JSE: Stocks trading unchanged on top

February 19, 2014 by

Wednesday, 19th February 2014 | There was trading in 32 securities resulting in 4,788,900 shares with a value of $10,931,649 as 5 stocks rose and 7 declined in today’s trading on the Jamaica stock market. Twenty stocks closed unchanged in price.

Main Market | The JSE Market Index declined by 352.05 points to close at 79,564.87 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite fell 534.04 points to 84,245.61.

Gains | Cable & Wireless traded 2,263,421 shares to close back at its recent high of 36 cents by gaining 2 cents; Carreras traded 7,900 units as the price moved up by 85 cents to close at $36 and Mayberry Investments contributed 36,956 units at $1.89, a 4 cent gain.

Firm Trades | Stocks that traded with unchanged prices were greater than those with price changes with Berger Paints having 1,500 units trading to close at $1.85; Caribbean Cement 16,000 shares at $4.70; Grace Kennedy with 6,657 shares changing hands at $55.50; Jamaica Broilers, 22,242 shares at $4.80; Jamaica Money Market Brokers ordinary shares 3,202 units at $7.50; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference shares 824,800 units at $2; the 8.50% preference shares only had 400 units at $3.50 and the 8.75% preference share, 35,000 units at $3; Jamaica Producers, 290 units at $18.26; Kingston Wharves 16,696 units at $6; National Commercial Bank 13,200 shares at $18.50; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 1,300 units at $7.10; Scotia Group 105,909 units at $21 and Supreme Ventures 9,891 shares at $2.35.

Losses | Three stocks that declined in the main market were Proven Investments in the US dollar market trading 5,590 units at US17.5 cents, declining by US0.49 cents; Salada Foods with 8,000 shares trading to close at a cent down at $9; Scotia Investments 2,000 shares as the price lost 35 cents to end at $26 and Sagicor Group with 76,687 shares at $9, down 50 cents.

JSEIndicesFeb19Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 4.12 points to close at 751.74 as advancing stocks were hard to find in this market.

Gains | Cargo Handlers Limited closed at a new all-time high of $15 while trading 91,250 units for a gain of 80 cents and Caribbean Cream had 21,000 shares trading at 85 cents for a 4 cent increase.

Firm trades | Stocks trading unchanged dominated trading with General Accident Insurance having 124,757 units at $1.65; Honey Bun 15,026 shares at $3; Lasco Distributors 120,257 units at $1.30; Lasco Financial Services 319,900 shares at $1.45; Lasco Manufacturing 70,000 units at $1.23 and Paramount Trading 3,700 units at $3.

Losses | Only 3 stocks lost value with Caribbean Producers slipping 3 cents while trading 501,369 units to close at $2.72; Medical Disposables & Supplies 58,000 units as the price edged down by 6 cents to $2 and Dolphin Cove with 6,000 shares to close down 10 cents at $8.50.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

TTSE: Still exhibiting weakness

February 19, 2014 by

Wednesday, 19th February 2014 | Trading remained subdued on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange with only 37,483 shares trading valued at $1,826,137. On Tuesday 29,258 shares traded with a value of $1,647,664.

Overall Market activity resulted in 10 securities trading of which 2 advanced, 2 declined and 6 traded firm. The effect of the price changes were reflected in the market indices with the Composite Index advancing by 0.05 points to close at 1,192.43, the All T&T Index inched up by 0.10 points to close at 2,000.44 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 50.49.

Gains | Guardian Holdings with 2,600 shares valued at $36,821 to close at $14.16 and Unilever with 220 units to close at $56.54, both stocks gained a cent each.

Losses | First Citizens Bank had 4,410 shares traded for $171,892 and closed at $38.97 and Agostini’s contributed 4,000 shares with a value of $71,139 to close at $17.79 both declining by a cent.

