Paramount chops profits by $72M

July 31, 2017 by

Paramount’s new look

Paramount Trading chops its 2017 profits by $72 million according to a release by the company published over the week end to $101 million. According to the release sales revenues climbed 12.8 percent to $1.156 billion for an increase of $132 million.
Gross profit margin declined by 2.1 percent cutting $23 million from profit compared to 2016 and operating cost rose 16 percent or $31 million from $193.8 million in 2016. “This resulted mainly from investments to build capacity to facilitate business growth in line with strategic direction of the company” the report stated. “The company will maintain a leading position in chemical raw materials, while accelerating growth in lubricants due to our investments in fixed assets including a joint venture with Allegheny Petroleum to manufacture oils locally the report went on to say.”
In the fourth quarter revenues grew 17.65 percent to $320 million from $272 million in 2016 and profit ended at $20 million in the 2017 final quarter versus $42 million in 2016. The final 2017 quarter results deteriorated sharply from performance for the February 2017 quarter, with revenues of $297 million and profit $29.5 million. The one year delay in starting to operate the lubricant plant has been costly.  The profit result translates to only 6.5 cents per share. The stock last traded on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $2.99 per share with a PE ratio of 46.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: , , ,

NCB Q3 profit jumps 33%

July 30, 2017 by

NCB Financial Group HQ.

NCB Financial Group delivered net profit of $14.7 billion for the nine months ended June 30, 2017, an increase of 48 percent over the prior year’s nine months profit of $9.9 billion. For the June quarter net profit climbed from $3.94 billion to $5.25 billion in 2016 for the group.
The overall performance resulted in earnings per share of $2.14 for the latest quarter and $5.98 for the nine months. Loans and advances, net of provision for credit losses, increased by $32 billion or 18 percent to $212.0 billion at June 30, 2017. The growth was primarily driven by a 23 percent increase in the Retail Banking portfolio. Non-performing loans totaled $5.6 billion at June 2017, representing 2.6 percent of the gross loans compared to 4.8 percent at the end of June 2016 amounting to $8.8 billion.
The board of directors in their report on the nine months results stated that, “Operating income increased by $6.2 billion or 16 percent over the prior year, to $44.2 billion. The improved revenues were primarily driven by: Net fee & commission income growing by 31 percent or $2.4 billion. The growth stemmed from our continued focus on sale effectiveness, improving the penetration into our Investment Banking services, and growing the Unit Trust portfolios, coupled with increases in pension management fees. Additionally, our focus on providing our customers with non-branch channel and digital options has led to volume growth in point of sale and e-commerce transactions. Gains on foreign currency and investment activities growing by $2.5 billion or 80 percent. Net interest income increasing by 5 percent or $1.2 billion, as a result of growth in the loan portfolio.”
“Operating expenses of $28 billion grew by 9 percent or $2.3 billion over the prior year, driven by:  Staff costs increasing by $1.9 billion or 18 percent mainly as a result of the negotiated increases in salaries, wages, allowances & benefits. Other operating expenses growing by $1.1 billion or 11 percent primarily as a result of increased asset tax charges, property and ABM maintenance expenses and professional fees resulting from the execution of strategic initiatives.”
The banking group segments delivered strong gains in revenues and profit except for General Insurance. Retail and SME segment enjoyed an increase of 13 percent in net revenues to $13.86 billion and segment profit rising 33 percent to $1.6 billion.

Advantage General suffered a fall in profit for the NCB Group.

