Jamaica Stock Exchange main market indices surged sharply by the mid-day to come within a shade of a new resistance level of 280,000 point on the all Jamaica index.
By Mid-day the All Jamaica Composite Index hit a new all-time high of 279,335.69, after surging a huge 6,471.87 points at 11:50 but by mid-day it was up 5,527.76 to 278,391.58. The JSE Market Index jumped 5,896.61 points to a record 254,506.45 and at mid-day it was up 5,036.42 to 253,646.26 and the Combined index leaped 5,738.73 points to 268,155.40 at 11:50 and by mid-day it rose 5,041.53 to 267,458.20. The Junior Market index rose 37.30 points to 3,145.49 at mid-day.
JSE AJI index flirts with 280,000 points
August 8, 2017 by
Will Barita jump TOP 10?
August 8, 2017 by
Barita closed at $8 on Friday.
News emerged during the past week that directors at Barita Investments was considering a bid to purchase the majority of its shares.
Investors responded immediately by removing just about all offers that were posted on the trading platform of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the stock climbed to $8 and only require a small increase to leave the top list.
Main market Berger Paints rose during the week from $18 to trade at $19 and was edged out of the top list by Pulse Investments that fell sharply in price to close with a bid of $1.75 after the price fell during the week.
Recent TOP 10 billing, NCB Financial Group that recently fell out of the top list closed the week at $94.99 in response to continued demand flowing from strong increase in nine months profit against a back drop of minimal selling of the stock.Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) will start trading on Wednesday, August 9, when the price is expected to surge, based on the heavy over subscription at the initial public offering, with more than 1,200 applications for shares. This stock could be out of the top listing very soon.
Other junior market stocks activity, CAC 2000 fell out of the top listing and Lasco Manufacturing returned to the top listing.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is at 6.7 and the PE for the main market TOP 10, ends the week at 7.4.
The average PE for the overall main market trades at 13.3 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 44 percent to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
Stocks to watch|The stocks that investors should keep an eye on this week include, Barita Investments, JMMB Group, Stationery & Office Supplies, NCB Financial, Jetcon Corporation.
All Jamaica jumps 2,443 points to record 272,863.82
August 4, 2017 by
Jamaica Stock Exchange main market hit new records at the close on Friday, with the All Jamaica Composite Index hitting a 4th consecutive all-time high of 272,863.82 after surging 2,443.17 points and the JSE Market Index jumping 2,226.01 points to it 6 consecutive record at 248,609.84.
NCB Financial Group jumped sharply by $11.99, to be the major contributor to the market movement, to close at an all-time high of $94.99, with 23,437 shares traded. There has been very limited supply for the group’s stock in the market and trading closed with less than 7,000 shares on offer.
The JSE US dollar market index gained 0.41 points to close at 188.84 with 2 securities trading in the US dollar market and one losing value.
NCB Financial Group’s shares jumped $11.99 on Friday.
At the close of trading, 20 securities changed hands in the main market leading to 11 stocks advancing and 7 declining. The main market ended with 2,489,517 units valued at $21,640,002 changing hands compared to 3,104,799 units valued at $66,312,076 at the close on Thursday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 726,081 units valued at US$174,757 bringing the total of all trades to J$44,008,929.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 124,476 units valued at $1,082,000 for each security traded compared to an average of 119,415 units valued at $2,550,464. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $163,620 units with an average value of $2,047,849 compared with an average of 183,191 units with an average value of $2,530,773 on the previous trading day. 