TTSEFeb19Firm Trades | Clico Investment Fund posted 8,225 shares valued at $178,473 with the price remaining at $21.70; Neal & Massy traded 789 units to close at $66.25; One Caribbean Media traded only 20 shares to end the day at $19.25; Scotia Bank had 15,553 shares changing hands for a value of $1,119,816 with the price closing at $72; Republic Bank traded 1,560 to close at $117 and Point Lisas Industrial Port Development traded 106 units $3.60.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

Carreras is back

February 19, 2014 by

Profits at Carreras is back on track dollar wise, as revenues hit $3.66 billion in the 2013 December quarter versus $3.745 billion in 2012.

Gross profit is above the 2012 period of $1.69 billion at $1.75 billion in 2013. Selling and administrative expenses declined in the latest quarter, which would have pushed the 2013 results above 2012. Carreras booked interest due on the debt owed by the tax department of $1.8 billion as other income, resulting in profits growing to $2.18 billion after tax, versus $1.17 billion in the prior year. Gross profit is down for the nine months to $3.98 billion from $4.34 billion in 2012. Profit after tax for the year-to-date is $3.1 billion versus $5.1 billion, with both periods having swollen figures due to exceptional income.

CarrerasTobaccoFree280x150Volumes are still down, but not as badly as in the June quarter, when sales were negatively affected by the hike in cigarette prices in March 2013 and the stock piling of inventories by the trade ahead of the price hike, a practise that goes back for several years. The December quarter’s performance is in stark contrast to the June quarter when revenues plummeted from $3.1 billion in June 2012 quarter to just $2.16 billion, a sharp 30 percent drop, but profit after tax fared even worse, dipping by 40 percent.

Expenses rise | Administrative, sales & marketing expenses fell in the latest quarter to $600 million from $710 million in 2012 but is marginally up to $1.655 billion for the nine months compared to $1.58 billion for the same period as of December 2012.

Tax Recovered | The tax now recoverable is down to $980 million from $1.733 billion at the end of March and is expected to be fully recovered over the next 12 months and will most likely be distributed as dividends to shareholders.

Carreras ended up with cash funds of $3.8 billion at the end of December, equity is at $4.7 billion or $9.60 per share.

Earnings appears to be back on track to deliver around $6 per share annualised, which would result in some increase in the quarterly dividend that was cut from $1.50 to $1 last year in light of the drop in profit. Carreras declared $1.62 as the latest dividend to be paid March after paying a special capital cash distribution of $1.18 on January 30, 2014.

Carreras is an IC Insider Buy Rated Stock.

Related posts | D&G, Carreras & C&WJ now Buy Rated | Carreras pays out liquidation money | Carreras takes a big hit but tax recovery starts | Carreras grew income

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

D&G, Carreras & C&WJ now Buy Rated

February 17, 2014 by

IC Insider has added Desnoes & Geddes, Carreras and Cable & Wireless Jamaica to the Buy Rated list.

Desnoes & Geddes reported gains of 21 percent for the six months to December, earnings excluding one-off items and is poised to earn 80 cents for the full year ending in 2014. Forecasted earnings for the 2015 year is $1.10.

For Carreras the worse seems to be over with the last set of interim figures showing sales starting to recover from the impact caused by the price increase and the stock piling of cigarettes in the 2012 December and March 2013 quarters. IC Insider’s forecast is for earnings of around $5 per share for the year to March 2014.

Cable & Wireless’ sharp increase in cellular revenues and cost cutting will change the bottom-line markedly going forward.

Berger Paints Jamaica has been added to the market watch list flowing from a revival in earnings for the March 2014 year.

Related posts | D&G elevated to Buy Rated! | Carreras is back | CWJ loss down with much progress | Berger keeps profit gains

BUY&WATCHFeb12th

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

Caribbean Producers results pushes stock

February 14, 2014 by

Investors were evidently impressed with the results of Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ) for the half year to December 2013 and pushed the stock price up to $3 on Thursday, February 13th, the first trading day after the release.

The company released second quarter results to December showing profits up by 202 percent to US$1.624 million for the six months and 65 percent for the December quarter to US$1.18 million from US$711,712 in 2012. Earnings per share for the six months amounted to US$0.148 cents.