Payment Services recorded an increase of 15 percent in net revenues to $5.2 billion with segment profit rising 31 percent to $1.75 billion, Corporate Banking net revenues grew 39 percent to hit $3.6 billion with segment profit climbing a very strong 64 percent to $2.47 billion. Treasury and Correspondent Banking net revenues increased 35 percent to $6.98 billion and segment profit rose 41 percent to $5.67 billion, Wealth, Asset Management and Investment Banking saw an increase of 25 percent in net revenues to $6.6 billion and segment profit rising 27 percent to $4.6 billion, Life Insurance and Pension Fund Management net revenues grew 14 percent to $5.6 billion, with segment profit rising 22 percent to $3.48 billion. Revenues at the General Insurance segment fell 7 percent to $4.4 billion with segment profit slipping 7 percent to $893 million and Other contributed an increase of 34 percent in revenues to $195 million and segment profit rising 55 percent to $126 million.
The Board of Directors, declared an interim dividend of $0.60 per ordinary stock unit payable on August 29, for stockholders on record as at August 15, 2017. The NCB stock closed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $80 on Friday having traded earlier the day at $81 after the release of the results.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Feature Stories, Street News & Views Tagged With: , , ,

JSE index at new record close Friday

July 28, 2017 by

NCB stock traded at a high of $81 on Friday, helping to fuel another record clsoe for the main market.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index climbed another 655.78 points on Friday to another record close of 241,606.22, the second consecutive day of record close.
The All Jamaica Composite Index closed within 212 points of the record close of May 17, this year, with the index advancing 719.76 points to close at 265,176.94.  The JSE US dollar market index closed at 188.42 with 1 security trading in the US dollar market.
At the close of trading, 25 securities changed hands in the main market leading to 15 stocks advancing including two new highs and 9 declining. The main market ended with 2,406,199 units valued at $41,645,948 changing hands compared to 4,006,769 units valued at $51,512,263 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 9,113 units valued at US$9,113 bringing the total of all trades to just J$41,925,899.
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 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 96,248 units valued at 1,665,838 for each security traded compared to an average of 166,949 units valued at $2,146,344. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 118,357 units with an average value of $2,356,369 compared with an average of 119,521 units with an average value of $2,389,059 on the previous trading day. 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 gained $1 at the end of trading to close at $18 with 36,598 shares changing hands, Cable and Wireless added 3 cents to close at $1.05, with 254,868 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement traded $1.50 higher to close at $31.50 exchanging 26,431 shares, Carreras closed at $91.20 with a loss of 41 cents trading 10,417 units, Grace Kennedy closed at $41, after losing 95 cents in exchanging 26,799 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $19.50, gaining 50 cents with trades of 51,000 shares, Jamaica Producers gained 1 cent, closing at $14.98 with 29,677 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 30 cents to close at $6 exchanging 34,820 shares, JMMB Group was down 35 cents, closing at $19.65, with trades of 774,521 shares, Kingston Properties closed at $8 with gains of 80 cents trading 2,394 shares, Kingston Wharves closed 99 cents lower to $29.01, with 1,786 units switching owners. Mayberry Investments added 1 cent to close at $4.62 trading 51,333 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $3 higher to a record close of $80, after exchanging 120,834 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $5, gaining 45 cents, trading 948 units, PanJam Investment climbed $1, closing at $34 in trading 31,062 shares, Portland JSX lost 50 cents, closing at $9.50 while exchanging 81,517 shares, Pulse Investments traded 18 cents lower to $2.31, with an exchange of 404,166 shares, Radio Jamaica gained 15 cents to close at $1.45 with 17,772 shares exchanged. Sagicor Group lost 50 cents, with 13,171 shares traded, to close at $31, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 30 cents, closing at $10.80 and trading 202,621 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44.80, after losing 19 cents with 103,886 shares traded, Supreme Ventures gained 31 cents to close at $7.99 with 126,504 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents trading 9,113 units, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share closed at a record $1.60, with gains of 5 cents exchanging 248 units, JPS 7% preference share traded 1,326 units at 45 cents and JMMB 7.5% preference share gained 14 cents to close at $1.99 trading 1,500 units.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JSE surged to record close on Thursday

July 27, 2017 by

NCBFG closed at a record of $77 and helped push the old market index to a new record on Thursday.

