volume sales return reasonable growth.
JPS share jumps $119
January 12, 2015 by
In Monday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the price of Jamaica Public Services 9.5% Preference shares jumped by $118.90 to end at $1,125 for a new all-time high as investors traded the stock for $236,250,000. Activity in the overall market resulted in the prices of 10 stocks rising and 3 declining as 26 securities changed hands, ending in 2,749,084 units trading, valued at $241,908,563, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell 205.19 points to 76,128.35, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index lost 229.40 points to close at 83,833.34 and the JSE combined index declined by 181.96 points to close at 78,141.73.
Gains| Stocks gaining at their last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras ending with 500 units, the price rose 2 cents to $37.03. Jamaica Broilers ended with 70,537 units changing hands to close with a gain of 3 cents at $4.02, Jamaica Money Market Brokers finishing with 68,763 shares changing hands, to close with a gain of 5 cents, to $6.55. Jamaica Stock Exchange finished with 30,000 shares changing hands, 10 cents higher at $2, National Commercial Bank ended with 8,405 shares trading to gain 20 cents at $19. Sagicor Group finished trading with 27,006 units changing hands to close with a gain of 4 cents at $9.95 and Supreme Ventures finished trading with 4,000 shares with the price rising 3 cents to $1.80
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded price are, Cable & Wireless closing with 202,323 units trading at 48 cents. Caribbean Cement ended with 45,596 units trading at $2.50, Kingston Wharves closed with 4,747 shares at $6, Radio Jamaica closed with 4,400 units at $1.30, Scotia Group finished with 33,854 units trading at $20.10 and Scotia Investments ended with 9,002 shares trading at $23.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Grace Kennedy closing with 3,896 units trading as the price slipped $1 to $62, Mayberry Investments finished with 400,500 shares trading lower by 5 cents to $1.95 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended with 2,000 shares changing hands to close lower 15 cents lower at $7.05.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share had 309,000 shares changing hands at $2 and Jamaica Public Service Co 9.5% preference share ended with 210,000 units changing hands to close with a gain of $118.90 at $1,125, the move has reduced the yield to 8.44 percent fr0m 9.5 percent, the coupon rate.
Financial stocks pull JSE down
January 9, 2015 by
NCB stock fell back to $18.80 from the $19.99 it was pushed to on Thursday
Investors participated in a small number of securities on Friday, resulting in the prices of 6 rising and 6 declining as 17 securities changed hands and ended with 2,404,440 units, valued at $12,847,928 traded, in all market segments. At the close there was demand for more with bids failing to attract sellers at the closing bid prices.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the close of the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 702.66 points to 76,333.54, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 785.62 points to close at 84,062.74 and the JSE combined index declined by 667.53 points to close at 78,323.69.
JMMB stock closed down to $6.50 on Friday but JSE had the price falling 54 cents in computing the index.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Scotia Group which ended with 147,987 units trading to close at $20.10, Desnoes & Geddes closing with 325,000 shares trading to close at $4.90 and Scotia Investments ended with 15,000 shares changing hands at $23.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Broilers closing with 102,265 units trading as the price slipped 5 cents to $4, Jamaica Money Market Brokers finished with 514,668 shares trading lower by 1 cent to $6.50, National Commercial Bank closed with 7,200 shares changing hands to close lower by $1.19 at $18.80 and Pan Jamaican Investment finishing with 6,750 units, the price slipped $3.99 to $52.01.Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares traded 27,000 units at $3 and Jamaica Public Service 9.5% preference shares traded 941 units at $1,006.10.