The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, fresh from the news that Barita Investments is considering an offer to purchase the majority of its shares, the priced climbed $1.15 higher to close at $8 trading just 650 units. Attendant with the announcement, offers that were posted up to Thursday were withdrawn. Other securities trading on Friday along with the volume and the last price traded, include: Berger Paints adding 2 cents at $19 exchanging 29,575 shares, Cable and Wireless gained 5 cents to close at $1.05, with 134,938 shares trading, Carreras fell $1, to $109 with 29,460 shares, Grace Kennedy lost 10 cents exchanging 11,034 shares at $41. Jamaica Broilers lost 50 cents, closing at $18 trading 1,834 shares, Jamaica Producers traded 80 cents lower at $15.10 with 5,582 shares. Jamaica Stock Exchange added 2 cents, to $6.47 trading 20,072 shares, 
JMMB Group eased 1 cent to $19.99, with 19,321 shares. 1834 Investments closed at $1.40, losing 1 cent with 20,720 shares, Proven Investments added 29 cents to close at $25.01 in exchanging 300,000 shares, Pulse Investments dropped 70 cents to end at $1.50, with 321,745 shares. Sagicor Group gained 25 cents, climbing to $32 trading 5,820 shares, Salada Foods gained 69 cents to close at $9.30, with 1,300 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44 with 63,020 shares, Sterling Investments closed at $14.05, with gains of 5 cents and 100 units, Supreme Ventures gained 17 cents, closing at $7.85 with 264,190 shares traded. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents, with 725,299 units, Margaritaville Turks US ordinary shares exchanged 782 units at 36 US cents, after slipping a fraction, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.11 with 1,232,719 units traded and Proven 8.25% preference share closed at $5, with gains of 2 cents trading 4,000 units.
Barita in takeover talks
August 4, 2017 by
Barita closed at $6.85 on Thursday.
Well known brokerage house, Barita Investments is currently in discussion for the sale of majority shareholdings in the Company.
A release from the company to the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday advised that the Company has received an offer to acquire the majority shares and that the offer is under consideration by the Company’s Board of Directors and that discussions continue, pending the preparation and conclusion of definitive agreements.
The 76 percent majority shareholder with 339,975,664 shares and chairman, Rita Humphries-Lewin who started the company from the 1970s, is currently in her 80’s and close to retirement, making the offer opportune for her.
The offer comes at an interesting time just after Proven Investments closed their rights issue that raised US$16,547,873 (J$2.1 billion) resulting from the sale of an additional 68,949,472 ordinary shares. Barita could be a good fit for them as well as others within the sector, especially with an established Unit Trust portfolio. In the past investors were of the view that Barita could make a good fit for Mayberry Investments. Information glean suggest that they are not one of the arties showing an interest just now. Victoria Mutual Group has just started a Unit Trust schemes but the cost of a start up is high until it gets to a critical mass, Jamaica National has no unit trust portfolio and just started in the stockbrokerage business. Barita would make a great fit for them but it is unsure that their Chairman, Oliver Clarke would want to sanction that move at this time.
VMBS seems to be an interested party.
Barita has 445.877 million shares issued with a market capitalization of just over $3 billion, a simple majority holding would cost just over $1.5 billion at current price, assuming a price higher than the current one would result in a higher sum. The amount of capital raised by Proven would translate to $10 per share for a simple majority in Barita. IC Insider.com projects earnings for the current year at 90 cents. With the listed investments banks trading at PEs around 11 times, 2017 earnings, a reasonable value of $10 per share seems probable. With the company having unrealized gains not showing in the normal profit, a price around $10 should be attractive to both buyers and sellers at this time. An investor with cash would want to get as much of the shares of the majority owner, but with a mandatory offer having to be made to minority shareholders, they may want to go for a smaller amount initially with 65 to 70 percent looking viable. NCB Group have been on expansion run as well and the combination of NCB Capital Markets and Barita could create synergies. NCB group owns all of the investment arm making a merger with Barita down the road very viable.
Barita is primarily involved in stockbroking, Unit Trust management and repo business. The Unit Trust business that is poised to grow rapidly in a low interest rate environment, would be a big attraction for Proven who currently have no such business within their portfolio.
5 straight records for JSE Market Index
August 3, 2017 by
Thursday ended on the main market stocks of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with the All Jamaica Composite Index crossing the 270,000 mark for the first time in jumping 1,819.13 points to close at a 3rd consecutive record, at 270,420.65. The JSE Market Index surged 1,657.43 points to a 5th consecutive record close, of 246,383.83.
The JSE US dollar market index lost 12.74 points to close at 188.43 with 2 securities trading in the US dollar market, including one preference share. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 135,953 units valued at US$37,081.