Big movement in some Jamaica Stock Exchange prices on Thursday saw the JSE Market Index jumping 3,189.90 points to surprisingly end at an all-time record high of 240,950.44, bettering the previous record of 240,759.97 at the close of May 17 this year.
The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 3,501.11 points to 264,457.18, closing within 1,000 points of the all-time record close reached in May this year. The JSE US dollar market index fell 1.47 points to close at 188.42 with 2 trading in the US dollar market.
At the close of trading, 24 securities changed hands in the main market, leading to 12 stocks advancing and 7 declining. The main market ended with 4,006,769 units valued at $51,512,263 changing hands compared to 2,974,171 units valued at $46,072,557 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 38,672 units valued at US$14,600 bringing the total of all trades to J$70,317,063.
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 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices, while there was none closing with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 166,949 units valued at $2,146,344 for each security traded compared to an average of 123,924 units valued at $1,919,690. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 119,521 units with an average value of $2,389,059 compared with an average of 116,886 units with an average value of $2,402,544 on the previous trading day. 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 $1 higher to close at $17 in exchanging 34,353 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.02, with 99,771 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement traded $2.25 higher to close at $30 trading 144,675 shares, Carreras gained 6 cents, to close at $91.61 in trading 25,614 units, Grace Kennedy closed at $41.95, with a loss of 4 cents exchanging 2,711 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $19, gaining 50 cents and trading 480 units, Jamaica Producers gained 37 cents, closing at $14.97 with 2,011 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 13 cents to close at $6.30 exchanging 2,449 shares, JMMB Group added 50 cents, closing at $20, with trades of 614,326 shares, Kingston Properties traded 474 units at $7.20, Kingston Wharves closed $2.50 higher to $30, with 200 units switching owners. Mayberry Investments closed at $4.61, with a gain of 6 cents trading 368,918 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1.79 higher to a record close of $77, after exchanging 17,804 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.50, rising 10 cents with 11,205 shares traded, PanJam Investment gained $2 to $33 trading 24,727 shares, Portland JSX closed at $10 exchanging 3,700 shares, Radio Jamaica traded 6,898 shares at $1.30. Sagicor Group lost 50 cents, with an exchange of 30,292 shares, to close at $31.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund declined 14 cents, closing at $10.50 while trading 2,472,421 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44.99, with trades of 1,000 shares, Scotia Investments traded $1.49 lower to close at $35.50, with an exchange of 1,260 shares, Seprod added 5 cents, closing at $30 with 580 units traded,Supreme Ventures lost 32 cents to close at $7.68 with 97,400 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents trading 32,628 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share closed at US$1.12 exchanging 6,044 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share gained 8 cents to close at $1.19 trading 43,500 units.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stationery Company to list early August

July 27, 2017 by

Stationery and Office Supplies that issued shares to the public on the 19th of July should be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on August 9, after the public holidays, subject to the listing committee meeting to approve same, IC Insider.com has been informed by a person close to the issue.
JN Fund Managers announced the method of allocation of the 52 million shares that were offered to the public. The issue attracted 1,216 applications for 241.722 million shares.
Shares allocated to SOS’ staff members were not applied for in full and resulted in 4,061,000 units being added to the general public pool with the staff picking up 8.439 million units.
The general public were all allotted the minimum of 5,000 units with the balance allocated on a pro rata basis taking into account the number of units applied for as a percentage of the total application pool in this category. JN Fund Managers’ clients were allotted up to 77,585 units of the shares applied for. Cheques for refunds should start going out as of Thursday, IC Insider.com was reliably informed.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, Street News & Views Tagged With: , , , , ,

