2017 is set to be the year with the most listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange even as just four listings have made it to the market so far in 2017. At the end of 2016, eighteen new listings were expected based on feedback the stock exchange obtained from brokers and companies expressing an interest in listing.
Express Catering a company operating in the Montego Airport is being brokered by Mayberry Investments in a bid to raise funds for existing shareholders. The company shares are expected to be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Existing shareholders plan to sell between 20 to 40 percent of the company to raise around $400 to $500 million at a price range between $1 and $2.50 per share, our source informs IC Insider.com.
The company would be valued around $1 billion and using a PE of 10 times earnings would put the profit at around $100 million. The bulk of passengers passing through the Montego Bay airport are tourist, with the continued increase in hotel rooms passenger traffic will keep growing for some time and provide the company with increased opportunity for growth.
Not much more has so far been disclosed, but an indication of the company’s size can be gleaned from the fact that Montego Bay Airport Ltd generated revenue from Express Catering for rental and commission on food and beverages sales of U$$2.7 million in for 2016, an increase from US$2.5 million in 2015.
In April this year The Gleaner reported that the company has annual revenues at US$14 million from being an exclusive provider of food and beverage products in the post-security lounge of the Sangster International Airport. The company has a diverse group of proprietary brands and international franchises to include such brands as Quiznos Subs and Salads, Aunt Annie’s Pretzels, Nathans Famous Hot Dogs, Cinnabon, Moe’s South Western Grill, Wendy’s, Dominos and Dairy Queen.
Elsewhere, the Musson’s subsidiary, Productive Business Solutions prospectus is said to be at the FSC for vetting, from about three weeks ago and should be close to being released to the public. Productive Business Solutions operates in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA and will come to the market with a US$41 million offer of ordinary shares. Stationery and Supplies Limited is also expected to be coming to the market anytime now.
Express Catering heading for Junior Market
NCB dominates trading Wednesday
NCBFiniancial Group traded more than 4 million shares on Wednesday.
NCB Financial Group dominated trading with more than 4 million shares valued at $286,797,356. The trade accounted for 92 percent of the value traded on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Trading in the main market ended with 5,393,689 units valued at $311,918,709. The US dollar market accounted for 195,859 units valued at US$55,370. On Tuesday, the main market accounted for 1,999,970 units valued at just $31,629,345, well below normal levels.
At the close of the market, the All Jamaica Composite Index rose 338.37 points to close at 262,492.90, the JSE Market Index gained 308.29 points to 239,160.76 and the JSE US dollar market index lost 0.43 points to 214.03.
At the close of trading, 25 securities changed hands with 3 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 7 stocks advancing and 9 declining.
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 4 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 215,748 units valued at a mere $12,476,748 for each security traded, compared to an average of 74,073 units valued at $1,171,457 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 116,619 units with an average value of $4,001,676 compared with an average of 91,837 units with an average value of $1,882,908 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for May ended at 358,008 units and $9,037,303.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 8 cents lower to close at $7.02, with an exchange of 1,500 shares, Berger Paints closed at $19.50, with gains of 75 cents, trading 2,417 shares, Cable and Wireless exchanged 171,723 stock units at $1.25, Caribbean Cement closed at $28.82, losing 18 cents with 97,166 shares traded, Carreras lost 1 cent, closing at $84, with 53,352 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy closed at $42.95, with 12,043 units trading, Jamaica Broilers traded 25,692 shares at $17.50, , Jamaica Producers lost 10 cents to close at $16, with 12,947 units changing hands. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.10, trading 37,700 shares, JMMB Group exchanged 236,760 units at $20, with a loss of 88 cents, Kingston Wharves closed at $31 while losing of 40 cents in exchanging 24,529 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 9 cents to close at $5.08, with 90,380 shares traded, NCB Financial Group closed at $70, after losing 80 cents in exchanging 4,079,621 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $4.49 trading 1,055 units, 1834 Investments gained 12 cents to close at $1.55, with 2,498 shares changing ownership. 
PanJam Investment closed at $34.70, with an exchange of 19,793 shares, Portland JSX traded 2,800 units at $10.15, Radio Jamaica gained 2 cents to close at $1.67 exchanging 195,500 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $34.25, losing 55 cents with an exchange of 30,881 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 41,866 shares at $11. Scotia Group closed at $43.50 exchanging 60,031 shares, Scotia Investments traded 15 cents higher to close at $38, with 111,026 shares changing ownership, Seprod closed at $29.90, trading 12,511 shares while Supreme Ventures gained 10 cents to close at $7.50 exchanging 26,886 shares. Margaritaville Turks gained 0.01 US cent to close at 35 US cents, with 6,500 ordinary shares changing hands, Proven Investments lost 0.29 US cents in trading 188,359 ordinary shares at 28 US cents, Sterling Investments US ordinary share, closed at 11 US cents with 1,000 units exchanged and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.15, with trades of 43,012 units.
