New record close for JSE – Tuesday

Kingston Wharves jumped to close at $60 on Tuesday.

The All Jamaican Composite Index jumped 6,070.62 points to a record high of 356,437.50 in early trading, on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, on Tuesday, with Kingston Wharves jumping to a record high of $61 up from $53, NCB Financial that rise by $1 and Seprod climbing from $45 to $53.
With just 17 minutes of trading elapsing, the JSE Index was also reaching record high, jumping 5,531.02 points, to a record 324,754.83.
The market did not hold to the lofty highs reached in the early session and closed trading with the All Jamaican Composite Index climbing by a much lower 1,354.11 points to end at a closing record high of 351,720.99. and the JSE Index advancing by 1,233.75 points to finish at a closing record high of 320,457.56.
Strong gains by Caribbean Cement, JMMB Group, NCB Financial and Seprod overwhelmed declines in Grace Kennedy, Sagicor Real Estate Fund and Supreme Ventures to help propel the Indices to new highs.
Market activities resulted in 35 securities trading including 4 in the US dollar market compared to just 25 securities trading on Monday.
At the end of trading, the prices of 12 stocks rose, 13 declined and 10 closed trading unchanged. Stanley Motta closed with 2,211 units changing hands after falling 35 cents to close at an all-time low of $4.60 while Kingston Wharves jumped to a new record high of $60.
Trading in the main market ended with 5,240,001 units valued $81,075,944 compared to 1,995,601 units valued $33,005,256 on Monday.
The day’s volume was led by, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share with 1,500,000 shares accounting for 28.6 percent of the volume traded, followed by Radio Jamaica with 512,418 units and 9.8 percent of the day’s volume and Mayberry Jamaican Equities with 441,937 units and 8.4 percent of the main market volume.
Trading resulted in an average of 169,032 units for an average of $2,615,353, in contrast to 83,150 units valued at $1,375,219, on Monday. For the month to date an average of 220,691 units valued at $3,981,020 versus 224,098 shares valued at an average of $4,076,157 on Monday. July closed with an average of 169,022 units valued at $3,514,756, for each security traded.
Stocks with major price changes| Berger Paints ended at $18 after falling 75 cents trading 1,879 stock units, Carreras fell 29 cents in trading 231,542 units at $9.20, Grace Kennedy rose 49 cents and ended trading of 52,614 shares at $58.50, Jamaica Broilers traded at $25.00, with 51,837 stock units, Jamaica Producers jumped $1.50 and finished trading 41,039 units at $18, Jamaica Stock Exchange dipped 75 cents and closed at $7.50 exchanging 57,973 shares, Kingston Wharves jumped $7 to a record close of $60 with 59,336 stock units changing hands, Mayberry Jamaican Equities fell 60 cents and settled at $9.40 trading 82,449 units, 138 Student Living finished with a gain of 28 cents at $4.29, with 2,900 stock units, Portland JSX dived $1.48 and ended at $8, with 350 units, Scotia Group lost 44 cents in trading 30,342 shares to close at $52.06, Supreme Ventures fell 40 cents and ended at $14.60, with 140,992 shares changing hands.
Trading in the US dollar market closed with 158,549 units valued at US$109,501. Trading ended with JMMB Group 6 % preference share completed trading at $1.06 trading 95,820 stock units, Margaritaville traded just 1,000 shares but lost 0.095 cents to close at 19 US cents, Proven Investments trading 4,450 shares and fell 1 cent to close at 22 US cents and Sygnus Credit trading 57,279 shares to close at 10 US cents, The JSE USD Equities Index gained 3.05 points to close at 169.08.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 closing with lower offers.

Junior Market trading jumps – Tuesday

Indies dominated trading on Tuesday.