Big jump in JSE indices on Wednesday

July 26, 2017 by

The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange indices rose sharply at the close on Wednesday with the All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 3,380.75 points to close at 260,956.07, the JSE Market Index rose 3,080.24 points to 237,760.54 and the JSE US dollar market index gained 0.89 points to close at 189.89.
At the close of trading, 24 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 14 stocks advancing and 4 declining. The main market ended with 2,974,171 units valued at $46,072,557 changing hands compared to 2,850,716 units valued at $31,654,846 at the close on Tuesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 123,899 units valued at US$30,025 bringing the total of all trades to J$49,915,700.
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 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 123,924 units valued at $1,919,690 for each security traded compared to an average of 105,582 units valued at $1,172,402. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 116,886 units with an average value of $2,509,606 compared with an average of 116,472 units with an average value of $2,430,947 on the previous trading day. 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 gained 32 cents to close at $16 trading 10,359 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.02, gaining 12 cents with 602,580 stock units swapping owners, Caribbean Cement traded $2.95 higher to close at $27.75 exchanging 723,700 shares after the company reported improved second quarter resilts, Carreras slid to $91.55, with a loss of $18.45 trading 2,525 units as this stock is now suffering from limited supply and with wholesale buying not at the higher level, Grace Kennedy closed at $41.99, with gains of 99 cents exchanging 78,085 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $18.50 by gaining 49 cents, with 111,591 shares trading, Jamaica Producers gained 10 cents, closing at $14.60 with 28,049 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 6 cents to close at $6.43 exchanging 4,032 shares, JMMB Group gained 50 cents, closing at $19.50, with 10,219 shares changing hands, Kingston Wharves traded $2.50 higher to $32.50, with 150,382 shares switching owners. Mayberry Investments closed at $4.55, with an exchange of 130,000 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1.16 higher to $75.21, after exchanging 37,026 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.40 with trades of 11,205 shares, PanJam Investment closed with a loss of $2 to $31 trading 2,673 units, Proven Investments closed at $24.71 with 250,000 shares traded, Pulse Investments gained 17 cents to close at $2.49 with 34,547 shares changing owners, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.30, with gains of 5 cents trading 15,036 shares. Sagicor Group gained 50 cents, with an exchange of 26,433 shares, to close at $32, Sagicor Real Estate Fund declined 56 cents, closing at $10.64 exchanging 393,442 shares, Scotia Group gained $1.48 to close at $44.99, with trades of 2,270 shares, Seprod closed at $29.95, with gains of 20 cents exchanging 1,940 shares, Supreme Ventures traded 6,900 shares at $8, having gained 20 cents. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents trading 123,899 units, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.85, losing 15 cents exchanging 304,177 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share traded 37,000 units at $1.11.

 

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Carreras jumps $20 to $110 record high

July 25, 2017 by

Carreras climbed to a 52 weeks’ high of $110 on Tuesdaay.

In modest trading on main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with more stock declining than advancing but with a big jump in the price of Carreras by nearly $20 helping to drive the indices up at the close on Tuesday. At the close, 27 securities traded in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 8 stocks advancing and 15 declining.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 919.07 points to close at 257,575.32, the JSE Market Index gained 837.37 points to 234,680.30 and the JSE US dollar market index declined 12.17 points to close at 189.00.
The main market ended with 2,850,716 units valued at $31,654,846 changing hands compared to 1,923,682 units valued at $19,764,112 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 282,881 units valued at US$87,908 bringing the total of all trades to J$42,907,126.
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 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 105,582 units valued at $1,172,402 for each security traded compared to an average of 96,184 units valued at $988,206. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 116,472 units with an average value of $2,430,947 compared with an average of 117,153 units with an average value of $2,509,606 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 35 cents lower to close at $6.65 with 150 units changing hands, Berger Paints closed at $15.68 trading 8,710 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 4 cents, closing at 90 cents with 937,467 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement closed at $24.80, losing 90 cents exchanging 49,814 shares, Carreras skyrocketed to a new high of $110, with gains of $19.75 while trading 4,920 units, Grace Kennedy closed at $41, with a loss of 50 cents exchanging 29,034 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $18.01, with a loss of 49 cents while trading 256,628 shares, Jamaica Producers gained 35 cents, closing at $14.50 with 36,616 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.49 exchanging 29,850 shares, JMMB Group lost 20 cents to close at $19, with trades of 38,014 shares, Kingston Properties gained 5 cents to close at $7.20 exchanging 3,282 shares, Kingston Wharves traded $1 higher to $30, with 250 units switching owners. Mayberry Investments closed at $4.55, with an exchange of 31,000 shares, NCB Financial Group traded 87 cents lower to $74.05, after exchanging 29,557 shares, PanJam Investment closed with gains of $1 to $33, trading 8,427 units, Portland JSX exchanged 300 units at $10, Proven Investments gained 4 cents, closing at $24.71 with 261,700 shares traded, Pulse Investments fell by 17 cents to $2.32 with 54,907 shares changing owners, Radio Jamaica lost 5 cents to close at $1.25, trading 179,023 shares. Sagicor Group dropped 49 cents, with an exchange of 89,872 shares, to close at $31.50. Scotia Group lost 49 cents, closing at $43.51 with 86,085 shares trading, Scotia Investments closed with gains of 89 cents to $36.99 trading 18,000 units, Seprod lost 20 cents, closing at $29.75 trading 1,490 shares, Sterling Investments closed at $14, with a loss of 5 cents trading 570 units, Supreme Ventures traded 592,150 shares at $7.80. Proven Investments US ordinary shares lost 0.02 US cents to close at 24 US cents trading 260,398 units, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $2, losing 10 cents exchanging 100,000 units and JMMB Group US 6% preference share traded 22,483 units at US$1.12.