Main Event flat profit before tax
Main Event Entertainment that went public with an IPO in January this year is reporting flat profit before tax and slightly lower net profit after tax of $3.3 million. Profit before tax for the year to October ended at $59.8 million com-pared to $60.3 million in 2015.
Profit after tax came in at $56.5 million versus $60 million in 2015, the out turn is lower than the $60 million the internal figures to September last year that was included in the prospectus showed. The net profit translates to earnings per share of just 23.5 cents with 240 million shares applicable at the date of the financials.
Return on average equity amounted to a strong 41 percent, with shareholders’ equity at the end of the period being $242 million.
The results emanated from a 9.5 percent rising in revenues to $1.13 billion, the growth was slowed b y a big drop in revenues from Digital Signage. With gross profit climbing 13 percent to $429 million. Expenses rose by 15.7 percent to $354 million. Revenue during the year was generated mostly by Entertainment promotion activities of $854.7 million in 2016 from $742.7 million in 2015. Audio and film contributed $189.5 million compared to $140 in 2015 and Digital signage of $88 million versus $151 million in 2015. The auditors signed off on their report on the 5th of June, an indication that all was not well with the financial reporting.
Main Event went public at $2 in January and now trades on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $6.50.
Jamaica main market stocks fall -Tuesday
Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Tuesday with more stocks declining than rising leading to a second straight days of decline in the market indices. At the close the All Jamaica Composite Index declined 620.51 points to 262,154.53, the JSE Market Index fell 565.35 points to 238,852.47 and the JSE US dollar market index lost 1.08 points to 214.46.
Trading ended with 28 securities changing hands with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 13 declining. Trading in the main market ended with 1,999,970 units valued at just $31,629,345 changing hands compared to 1,059,661 units valued at a mere $8,670,794 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 52,647 units valued at US$14,909.
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 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 74,073 units valued at a mere $1,171,457 for every security traded compared to an average of 36,540 units valued at a mere $298,993 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 91,837 units with an average value of $1,882,908 compared with an average of 97,758 units with an average value of $2,120,059 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for May ended at 358,008 units and $9,037,303.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed at $18.75, with gains of 75 cents exchanging 131,922 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 5 cents to close at $1.25 trading 23,220 stock units, Caribbean Cement traded 9,754 shares at $29, Carreras added 1 cent, in closing at $84.01, with 2,961 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy closed at $42.95, losing 5 cents trading 9,185 units, Jamaica Broilers traded 46 cents lower to close at $17.50, with 83,176 shares being exchanged, Jamaica Producers gained 10 cents to close at $16.10, with 76,301 units changing hands. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.10, with a loss of 29 cents trading 7,200 shares, JMMB Group traded 132,068 units at $20.88, with gains of 38 cents, Kingston Wharves lost 60 cents, in closing at $31.40, while exchanging 3,034 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 29 cents to close at $4.99, trading 11,005 shares, NCB Financial Group closed at $70.80, gaining 25 cents after exchanging 94,931 shares, 1834 Investments lost 7 cents to close at $1.43 trading 7,000 shares. Palace Amusement soared to an all-time high of $340, gaining $110 with just 103 shares traded, PanJam Investment closed at $34.70, with a loss of 30 cents, trading 131,937 shares, Portland JSX closed at $10.15, with 1,000 shares changing hands, 
Pulse Investments traded $1.50 lower to close at $14.50, with 24,000 shares exchanged, Radio Jamaica lost 5 cents to close at $1.65 in trading 553,296 shares, Sagicor Group added 55 cents to close at $34.80, with an exchange of 11,800 shares while Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 50 cents to close at $11, with 22,715 shares changing hands. Salada Foodsadded 95 cents, closing at 52 weeks’ high of $10, with 2,000 shares. Scotia Group fell 30 cents, closing at $43.50 exchanging 96,431 units, Scotia Investments traded $1.35 higher to close at $37.85, with 20,165 shares, Seprod closed at $29.90, trading 17,520 shares while Supreme Ventures lost 9 cents to close at $7.40 exchanging 524,816 shares. Proven Investments traded down marginally with 52,647 ordinary shares at 28.29 US cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $2 with trades of 1,492 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.15 exchanging 938 units.