Trading volume jumped sharply on the Junior Market, Indies Pharma traded 4,712,727 units or 51.38 percent of trading, followed by Caribbean Producers with 1,769,989 units and accounting for 19.30 percent of the volume traded and Lasco Financial Services with 1,638,268 units representing 17.86 percent of the day’s trade.
Blue Power 10 for 1 stock split took place today, but most investors were unaware as there was attempts to trade the stock at the old price of $47 which falsely push the index up by 557 points which was corrected at the close to reflect a decline.
At the close of the trading session the market index fell 34.25 points to close at 3,205.09, with 28 securities changing hands, down from 24 securities changing hands on Monday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 8 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 3 closed with lower offers.
The market closed with the prices of 6 advancing, 6 declining and 16 remaining unchanged and resulting in an exchange of 9,172,835 units valued at $44,109,271, compared to 2,149,308 units valued at $9,485,152 on Monday.
Trading closed with an average of 327,601 units for an average of $1,575,331 in contrast to 89,555 units for an average of $395,215 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 273,263 units at $1,335,149, compared to 269,588 units at $1,318,905 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended at $1.95, trading 2,400 stock units, CAC 2000 finished at $9, exchanging 10,797 shares, Cargo Handlers settled with 1,000 shares trading and rose 20 cents to end at $11.20, Caribbean Flavours traded 513,596 stock units and gained $2 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $18, Caribbean Producers finished trading 1,769,989 units at $6.90. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 13 cents at $2.37, with 20,388 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended at $25, with 1,400 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading of 5,885 shares at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.10, exchanging 24,500 stock units. Eppley settled at $10.18, with 500 units traded, Everything Fresh fell 1 cent in trading 135,831 shares and ended at $2.20, Express Catering ended trading 49,383 shares at $8, FosRich Group traded 5 cents higher at $3, while exchanging 51,984 shares, General Accident finished trading of 38,206 shares at $3.85. GWest Corporation closed 8 cents higher at $2.18, with 30,000 stock units, Honey Bun ended at $4.50, with juts 340 units trading, Indies Pharma dominated trading with 4,712,727 shares to end unchanged at $2.50, Iron Rock concluded trading of 5,000 shares with a loss of 20 cents at $3.30, Jamaican Teas settled at $3.95, with 5,000 shares. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 84,527 stock units with a loss of 5 cents to end at $4, Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1 at $11.50, with 5,648 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 1 cent at $3.90, with 7,868 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading 1,638,268 stock units at $5.60. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $3.86, with 3,935 units, Main Event settled at $7, in trading 30,439 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 21,349 stock units and gained 20 cents to close at $8.85, and Sweet River closed 16 cents higher at $3.86, with 875 units. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading ended 2 cents higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.52, with 1,000 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

All Jamaica jumps 6,070 points to record 356,437

The Jamaica Stock Exchange surged sharply in early trading on Tuesday, with the All Jamaican Composite Index jumping 6,070.62 to an intraday high 356,437.50, after just 17 minutes of trading.
At the same time, the JSE Index jumped 5,531.02 points to a record 324,754.83. Strong gains by Kingston Wharves that traded at $61 up from $53 when it traded previously, NCB Financial that rose by $1 and and Seprod that jumped from $45 to $50 were the main contributors to the gain.
The Junior Market index is showing a huge increase of 557.73 points to 3,797.07 is caused by Blue Power having split into 10 units with the adjusted price being $4.70 but trades were attempted at $47 thus distorting the index. Those trades will be cancelled at the close of the day.

JSE main market slips in moderate trading

Temperature on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was far more subdued in trading on Monday with both volume and value pulling sharply from Friday’s levels and leaving the two major indices down at the close.
Trading activity closed, with the All Jamaican Composite Index declining 704.13 points to 350,366.88 and the JSE Index falling 641.55 points to end at 319,223.81.
Strong gains by Caribbean Cement, JMMB Group, NCB Financial and Seprod overwhelmed declines in Grace Kennedy, Sagicor Real Estate Fund and Supreme Ventures to help propel the Indices to new highs.
Market activities resulted in 25 securities trading including 1 in the US dollar market compared to 31 securities trading on Friday.
At the end of trading, the prices of 9 stocks rose, 12 declined and 4 closed trading unchanged. Stanley Motta closed with 2,211 units changing hands after falling 5 cents to close at an all-time low of $4.95.
Trading in the main market ended with 1,995,601 units valued $33,005,256 versus 3,900,466 units valued $77,632,786 on Friday.
The day’s volume was led by, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share with 456,103 shares accounting for 22.86 percent of the volume traded, followed by Wisynco Group with 349,103 units and 17.5 percent of the day’s volume and Carreras with 248,928 units and 12.5 percent of the main market volume.
Trading resulted in an average of 83,150 units valued at over $1,375,219, in contrast to 139,302 shares valued at $2,772,600 on Friday. For the month to date an average of 224,098 shares valued at an average of $4,076,157 versus 231,683 shares valued at an average of $4,230,129 on Friday. July closed with an average of 169,022 units valued at $3,514,756, for each security traded.
Stocks with major price changes| Caribbean Cement fell 50 cents and finished at $47 trading 14,929 shares, Grace Kennedy ended trading 193,538 shares at $58.01, after falling 49 cents, Jamaica Producers rose 70 cents and finished trading 43,354 units at $18, Mayberry Investments fell 95 cents to settle at $7.05, in exchanging 6,993 shares. NCB Financial Group fell $1 and ended trading 12,713 shares at $109, Sagicor Group gained 40 cents and settled at $38.05, trading 6,713 stock units. Sagicor Real Estate Fund climbed $1 and closed at $12 exchanging 23,171 shares, Salada Foods gained 50 cents and ended trading 19,300 stock units at $18, Scotia Group traded 101,372 units at and closed $52.50, after adding 50 cents and Supreme Ventures lost 50 cents and ended at $15, in the trading of 17,810 shares.
Trading in the US dollar market closed with Proven Investments trading 17,810 shares valued US$3,943 and rose 1 cent to close at 23 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index gained 3.05 points to close at 169.08.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 closing with lower offers.