 

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JSE rebound continues on Monday

July 24, 2017 by

Jamaica Stock Exchange indices rose again on Monday.

The main market stocks of the Jamaica Stock Exchange enjoyed a day of more rising prices than those declining which helped to lift the market indices higher than at the close on Friday. Trading was light with just $20 million trading taking place.
The All Jamaica Composite Index gained 624.71 points to 256,656.25, the JSE Market Index gained 569.18 points to 233,842.93 and the JSE US dollar market index advanced 12.74 points to 201.17.
At the close of trading, 20 securities changed hands in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 12 stocks advancing and 5 declining. The main market ended with 1,923,682 units valued at only $19,764,112 changing hands compared to 1,934,322 units valued at $34,659,775 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 7,001 units valued at US$2,227 bringing the total of all trades to J$20,049,173.
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 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 96,184 units valued at $988,206 for each security traded compared to an average of 84,101 units valued at $1,506,947. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 117,153 units with an average value of $2,509,606 compared with an average of 118,550 units with an average value of $2,611,033 on the previous trading day. 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 68 cents higher to close at $15.68, with an exchange of 3,390 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at 94 cents with 482,520 stock units traded, Caribbean Cement closed at $25.70, after losing 5 cents trading 8,699 shares, Carreras traded $2.25 higher to close at $90.25, with 3,615 units changing hands, Grace Kennedy closed at $41.50, with a loss of 49 cents exchanging 130,586 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $18.50, trading 19,716 shares and rising 50 cents, Jamaica Producers gained 15 cents, closing at $14.15 with 10,186 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed 49 cents higher at $6.49 while exchanging 16,751 shares, JMMB Group traded 2,140 shares at $19.20. Mayberry Investments gained 3 cents to close at $4.55, with an exchange of 1,000 units, NCB Financial Group retreated 8 cents to $74.92, after exchanging 18,129 shares, PanJam Investment lost 50 cents and closed at $32, with 2,259 units changing owners, Portland JSX traded 4,957 shares at $10, Pulse Investments closed at $2.49, with 2,700 shares trading, Radio Jamaica closed 10 cents lower to $1.30 trading 110,851 shares. Sagicor Group gained 24 cents, with an exchange of 28,063 shares, to close at $31.99. Scotia Group traded $3 higher to $44 with 49,135 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments closed with gains of 10 cents to $36.10 trading 1,200 units, Seprod gained 20 cents, closing at $29.95 while exchanging 2,000 shares, Supreme Ventures closed at $7.80, gaining 30 cents with 1,025,785 shares being exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares gained 0.02 US cents to close at 26 US cents trading 6,528 units and JMMB Group US 6% preference share exchanged 473 units at US$1.12.