Paltry Jamaica Stock Exchange trades – Monday
Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with a sharp fall in volume and value traded and a drop in the market indices. The All Jamaica Composite Index declining 1,197.69 points to close at 262,775.04, the JSE Market Index fell 1,091.23 points to 239,417.82 and the JSE US dollar market index closed at 215.54.
At the close of trading, 31 securities changed hands with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 9 declining. Trading in the main market ended with 1,059,661 units valued at just $8,670,794 changing hands, compared to a much higher, 3,774,318 units valued at $94,412,872 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 98,500 units valued at US$28,311.
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 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 36,540 units valued at a mere $298,993 for every security traded, compared to an average of 145,166 units valued at $3,631,264 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 97,758 units with an average value of $2,120,059 compared with an average of 128,368 units and $3,030,592 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for May ended at 358,008 units and $9,037,303.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed at $18, with a loss of 64 cents exchanging 41,750 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.30 trading 62,785 stock units, Caribbean Cement traded 99 cents lower to close at $29, with an exchange of 3,486 shares, Carreras lost $5 with 950 shares changing hands and closed at $84, Grace Kennedy advanced $2.01 to close at $43, trading 28,738 units, Jamaica Broilers closed at $17.96, gaining 6 cents with 38,773 shares being exchanged, Jamaica Producers lost 50 cents to close at $16 trading 43,524 units. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.39 with an exchange of 21,947 shares, JMMB Group traded 36,475 units at $20.50, Kingston Properties traded 49 cents higher to close at $11.49, with 1,224 shares changing owners, Kingston Wharves exchanged 1,108 shares at $32, Mayberry Investments lost 5 cents to close at $4.70, with an exchange of 50,700 shares, NCB Financial Group closed at $70.55, losing 44 cents after exchanging 6,431 shares, 138 Student Living exchanged 2,900 stock units at $4.49 and 1834 Investments gained 10 cents to close at $1.50 trading 16,000 shares. 
PanJam Investment closed at $35 trading 3,430 shares, Portland JSX lost 35 cents to close at $10.15, with 3,700 shares changing hands, Pulse Investments traded $2 lower to close at $16, with 9,313 shares, Radio Jamaica exchanged 145,825 shares at $1.70, Sagicor Group added 5 cents to close at $34.25 trading 39,824 shares and Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 82 cents to close at $11.50, with 2,177 shares changing hands. Salada Foodsgained 55 cents, closing at $9.02, with an exchange of 350 shares, after trading at a 52 weeks’ intraday high of $10. Scotia Group dropped $2.10 and closed at $43.80, exchanging 6,424 shares, Scotia Investments traded $1.35 lower to close at $36.50, with 750 shares changing ownership, Seprod closed at $29.90, with gains of 38 cents trading 500 shares, Sterling Investments closed at $16.90, gaining $1.40 with 5,000 shares changing hands while Supreme Ventures added 29 cents to close at $7.49 exchanging 62,690 shares. Margaritaville Turks exchanged 4,500 units at 34 US cents, Proven Investments traded 94,000 ordinary shares at 28.49 US cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $2 with trades of 5,984 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.15 exchanging 415,000 units.
Cable Bahamas to trade at $1m each
Kino Williamson (l), Head of Finance, Cable Bahamas, Scotia Investment CEO, Lissant Mitchell. Also sharing the moment (from left) are Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director Jamaica Stock Exchange, John Gomez, COO Cable Bahamas and Dylan Coke, of Scotia Investments
The Bahamian based telecommunication group, Cable Bahamas (CBL) listed two preference shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) on Friday. The shares represent capital raised in Jamaica and US dollars in Jamaica by way of private placements. The stock listed on the Jamaican dollar preference section of the local market will trade with a minimum of $1 million each.
A total of J$1.9 billion was raised, comprising two preference shares at 8 percent each, amounting to US$4.9M and J$1.35 billion from a number of institutional investors arranged by Scotia Investments. The funds raised were used to launch its mobile telephony services in the Bahamas.
“Scotia Investments is pleased to have been able to support CBL in listing these bonds on the Stock Market. Being able to do a transaction like this – a preference share, listed on the JSE, for an overseas issuer – is further evidence of the depth and sophistication of Jamaica’s capital markets” said Dylan Coke, Scotia Investments, VP Organization & Capital Markets.
Cable Bahamas is a public company incorporated on September 1994 under the laws of The Bahamas and listed on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange. Subsidiaries provide cable television and related services, national and international data services, internet services, telephony and wireless, web hosting and business continuity services. The subsidiaries of the company include Cable Freeport Ltd., Caribbean Crossings Ltd., Maxil Communications Ltd., Systems Resource Group Ltd., and Be Aliv Ltd.