At the close of trading, 26 securities changed hands in the main market, leading to 13 stocks advancing and 9 declining and the price of one stock in the US dollar market fell. Two stocks closed at new 52 weeks’ highs. The main market ended with 3,104,799 units valued at 66,312,076 changing hands compared to 7,902,954 units valued at $80,354,594 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the local and US dollar markets to J$71,058,454.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading is indicating a strong move ahead as 12 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 119,415 units valued at $2,550,464 for each security traded compared to an average of 246,967 units valued at $2,511,081. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $183,191 units with an average value of $2,530,773 compared with an average of 246,967 units valued at $2,511,081 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, the last traded price of securities trading along with the volume changing hands are: Barita Investments with just 900 units closing at $6.85 and gaining 20 cents, Berger Paints gaining 48 cents to $18.98 exchanging 5,568 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1, with gains of 4 cents trading 523,776 shares, Caribbean Cement lost 20 cents to close at $29.80 with 77,000 shares, Carreras ended at $110 with of 27,188 shares, Grace Kennedy gained 60 cents at $41.10, exchanging 69,007 shares. 
Jamaica Broilers dropped 50 cents, closing at $18.50 with 172,757 units, Jamaica Producers traded 90 cents higher to $15.90 with 185,577 shares. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.45 trading 12,250 shares, JMMB Group closed 25 cents lower to $20, with 17,637 shares. Kingston Wharves gained 10 cents to close at $27.20 exchanging 612 units. Mayberry Investments gained 39 cents, closing at $5 trading 110,000 shares, NCB Financial Group added $1.99 to record close of $83, after exchanging 263,394 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.41, losing 9 cents with 25,000 shares, PanJam Investment traded $1.45 lower to $33 trading 51,940 shares, Proven Investments added 1 cent to close at $24.72 exchanging 148,499 shares, Pulse Investments gained 26 cents to close at $2.20, with 15,000 shares, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.41 with 115,145 shares. Sagicor Group gained $1.74 to $31.75 trading 75,345 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44.95, losing 95 cents with 420,846 shares, Scotia Investmentsexchanged 2,000 shares at $35.12, after losing 38 cents, Seprod closed at $31, with gains of 95 cents and 500 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures lost 2 cents to close at $7.68 with 110,571 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents, losing 0.02 US cents trading 130,897 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share exchanged 5,056 units at US$1.12, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.99, gaining 9 cents, trading 74,187 units, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 4 cents, closing at $1.11 with 600,000 units exchanged and 138 Student Living variable rate preference share closed at 52 weeks’ high of $5.68, with gains of 68 cents trading 100 units.
New record for the JSE on Wednesday
August 2, 2017 by
Carreras jumped $17.50 to $110 on Wednesdaay after the company indicated they are considering a stock split.
Trading on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange saw increased number of securities changing hands including 6 preference stocks. The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 1,892.68 points to close at a new record of 268,601.52, the JSE Market Index jumped 1,724.45 points to a 4th consecutive record close, of 244,726.40.
The JSE US dollar market index rose 17.40 points to close at 201.17.
At the close of trading, 32 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 16 falling including 5 that ended at 52 weeks closing highs. At the close 7,902,954 units valued at 80,354,594 changed hands in the main market compared to 24,165,397 units valued at $225,427,641 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 18,500 units valued at US$4,810 bringing the total of all trades to J$80,890,786.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 246,967 units valued at $2,511,081 for each security traded compared to an average of 1,006,892 units valued at $9,392,818. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, Barita Investments closed at $6.65 with trades of 1,100 shares, Berger Paints lost 20 cents, closing at $18.50 exchanging 106,569 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at 96 cents, losing 9 cents trading 16,965 shares, Caribbean Cement closed at $30, with a loss of $1.20 exchanging 18,114 shares, Carreras closed at $110, advancing $17.50, with trades of 96,316 shares, Grace Kennedy closed at $40.50, with a loss of $1.25 exchanging 55,923 shares. Jamaica Broilers was down 1 cent to close at $19 trading 652,777 shares, Jamaica Producers traded 92 cents lower to close at $15 with 2,153,273 shares exchanged. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed with gains of 6 cents to $6.45 trading 25,297 shares, JMMB Group closed 70 cents lower to $20.25, with trades of 18,890 shares and Kingston Properties exchanged 400 units at $8. Mayberry Investments gained 1 cent to close at $4.61 trading 5,627 shares, NCB Financial Group added 1 cent to close at $81.01, after exchanging 49,807 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.50, with an exchange of 13,795 shares, 138 Student Living lost 1 cent to close at $5, with trades of 46,000 shares, PanJam Investment gained 45 cents, closing at $34.45 trading 100 units, Portland JSX traded 50 cents lower to $9 exchanging 22,000 shares, Pulse Investments lost 51 cents to close at $1.94, with trades of 64,423 shares and Radio Jamaica closed at $1.41 with 31,277 shares exchanged. Sagicor Group fell $3.49 to $30.01 trading 18,656 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund lost 10 cents, closing at $11.92 trading 28,372 shares, Salada Foods closed at $8.61, with a loss of 72 cents and 60,000 shares changing owners, 
Scotia Group closed at $44.95, losing 3 cents with trades of 87,322 shares, Scotia Investments exchanged 3,000 shares at $35.50, Seprod closed at $30.05, with a gain of 4 cents and 95,000 shares changing hands and Supreme Ventures lost 10 cents to close at $7.70 with 25,235 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 26 US cents, gaining 0.04 US cents trading 18,500 units.