Sales revenues rose by 24 percent for the December quarter and 22 percent year to December hitting US$37.5 million for the 6 months and US$20.46 for the quarter. Gross profit margins came out at 41 percent for the quarter and 42.4 percent year to December. In the prior year, the margins were 42 percent for the quarter and 39.8 percent for the six months period.

CaribbeanProducers(CPJ)280X150Expenses up | Selling and administrative expenses are up 16.4 percent in the December quarter and 18.2 percent for the six months, while finance cost rose by 19 percent in the latest quarter and 14.4 percent for the year to December. Depreciation charge also rose sharply due mainly to their expansion into meat and juice processing.

CPJ’s performance for the next quarter should push profits up quite sharply as historically the March quarter generates the highest amount of sales and profit during the peak winter tourist season. IC Insider has forecast earnings for the full year at 70 cents Jamaican and J$1.35 for 2015 fiscal year.

Finances | The company is still not comfortably funded with borrowed funds of US$25 million at an elevated level and in excess of equity of just US$14.7 million. Short term loans are at $11 million, well in excess of the annual cash flow of approximately US$9 million.

Caribbean Producers is an IC Insider Buy Rated stock.

Related posts | D&G, Carreras & C&WJ now Buy Rated | Caribbean Producers’ impressive profit | CPJ’s new St Lucia venture

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

D&G elevated to Buy Rated!

February 14, 2014 by

Desnoes & Geddes brewers of the world renown Red Stripe beer reported profit before taxation of $2.45 billion, a 102 percent increase over the $1.2 billion generated in 2012 and net profit of $1.95 billion. The huge jump in the bottom line came from booking capital gains from the sale of its interest in two eastern Caribbean Breweries in the December quarter, which contributed $970 million to the profit. Excluding this one-off capital gain would result in the 2013 numbers coming in at $1.479 billion for pretax profit or an increase of 21 percent, and $976 million after tax versus $808 in 2012. This translates to 35 cents per share for the six months period.

Profit in the local market before administrative and selling expenses rose 22 percent to reach $1.56 billion but export profits fell slightly to $402 from $468 million in 2012. Based on the latest results, IC Insider is forecasting 80 cents per share earnings for the year to June 2014 and $1.10 for 2015. Based on the company’s expected performance, IC Insider has elevated Desnoes & Geddes to Buy Rated status.

D&GBeerCap280x150pxSales | Revenues grew 12 percent to $7.30 billion, compared with $6.5 billion in 2012 for the six months and grew by a more robust 18.5 percent in the latest quarter to $4 billion.

“The domestic portfolio continues to grow, increasing by 23 percent on growth in the brewed portfolio as well as improved pricing. Export sales declined 28 percent as the shift in production from Jamaica to the USA during the last financial year,” management stated in their release with the financials.

Gross Profit margin ended at 72 percent for the December quarter and 70.8 percent for the six months but the 2012 six months numbers were at a high of 75.8 percent.

Expenses | D&G was able to cut cost even as revenues rose. Marketing cost declined by 9 percent to $497 million, which the company attributes savings as a result of funds expended in 2012 on Jamaica’s 50th independence celebration. Cost containment and the outsourcing of the distribution of its products led to the reduction in general, selling and administrative cost with a fall of 9 percent to $542 million for the six months to December.

Finances | Cash resources climbed to $1.7 billion at the end of 2013 from $1.2 billion in 2012 but receivables jumped to $2.95 billion from just over a $1 billion in 2012 and $1.1 billion in June 2013. The company attributes the rise due mainly to full credit being given to its associated distribution company.

Related posts | D&G, Carreras & C&WJ now Buy Rated | D&G $1billion pay day | Profit inches up at D&G

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

CWJ loss down with much progress

February 14, 2014 by

Cable & Wireless Jamaica released quarterly results showing a loss of $315 million compared to $438 million in 2012 from lower revenues and $120 million in restructuring cost.

The latest quarterly results showed improvement in several areas with changes in revenues and cost. The December quarter showed an overall revenue reduction of 19 percent but cost was down as well. The end result is growth in gross margin with gross profit up to $3.65 billion from $3.27 billion in 2012 and moderate improvement in the bottom-line. However, there is far more happening here than meets the eyes. The company is reporting increased revenue from cellular phone usage coming from both voice and data with a growth in the customer base year-over-year. The pace has been growing since 2012 and is up 11 percent for 2013 in US dollars and is expected to increase even more as data usage grows.