The group which were already providing landline telephone service, commenced Cellular phone service late in 2016 after receiving a cellular license. According to the Group’s CEO John Gomez we have around 30 percent of the mobile market with an overall market size of BH$300 million.
The company is not considering listing the ordinary shares in Jamaica at this time but are open to considering it at some point in the future, the groups’ Kino Williamson (l), Head of Finance advised IC Insider.com.
JSE main market jumps – Friday
Carreras closed at a new high of $89 on Friday.
The closing indices in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed strongly higher on Friday by more than 2,000 points even as the advance decline ratio was almost one to one. The market closed with 27 securities changing hands including 1 trading in the US dollar market. At the close, 10 stocks advanced and 9 declined.
Trading levels in the main market ended at 3,774,318 units valued at $94,412,872 compared to 2,282,207 units valued at $48,598,384 at the close on Thursday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 27,750 units valued at US$7,906.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 2,195.29 points to close at 263,972.73 the JSE Market Index climbed 2,000.15 points to finish at 240,509.05 and the JSE US dollar market index gained 0.45 points to close at 215.54.
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 none with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 145,166 units valued at $3,631,264 for each security traded, compared to an average of 111,569 units valued at $2,429,919 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date, are 128,368 units and $3,030,592. The average volume and value for May ended at 358,008 units and $9,037,303.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 10 cents lower to close at$7.10, with an exchange of 82,225 shares, Berger Paints gained 10 cents, closing at $18.64 with trades of 9,642 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.30, trading 541,675 shares while Caribbean Cement exchanged 4,915 shares at $29.99. Carreras jumped $4 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $89, with 13,837 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy lost 1 cent to close at $40.99 exchanging 1,141,371 units, Jamaica Broilers closed at $17.90, losing 10 cents with 57,091 shares traded at the same time Jamaica Producers lost 20 cents to close at $16.50, with 82,100 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 19 cents, closing at $7.39 with an exchange of 165,761 shares, JMMB Group closed at $20.50, with gains of 50 cents trading 79,537 units, 
Kingston Properties traded 50 cents lower to close at $11, with 15,277 shares, Kingston Wharves exchanged 15,524 shares at $32, Mayberry Investments lost 5 cents to close at $4.75, with an exchange of 39,790 shares, NCB Financial Group was down 1 cent to $70.99, after exchanging 69,538 shares, 138 Student Living exchanged 2,900 shares at $4.49. PanJam Investment closed at $35, with gains of 50 cents trading 5,955 shares, Portland JSX added 35 cents to close at $10.50, with 1,417 shares changing ownership, Pulse Investments traded 1,000 shares at $18, Radio Jamaica exchanged 7,216 shares at $1.70, Sagicor Group lost 40 cents to close at $34.20, with trades of 179,803 units. Scotia Group closed at $45.90, with gains of $1.91 exchanging 430,372 shares, Seprod closed at $29.52, with a loss of 48 cents trading 1,221 stock units, Sterling Investments closed at $15.50, with 350,890 shares changing hands, Supreme Ventures gained 20 cents to close at $7.20 exchanging 306,881 shares. Proven Investments traded 27,750 ordinary shares at 28 US cents, Jamaica Money Market 7.5% preference share gained 18 cents, closing at $2 with trades of 2,500 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.15, with a gain of 5 cents in exchanging 165,880 units.
Access growing by acquisition
Access growing aggressively
Micro lender Access Financial (AFS) on 27 May 2016, entered into an agreement to purchase the business of Damark Limited as a going concern comprising mainly the loan portfolio, fixed assets, trademark and customer relationship for a consideration $180 million, notes to the 2017 audited financial statements show.
The principal activities of Damark Limited at the time of the acquisition of the assets was retail lending. Net assets acquired include, Customer relationships $21.8 million, Trademark and Trade name, $2.7 million, Loan portfolio of $148.7 million, Fixed assets of $2.17 million and Goodwill of $4.6 million.
Damark Limited previously operated out of Suite 13 at 11 1/2 Swallowfield Road in Kingston, Jamaica.
In 2015, Access acquired the loan portfolios of Asset Management Company Ltd formerly operated by Scotia Investments which was sold and ultimately purchased by Proven Investments before being sold to Access and Appliance Traders for just over $500 million. The acquisition helped in growing the net loan book at AFS above $1.5 billion or 35 per cent year-on-year.
Access which enjoyed strong growth in the 2017 fiscal year from ongoing business is not relying on geometric growth alone as information reaching IC Insider.com indicates that the micro lender is currently working on another acquisition. Our sources inform us that it is about the same size as the Damark acquisition and should be completed by the end of June.