 

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JSE response to Express Catering trading fiasco article

July 24, 2017 by

Kino Williamson (l), Head of Finance, Cable Bahamas Ltd. points to the USD label while Scotia Investment CEO, Lissant Mitchell points to the JMD label. Also sharing the moment (from left) are Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director Jamaica Stock Exchange, John Gomez, COO Cable Bahamas and Dylan Coke, VP Originations & Capital Markets, Scotia Investments

Mrs. Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director of the Jamaica Stock Exchange responded to articles on Express Catering that were published on July 21, 2017 by IC Insider.com
The response to the Article
Article Sentence 1: “The Jamaica Stock Exchange indicated that the maximum price Express Catering could trade at on Friday was $1.86 which came about from a 15 percent average, of the price that triggered the circuit breaker which is $1.75 and the IPO price of $1.50.”
JSE Market Operations & Trade Response: This statement is partially incorrect. The price that triggered the circuit breaker was $1.74 and not $1.75.

The maximum trade price of $1.86 for ECL on Friday is correctly stated. With reference to the circuit breaker rule, which states that “No stock should trade +/-15% from the close price…” and noting that the previous close price is the current day’s open price, the (open) price of $1.50 was used to determine the trade range for ECL. With reference to the following section of the circuit breaker rule, which states that “…a simple average of the trigger price and the close price, will be used to determine the trade range for the remainder of the day” an average of the price of $1.50 and the trigger price of $1.74 was calculated to determine the trade range for the remainder of the day. The average price was $1.62 and the trade range for ECL on Friday was $1.38 to $1.86, which was +-15% of $1.62.

Article Sentence 2: “Had the first trade, taken place at $1.95 it would have shut down trading in the stock for an hour, but that price would have stood, being 30 percent above the IPO price.”

JSE Market Operations & Trade Response: This statement is correct. The price of $1.95 is within the 30% range and the trade would have remained if it was the trade that triggered the circuit breaker.

Article Sentences 3 to 5: “Regardless, investors placed a large number of bids to acquire the stock which was heavily oversubscribed, when the shares were issued to the public. The attached picture shows the bids above $2.20 at the close which are expected to be cancelled, with the closing bids limited to $2 which is the indicative starting price on Monday. That price will determine the maximum price the stock can trade at on Monday.”

The Jamaica Stock Exchnage subsidiary

JSE Market Operations & Trade Response: This is correct. The Price Limitation of the Close Bid and Close Ask policy states that “the close bid should not be more than 15% of the close price…” Consequently all bids greater than 15% of the close price of $1.74 were cancelled from the trading system. 134 buy orders were cancelled and the respective traders were advised of the cancellations. $2.00 is 15% of ECL’s close price of $1.74; the highest price permitted for the ECL close bid. The close bid at $2.00 is the effective close price on Monday, July 24, 2017 and will be used to determine the trade range.

Article Sentences 6 to 9: “Something must be wrong if investors can place orders into the system only to see them manually cancelled by the exchange after trading ends. This development is public relations and bad news for the exchange, but not many persons seem to care. The circuit breaker rule put in place to try and prevent wild daily movements in a stock prices seems to have out lived its life. It is not working well with new listings as it is preventing orderly trading in most new listings in the early days of trading.”

JSE Market Operations & Trade Response: The practice of manually removing orders that fall outside of the 15% limit has been in place since the implementation of the Price Limitation of the Close Bid and Close Ask policy.