A large number of preference shares traded with 4 trading at 52 weeks’ highs.JMMB Group 7.50% preference share closed at $1.15, with a loss of 2 cents exchanging 3,950,000 units, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.90 trading 105,000 units, JPS 7% preference share gained 3 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of 48 cents with 41,300 units switching owners, JPS 5% C preference share closed with gains of 2 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of 38 cents trading 1,835 units, JPS 5% D preference share gained 2 cents, closing at a 52 weeks’ high of 38 cents with 71,921 units exchanged, JPS 6% preference share closed at 52 weeks’ high of 44 cents, gaining 3 cents trading 36,660 units.
Express Catering may have topped out
August 2, 2017 by
The bids and offers for recently listed Express Catering may have topped out,
based on the quotes this morning.
In early trading on Wednesday, bids amounted to over 1.53 million units up to $4.71 with offers of 1.285 million from $7 down to $4.98. Bids above $4.50 amounts to less than 40,000 units, suggesting that strong buying may have waned. It is early in the day and the feeling out process could be on to entice sellers to drop their offers and vice versa.
A total of 50,668 units traded so far down to $4.71, with a high of $4.98 for the day. Since the stock listed on the Exchange late in July, the price shot up sharply from the initial public price of $1.50 and induced more than 54 percent of the IPO issue to trade.
Record $170M profit for Knutsford
August 2, 2017 by
One of Knutsford Express buses.
Profit after tax grew 40 percent at Knutsford Express for the year to May 2017 to $170.3 million but pretax profit was up a lower 28 percent to end at $164.4 million from revenues that rose 28.7 percent to $752.4 million.
Operating and administrative cost was up 29.6 percent to $580.6 million over the year ago period.
During the year, $107.6 million was expended on new fixed assets which pushed depreciation up sharply from $37 million in 2016, to $56 million in 2017. The financial statements reflect $49 million deposited to purchase vehicles, Managing Director, Oliver Townsend confirmed that they are adding “ a couple of buses to expand the fleet, some have already arrived with additional ones to come”.
Big expense items that grew sharply during the year are, Salaries up from $168 million to $194 million up 15.7 percent, toll charges rose from $11.4 million to $29 million, Fuel climbed from $64.7 million to $91 million and would be from a combination of higher prices and more bus trips. Parts cost $43 million fro0m $26 in 2016 while Insurance rose from $18.5 million to $27.2 million. Unfortunately, the company continues to present the financial information without breaking separation direct from indirect cost so that investors can determine more accurately the potential profitability.
Knutsford’s balance sheet presents a picture of strength with current assets of $231 million including cash funds of $156 million, up from $88 million in 2016. Shareholders’ equity stands at $483 million. Liabilities stand at $105 million including deferred tax of $12 million.
We will definitely open the transport centre at the Sangster International Airport later this month Townsend informed IC Insider.com. The centre is expected to capture a bigger slice of passengers disembarking from aircrafts as it become more convenient for them.
Subsequent to the year-end an interim dividend of 6.8 cents per share was declared as the final dividend for the year ended May 2017. The payment will be will be on September 15. The payment amounts to $34 million and is up 41.7 percent over the $24 million paid in 2016. The stock last traded on the Junior Market of the Jamaican Stock Exchange at $14.95. IC Insider.com is forecasting earning per share for 2018 at 53 cents, putting the PE for the stock at rich 30 times earnings, at this level the stock is likely to underperform the Junior Market movement for the next twelve months.