The company made profit of $678 million from revenues of $1.5 billion dollars and had loans outstanding of $2.6 billion at the end of March. The stocks traded on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $50.
JSE majors jump again on Wednesday
The main indices of the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange surged again on Wednesday pushing them within striking distance from the record high reached recently. At the close 27 securities changed hands in the main market with 3 trading in the US dollar market with 9 stocks advancing and 6 declining.
Trading levels in the main market ended at 1,782,575 units valued at $37,905,161 compared to 7,796,244 units valued at $62,297,173 at the close on Tuesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 37,630 units valued at US$13,624.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 2,152.18 points to close at 262,458.74, the JSE Market Index rose 1,960.88 points to finish at 239,129.62 and the JSE US dollar market index gained 9.71 points to close at 215.66.
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 none with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 66,021 units valued at $1,403,895 for each security traded, compared to an average of 311,850 units valued at $2,491,887 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 358,008 units with an average value of $9,037,303 compared with an average of 371,912 units with an average value of $7,355,047 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387In market activity, Barita Investments closed at $7.20 trading 809 shares,Berger Paints gained 2 cents to close at $18.54 exchanging 1,118 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.34, with trades of 111,000 shares, Caribbean Cement traded 1,879 shares at $29.99. Carreras lost $1 and closed at $83, with 16,045 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy gained 10 cents to close at $41 trading 72,235 units, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 80,541 shares at $18, Jamaica Producers traded $1.39 cents higher to close at $16.99, with 36,431 shares trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.20, with 7,880 shares changing ownership. JMMB Group advanced $1.15 to $20 exchanging 1,028,499 units, Kingston Wharves lost 40 cents to close at $31.60, with 11,066 shares traded, Mayberry Investments exchanged 10,695 shares at $4.80, with a loss of 70 cents. 
NCB Financial Group closed at $71, with gains of 40 cents after exchanging 29,295 shares, 1834 Investments traded 3,304 shares at $1.40,138 Student Living exchanged 3,772 shares at $4.49. PanJam Investment closed at $34.90, after a loss of 10 cents with 41,600 shares traded, Portland JSX exchanged 600 shares at $10.15, Pulse Investments traded 15,460 shares at $14.50, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.70, while 44,844 shares traded, Sagicor Group exchanged 36,564 shares at $34, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $11, with 14,795 units changing hands. Scotia Group jumped $2.50 and closed at $45, in exchanging 93,110 units, Scotia Investments gained $1.35 to close at $37.85 trading 600 shares, Seprod exchanged 15,669 shares at $30, Supreme Ventures added 25 cents to close at $7.50 trading 93,457 shares. Margaritaville Turks closed at 34 US cents exchanging 730 units, Proven Investments traded at 28.50 US cents, with an exchange of 33,500 ordinary shares, JMMB 7.5% preference share lost 18 cents to close at $1.82 trading 8,507 units and JMMB Group USD 6% preference share gained 0.01 US cent, closing at $1.13 with 3,400 units changing hands.
Carreras pays $7B to government
Carreras grew profit by 27% in the fiscal year to March.
According to the last audited financials to March this year, Carreras will contribute $7 billion in taxes to the government of Jamaica coffers, excluding payroll taxes.
For the current fiscal year, the company is expected to contribute in excess of a billion more in taxes as government increased taxes on cigarettes earlier this year and profit grows thus contributing more in profit tax. The cigarette distributors paid 15 percent more in Special Consumption Tax during the fiscal year, than the year before, with $5.9 billion being paid while operating revenues grew 12.8 percent to $13.5 billion.
The financial results to March show profit for the year rising 27 percent to $3.8 billion or $7.84 per share with earnings versus $6.20 in 2016. Carreras incurred $1.2 billion in corporate taxes. In achieving the improved results the company not only increased revenues net of consumption taxes but cut operating cost as well. Administrative cost fell from 1.21 billion to $1.07 billion, as staff cost fell from $211 million down to $163 million and Business support services cost declined from $386 million to $302 million. Distribution cost from $723 million to $622 million as $81 restructuring cost incurred in 2016 was eliminated in 2017. Occupancy cost fell from $56 million to $45 million Security fell from $74 million to $57 million and other expenses declined by $23 million to just $4 million. Staff cost rose from $316 million to $332 million.
Cash funds stood at $2.58 billion compared to $2.6 billion in 2016 and shareholders’ equity at $2.1 billion. IC Insider.com is forecasting profit for the year to March 2018 of $4.4 billion with earnings per share of $9.
Dividends paid during the year to March 2017 amounted to $3.45 billion or 91 percent of profit. The stock traded at $84 on Tuesday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.