Article Paragraph 3: According to an extract sent by the Jamaica Stock Exchange the Circuit Breaker Rule states that “No stock should trade +/-15% from the close price or the effective close price at the opening of the market. The effective close price is determined whenever the closing bid is greater than the close price or whenever the closing ask is less than the close price. Use the closing bid as the effective close price, if the value is greater than the close price or use the closing ask as the effective close price, if the value is less than the close price. However, during the day if the Circuit Breaker is triggered for a security, the trades at prices outside of the original prescribed band for the security will be disallowed for an hour to allow for the release of market news and a cool down period. The price of the trade that triggered the Circuit Breaker should not be +/-15% outside of the original prescribed price band. After the hour has passed the security will be released for trading within a new prescribed price band based on the new reference price, which is a simple average of the trigger price and the close price. The new reference price will be used to determine the trade range for the remainder of the day. The stock will not be allowed to trade +/- 15% of the new reference price.”

Starbucks one of the brand Express Catering will sell at the Montego Bay Airport.

JSE Market Operations & Trade Response: The circuit breaker rule.

Article Paragraph 4: “If it is were conceded that there is need for a daily price limit, the above rules have been made more complex than needs be the case. There is no logic in limiting one stock to trade at a 30 percent above the last traded price or indicative price and another to be limited to a lesser amount on the same day because an investor buys a stock at 30 percent above the prior days last price another at 15.1 percent above it which limits the trading for the rest of the day to less than 30 percent in the latter case. The new rules that were approved by the stock exchange in 2014 made no reference to a limit to the bid or offer that can be made during the day, exchange personnel have decided amongst themselves to improperly invoke the additional change that limits trading unnecessarily. The stock exchange should make good sense prevail and allow the above rules to be implemented fully as stated without the introduction of rules that the updated regulations do not include and from all indications were not signed off by the stock exchange council, went the change was submitted for approval. If that is done, it would remove the nonsense that now prevails in the Express Catering trading, with a huge line up of bids above $2 that are slated to be cancelled after trading today.”

JSE Market Operations & Trade Response: The Price Limitation of the Close Bid and Close Ask policy was implemented in 2014 after the circuit breaker rule was amended in order to effectively apply the revised circuit breaker rule, specifically the section of the circuit breaker which states that “The price of the trade that triggered the Circuit Breaker should not be +/-15% outside of the original prescribed price band.”

Summary
The amended circuit breaker rule has been consistently applied over the last three years. It was amended to provide increased liquidity during any one trading day. The amending of the circuit breaker rule was done to ensure that there was adequate cooling off period and adjust to market conditions.

In the case of the trading in ECL, there was no trading fiasco. The circuit breaker rule was properly applied and had no bearing on any issues with the new trading platform.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Combined, Stock Market Tagged With: , , ,

JSE Q2 profit jumps 41% one to watch

July 24, 2017 by

A sharp fall of $92 million in Exchange Operations’ revenue for the half year to June, resulted in the segment results falling $110 million to $41 million but a 41 percent rise in Depository Services’ revenues to $156 million and 20 percent in Trustee Services’ income to $137 million resulted in the segments’ profit rising by 83 percent and 17 percent to $82 million and $75 million respectively.
The improved performance in the newer services of the Jamaica Stock Exchange saw second quarter results increasing over the performance of the first quarter with a rise of 41 percent in profit after tax compared to a decline in the first quarter versus the strong 2016 first quarter. The gains in the June quarter reduced the fall in profits for the by percent to $102 million, compared with the corresponding financial period last year of $158 million. The six months performance resulted in earnings per share of 15 cents, the June quarter returned 6 cents per share.
Total Expenses grew 19 percent over the 2016 quarter to $167 million and 13 percent for the six months to $330 million. Major increases were experienced in professional fees which included cost for defending claims against an employee and advertising and marketing.
“It is expected that for the remaining quarters there will be more companies listing their securities on the exchange and a positive movement in fee income due to the expected increase in trustee Services clientele,” the chairman, Ian McNaughton and Managing Director Marlene Street Forrest stated in a release to shareholders accompanying the financials.
The balance sheet shows assets of $1.24 billion, cash funds of $517 million and stockholder’s equity of $891 million.
IC insider.com is forecasting earnings per share of 35 cents for 2017. The stock last traded on the Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $6.

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