Big jump for Junior Market index – Monday

The Junior Market, put in a strong showing in Monday’s trading session and closed with the market index jumping 46.92 points to close at 3,239.34, with 24 securities changing hands, down from 26 securities changing hands on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 3 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 2 closed with lower offers.
The market closed with the prices of 11 advancing, 6 declining and 7 remaining unchanged and resulting in an exchange of 2,149,308 units valued at $9,485,152, compared to 15,120,642 units valued at $55,182,607 on Friday.
Trading closed with an average of 89,555 units for an average of $395,215 in contrast to 687,302 units for an average of $2,508,300 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 269,588 units at $1,318,905, compared to 280,667 units at $1,375,747 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed trading of 19,338 shares at $45, AMG Packaging rose 5 cents to close at $1.95, trading 3,424 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 9,672 units at $47, Caribbean Flavours traded 710 stock units at $16, Caribbean Producers finished trading of 60,350 units 11 cents higher to $6.90. Derrimon Trading ended $4 higher at $25, exchanging 18,909 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading at $17, with 1,100 shares being exchanged, Elite Diagnostic gained 10 cents to end at $3.10, with 26,004 stock units changing hands, Eppley settled at $10.18, trading 7,800 units. Everything Fresh gained just 1 cent in trading 65,426 shares and ended at $2.21, Express Catering ended trading 22,033 shares and lost 30 cents to end at $8, FosRich Group traded 50,000 shares with a loss of 5 cents at $2.95, General Accident finished trading 185,258 shares and rose 5 cents to $3.85, GWest Corporation closed 10 cents higher at $2.10, in exchanging 30,756 stock units. Indies Pharma pulled back 4 cents in trading 539,221 shares to end at $2.50, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 30 cents at $3.95, trading 9,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation rose 4 cents to $4.05, in trading 42,069 stock units, KLE Group finished trading of 6,200 shares at $3, Lasco Distributors ended 6 cents higher at $3.91, with 12,000 shares changing hands. Lasco Financial concluded trading of 4,783 stock units and lost 30 cents to end at $5.60, Lasco Manufacturing finished 1 cent higher at $3.86, with 1,013,663 units changing hands, Main Event settled at $7, exchanging 9,692 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 2,000 stock units and rose 5 cents to $8.65 and tTech ended with a loss of 43 cents at $5.07, with 9,900 shares changing hands.

Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Grace performance slips in Q2

Grace Kennedy HQ

Grace Kennedy reported revenues of $48.4 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent or $2 billion over the corresponding period of 2017 for the half year to June, “driven largely by growth in its Food Trading and Insurance segments.” Don Wehby stated in a release following the release of the interim results.
Net profit for the period was $2.5 billion, an increase of $266 million or 12.2 percent compared with 2017. After minority interest net profit rose by 14 percent to $2.15 billion but by just 9 percent in the second quarter to $959 million from $881 million in 2017.
Second quarter sales revenue grew just 3.85 percent to $22.44 billion, a slower pace than the first quarter’s 6 percent. Other income rose a strong 60 percent to $718 million in the quarter over the prior year, and 61 percent for the half year, to $1.45 billion. Interest income was slightly down to $1.13 billion and $2.25 billion in the quarter and half year period respectively, over the similar periods in 2017.
Total comprehensive income a better measure of managements stewardship, more than doubled in the second quarter to $1.338 billion from $625 million in 2017 but slipped slightly to $2.39 billion for the half year.
The Group reported that its Food Trading segment experienced growth in revenue and pre-tax profits over the corresponding period of 2017. This was due to improved performance in the domestic foods business as the local economy picks up and now showing stronger growth. While showing an increase in revenue over prior year, the Company’s international foods business experienced a decline in pre-tax profits compared to the corresponding period of 2017, primarily due to the performance of Grace Foods UK.