Berger #2 top main market stock for 2017
August 1, 2017 by
Berger is up 235% to date for 2017.
The share price of Pulse Investments recorded the most gains for the year to date in the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) main market
The JSE is reporting that the share price declined since the start of 2017 by 31.18 percent, from $3.56 to $2.45 and for July an incredible 86 percent from $17.40 to $2.45.
The data is contained in their monthly statistical report that is posted on the exchange’s website.
The exchange has failed to recognize the 6 for one stock split that would mean that the stock is up 312 percent for the year so far, and is one of 5 stocks on the main market to record more than 100 percent gain for the year to date and one of three in excess of 180 percent. Berger Paints with gains of 235 percent is the second leading main market stock. The stock last traded at $18.70 on Monday.
Record & more record for JSE on Monday
July 31, 2017 by
The JSE main market has broken through resistance at 265,000 on the AJI but new resistance is not far away – see black line in upper right.
It was another record close for the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market index, which was joined by the All Jamaican Composite index surpassing the previous high reached in mid-May. At the All Jamaica Composite Index climbed 1,531.90 points to close at 266,708.84, the JSE Market Index surged 1,395.73 points to 243,001.95 for a third consecutive days of record close.
The JSE US dollar market index lost 4.65 points to close at 183.77 with 1 stock trading in the US dollar market. The market closed out July with gains of more than 26 percent for the year to date.
At the close of trading, 24 securities changed hands in the main market leading to 14 stocks advancing and 8 declining. 
The main market ended with 24,165,397 units valued at $225,427,641 changing hands compared to 2,406,199 units valued at $41,645,948 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 323,789 units valued at US$75,331 bringing the total of all trades to J$235,070,022.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 1,006,892 units valued at $9,392,818 for each security traded compared to an average of 96,248 units valued at $1,665,838. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438 compared with an average of 118,357 units with an average value of $2,356,369 on the previous trading day.
138 Student Living had the largest volume trading on Monday with 15M units.
The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints traded 70 cents higher, closing at $18.70 exchanging 21,998 shares, Caribbean Cement closed at $31.20, with a loss of 30 cents trading 509,604 shares, only 376 units of Carreras were traded but the shares of the sellers of cigarettes closed at $92.50, with an increase of $1.30. Lumbering conglomerate Grace Kennedy, gained 75 cents to close at $41.75, with an exchange of 67,541 shares. Chicken processors Jamaica Broilers close down 49 cents to $19.01 while trading 214,505 shares, Jamaica Producers food processors and wharf operators, gained 94 cents and closed at $15.92 with 36,928 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 39 cents exchanging 32,036 shares to end at $6.39, JMMB Group traded $1.30 higher to $20.95, with 97,100 shares traded, Kingston Properties closed at $8 exchanging 2,200 shares, Kingston Wharves closed lower by $1.91 to $27.10, with 1,118 units switching owners. 
Mayberry Investments lost 2 cents to close at $4.60 trading 3,333 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1 higher to a record close of $81, after exchanging 324,498 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $5.01, gaining 1 cent with 15,003,952 units having traded, PanJam Investment closed at $34 trading 111,124 shares, Pulse Investments gained 14 cents to close at $2.45, with an exchange of 7,425 shares, Radio Jamaica lost 4 cents, closing at $1.41 with 1,500 shares exchanged. Sagicor Group jumped $2.50 to $33.50, with 321,349 shares changing hands, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded $1.22 higher to $12.02, closing trading with 6,527,000 shares, Salada Foods gained 33 cents to close at $9.33, with 20,000 shares changing owners, Scotia Group closed at $44.98, gaining 18 cents with trades of 35,300 shares, Seprod closed at $30.01, with a gain of 1 cent exchanging just 100 units, Supreme Ventures lost 19 cents to close at $7.80 with 805,910 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 22 US cents, losing 2 US cents in trading 323,789 units, JMMB Group 7.50% preference share closed at $1.17, with a loss of 2 cents exchanging 500 units and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share lost 9 cents to close at $1.90 trading 20,000 units.