Image courtesy of nokhoog_buchachon/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of nokhoog_buchachon/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

These quarterly numbers have lots of coded information about current and future performances of a company that has bled much blood in the past few years and is trying hard to recover. For the nine months, loss is $1.75 billion and is down from $2.2 billion in 2012. More importantly, the stage is set for a sharp reduction in losses going forward. Landline revenue was down in keeping with the reduction in local termination rates as well as  CWJ’s cut in landline call rates during the period. A large part of the revenue reduction came from restructuring of the telephone directory cost which now leaves CWJ in a better position as the risk was reduced.

Cost savings were also achieved in restructuring commission payments to mobile credit distributors and the wage bill was down in the quarter. However, administrative and other cost rose due to the outsourcing of the maintenance work for the phone system. IC Insider believes the future is bright for CWJ and is forecasting an absolute profit in the March quarter and an overall profit in 2015 fiscal year.

CWJ grew its mobile subscriber base, increasing by 23% and quarterly mobile service revenue rose 43 percent over the 2012 prior year quarter in local currency. This increase is after the company changed its method of accounting for active users from counting customers having credit on their phones to those who actually used their phones during the last 60 days. Gary Sinclair, LIME’s Managing Director, stated that 55,000 customers were removed from the total as a result of the change. Nevertheless, the overall number of subscribers are up year-over-year and continues to grow in 2014.

In response to the question, “Is December’s income now representative of what can be expected baring growth or contraction on a quarterly basis,” Sinclair stated that EBITA is actually up in January and that is more indicative of what can be expected.

The strategy is clear, cut cost some more and grow the mobile base, the area of strong growth potential.

In trading on Thursday, investors reacted negatively to the news and sold CWJ’s stock down to 31 cents but some buying came in and drove the price up.

With growth to come in revenues and lower cost on the horizon, Cable & Wireless Jamaica is now a Buy Rated stock.

Related posts | D&G, Carreras & C&WJ now Buy Rated | CWJ: Making headway but slowly | Cable & Wireless up 56% in January | $2B slide in landline revenues sinks C&WJ | C&W: Less jobs, more capital spend

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

JSE: Cable & Wireless dominates trade

February 11, 2014 by

Tuesday, 11th February 2014 | Cable & Wireless dominated trading on the Jamaica stock market with 25 million units as the stock closed at a new 52 weeks high of 34 cents in reaction to news out of the UK parent company that mobile revenues had climbed 43 percent in the December 2013 quarter over that of 2012.

Prices of 9 stocks rose and 10 declined with a total of 28 securities trading, resulting in 28,122,916 shares changing hands for a value of $40,180,273

The JSE All Jamaican Composite declined by 109.45 points to close at 83,682.30. The JSE Market Index gained 8.97 points to 79,193.51.

Main Market gains | Stocks with increased prices at the end of trading include Caribbean Cement with 536,064 shares as it gained 48 cents to close at $4.60; Carreras closed up by 65 cents to $35 while trading 66,036 units; Gleaner traded 5,000 units to close at $1.15 for a 5 cents improvement; Kingston Wharves had 10,805 to close up 6 cents at $6.06; Scotia Investments traded just 3,136 units as the price closed at $26.50 for a $2 increase.

Firm trades | Berger Paints having 1,000 units at $1.75; Ciboney with 557,600 units at 10 cents; Jamaica Broilers had 1,000 shares trading to close at $4.86; Grace Kennedy, 990 shares, as the price closed at $55 and Seprod closing at $11 with 500 shares trading.