Grace Kennedy products

Financial Group experienced mixed fortunes during the period, as the Money Services and Banking and Investments segments both experienced decline in revenue and pre-tax profits, while the Insurance segment grew revenue and pre-tax profits over the corresponding period of 2017. The performance of the Money Services segment was due to a reduction in transaction volumes in the remittance business in Jamaica stemming from the implementation of enhanced compliance measures.
Grace’s financial position remains strong with Shareholders equities of $46.35 billion and the company’s stock traded at $58.50 on Friday with a PE of 11 based on IC Insider.com’s earnings estimate for 2018 of $5.40. The PE is lower than the market’s average of 13.5 and with IC Insider.com forecasting average PE to reach 17 by late this year or early next year, the stock has room for growth.
Grace approved the payment of an interim dividend of 45 cents per stock unit, payable on September 26, an increase of 18 percent from the 38 cents per stock unit paid to stockholders in September last year. Group CFO Frank James said, “This brings the dividends declared to date to approximately $844 million, an increase of 25 percent or $169 million over the corresponding period in 2017.”

All Jamaica’s record close of 351,071 – Friday

The records kept on Jamaica Stock Exchange just kept on being broken on Friday as the All Jamaican Composite Index climbed to intraday high 352,806.34 as the market chalked no less than 9 record highs during trading.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index climbed 2,162.81 points to end above the 350,000 market for the first time and finally finished at a record close of 351,071.01 and the JSE Index rose 1,948.70 points to end at record close of 319,865.36. Strong gains by Caribbean Cement, JMMB Group, NCB Financial and Seprod overwhelmed declines in Grace Kennedy, Sagicor Real Estate Fund and Supreme Ventures to help propel the Indices to new highs.
Market activities resulted in 31 securities trading including 3 in the US dollar market compared to 30 securities trading on Thursday.
At the end of trading, the prices of 12 stocks rose, 13 declined and 6 traded unchanged. Trading in the main market ended with 3,900,466 units valued $77,632,786 versus 2,800,039 units valued $52,538,433 on Thursday.
Trading resulted in an average of 139,302 units valued at an average of $2,772,600 for each security traded, in contrast to 107,694 units valued at an average of $2,020,709 on Thursday. For the month to date an average of 231,683 shares valued at an average of $4,230,129 versus 237,871 shares valued at an average of $4,333,974 on Thursday. July closed with an average of 169,022 units valued at $3,514,756, for each security traded.
The day’s volume was led by, Sagicor Real Estate Fund with 726,521 shares accounting for 18.6 percent of the volume traded, followed by Mayberry Jamaican Equities with 610,068 units and 15.6 percent of the day’s volume and PanJam Investment with 497,356 units and 12.8 percent of the main market volume.
Stocks with major price changes| Berger Paints gained 42 cents and settled at $19.02, in exchanging 73,786 shares, Caribbean Cement climbed $2.40 to finish at $47.50, trading 47,600 shares, Grace Kennedy ended trading 83,590 shares falling 50 cents to close at $58.50, Jamaica Broilers gained 38 cents to close at $23.50, trading 19,403 stock units, Jamaica Producers finished trading 442,125 units in losing 69 cents to end at $17.30, JMMB Group ended at $29, in exchanging 169,455 shares after rising 69 cents, NCB Financial Group jumped $4.99 and ended trading of 15,077 shares at $110, Portland JSX fell 52 cents to end at $9.48, trading 5,000 units, Sagicor Group lost 35 cents and settled at $37.65, with 78,045 shares trading. Sagicor Real Estate Fund dropped $1.84 and settled at $11, exchanging 726,521 shares, Salada Foods gained 75 cents and ended trading 4,223 stock units to close at $17.50, Scotia Group fell 30 cents to $52.00, after trading 95,271 units, Seprod jumped $5 and finished trading 23,700 shares at $45, Supreme Ventures lost 49 cents and ended at $15.50, in the trading of 52,446 shares and Stanley Motta closed with 3,000 units changing hands after falling 31 cents to close at an all-time low of $5.
Trading in the US dollar market closed with 606,470 units valued at US$128,831 as Proven Investments accounting for 600,000 shares and closed at 22 US cents, Sygnus Credit Investments traded 4,913 shares rose 0.05 cents to 9 US cents and Sterling Investments traded 1,557 units at 9 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index lost 2.30 points to close at 166.03.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 closing with lower offers.

Modest gain for Junior Market – Friday

Lasco Manufacturing traded 7 million shares

The Junior Market, closed with the market index rising 15.28 points to 3,192.42, during Friday’s session the index rose as much 51 points but receded towards the end.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 3 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 1 closed with a lower offer.
The market closed with 26 securities changing hands, compared to 30 on Thursday, resulting in the prices of 10 advancing, 6 declining and 6 remaining unchanged.
The day’s trading ended with 15,120,642 units valued at over $55,182,607 changing hands, compared to 15,342,524 units valued at $89,754,042 on Thursday. While the traded volume was dominated by Caribbean Producers with 11.58 million shares and Indies Pharma with nearly 2.48 million units, Friday closed with Lasco Manufacturing contributing 7 million units followed by Key Insurance with 3.68 million units, Lasco Distributors with 2.59 million shares while Indies Pharma chipped in with 887.7 thousand shares.
Trading closed with an average of 687,302 units for an average of $2,508,300 in contrast to 590,097 units for an average of $3,452,079 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 280,667 units at $1,375,747, compared to 256,357 units at $1,308,040 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Blue Power concluded trading 500 units at $47, Caribbean Cream lost 32 cents and closed at $5.30, trading 71,500 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded 50 cents higher at $16, with 6,481 stock units, Caribbean Producers finished trading 2,740 units and rose 19 cents to $6.79, Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a loss of $1.57 down to $21, exchanging 74,100 shares. Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 15 cents at $3, trading 296,533 units, Everything Fresh traded 141,505 shares and ended at $2.20, Express Catering traded 3,965 shares and rose 30 cents to $8.30, General Accident closed 19 cents higher at $3.80, with 197,170 stock units changing hands, GWest Corporation ended at $2, trading 29,592 units. Honey Bun concluded trading at $4.50, with 10,205 shares, Indies Pharma pulled back 6 cents in trading 887,723 shares to end at $2.54, after trading at an all-time high of $2.70 during the day, Jamaican Teas ended trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.25, with 6,032 stock units, Jetcon Corporation added 2 cents at $4.01 and traded 53,353 shares, Key Insurance traded 3,684,607 shares and rose 1 cent to $3.06. Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 10 cents at $3.85, while exchanging 2,589,994 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 40 cents higher at $5.90, with 26,226 units traded, Lasco Manufacturing settled 12 cents higher at $3.85, with 7,001,050 shares, Medical Disposables closed at $5.10, as 16,166 shares changed hands. Paramount Trading finished trading 10,000 stock units at $3, Stationery and Office closed 10 cents higher at $8.60, exchanging 1,600 units and tTech concluded trading of 9,600 shares while rising 49 cents higher to $5.50.

Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

All Jamaica index jumps to record 352,258 points

The All Jamaican Composite Index of the Jamaica Stock Exchange having cleared the 351,000 points mark after just 5 minutes of opening, with NCB Financial trading at $110 has now broken the 352,000 after 42 minutes of trading.
The All Jamaican Composite Index jumped 3,325.45 to a record 352,257.65 and the JSE Index climbed 3,029.87 points to 320,946.53 points while the Junior Market rose 50.08 to cut sharp fall on Thursday of more than 57 points and now sits at 3,227.22 points.
Apart from a sharp rise in the price of NCB shares, Grace Kennedy rose to $60, and JMMB Group climbed to $29. Kingston Wharves has a bid of $60 compared to a last price of $53 and could add quite a bit to the indices when it trades.

All Jamaica index at record 351,774 points

The All Jamaican Composite Index of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, having cleared the 350,000 points mark on Thursday, broke the 351,000 level after just 5 minutes of the market’s opening, with NCB Financial trading at $110.
The All Jamaican Composite Index jumped 2,853.46 to a record 351,774,75 and the JSE Index rose 2,589.88 points to 320,506.54 points while the Junior Market rose 39.61 to cut sharp fall on Thursday of more than 57 points and now sits at 3,216.75 points.
The movement in NCB price brings narrows gap in the price the stock trades at in Trinidad at J$129 and Jamaica to from around $24 to $19 currently.