Losers | Amongst the losing stocks are Desnoes & Geddes with 429,937 shares to close at $4.86, a fall of 14 cents; First Caribbean International Bank with 800 units to shed $1 to close at $80; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 122,797 units trading with the price easing 5 cents to close at $7.40; Mayberry traded 8,000 shares to close at $1.91, down by 9 cents; National Commercial Bank traded 16,417 units to close at $18 for a 10 cents decline; Sagicor Group 18,774 shares to close at $9.10, a decline of 20 cents; Sagicor Investments with just 1,000 units to close at $18.00 for 50 cents decline. Sagicor Real Estate X Fund declined by 1 cent to close at $7, with 14,605 units changing hands; Scotia Group exchanged 1,084,114 units as the price fell by 10 cents to close at $21; Supreme Ventures exchanged 48,700 shares at $2.39, one cent less than the opening price.

The JSE Junior Market Index closed with a gain of 10.91 points to 759.95 as only six stocks traded in this market on Tuesday.

JSEIndicesFeb11Junior Market winners | Three stocks to close higher are Caribbean Producers trading 20,000 shares to close at $2.70, up 15 cents; Lasco Distributors with 73,000 at $1.45 up 10 cents and Medical Disposables 44,000 units trading up 4 cents to $2.10.

Firm trades | AMG Packaging trading only 100 shares to close at $3.60; Consolidated Bakeries with 14,300 shares to close at $1.15 and Lasco Financial with 21,253 shares at $1.35.

Declines | There were no declining stocks in the junior market.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

Huge mobile growth for C&WJ

February 11, 2014 by

Buy Rated Alert! Cable & Wireless Jamaica now elevated to Buy Buy rated from Market Watch based on the strong increase to subscriber base and mobile revenue growth.

Cable & Wireless Communications Plc is reporting that Cable & Wireless Jamaica continued its momentum in growing its mobile subscriber base, increasing by 23% in the December quarter last year over the last quarter of 2012. In a release to investors the UK listed aren’t company said, “Subscriber growth momentum in our Jamaica business was sustained and quarterly mobile service revenue rose 42% on the prior year in local currency”.

cable-and-wireless-worldwide280x150Cable & Wireless Jamaica stock traded on Wednesday, February 5th as high as 32 cents to record a gain of 100 percent for the year to date. However, the price, closed at 31 cents, a gain of 94 percent for the year-to-date and a new 3 year high.

IC Insider understands that between May and November, 250,000 new cellular customers were added to the network and new customers continue to be added at the same pace. In addition, the Christmas promotion went well with some phones sold out ahead of December and most of the phones sold involved data plans. Going forward, it will translate to billions of dollars in increased revenue per annum for the company.

At the close of trading on Monday, there were 5,147,967 shares on offer by Mayberry Investments at 32 cents to sell. The broker switched from selling and instead bought 5,000,000 units at 32 cents at the start of trading on Tuesday.

Related posts | Cable & Wireless up 56% in January

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: , , ,

JSE: Starts week down

February 10, 2014 by

Monday, 10th February 2014 | JSE Market and the All Jamaican Indices were down on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as the prices of 10 stocks rose and 9 declined with a total of 31 securities trading, resulting in 2,016,956 shares changing hands for a value of $38,412,196.

The JSE All Jamaican Composite declined by 380.26 points to close at 83,572.85. The JSE Market Index fell by 250.68 points to 79,184.54.

Main Market gains | Caribbean Cement with 29,870 shares as it gained 10 cents to close at $4.12; Carreras closed up by 25 cents to $34.35 while trading 65,939 units; Jamaica Broilers had 51,214 shares trading and was up 6 cents to close at $4.86; Mayberry traded 2,000 shares to close at $2, up by 15 cents; National Commercial Bank with 302,200 units to close at $18.10 for a 10 cents gain; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund increased by 1 cent to close at $7.01, a new 52 weeks high with 8,700 units changing hands; Scotia Group with 59,150 units as the price rose by 9 cents to close at $21.10; Seprod rose 10 cents to close at $11 with 15,000 shares trading.

Firm trades | Six ordinary shares traded firm in the main market and two in the preference section. Berger Paints having 166,803 units at $1.75; Cable & Wireless with 403,970 shares to close at 30 cents; Grace Kennedy with 303,243 shares as the price slipped by 10 cents to $55; Jamaica Producers with 128,000 shares at $18.75; Kingston Wharves 22,753 shares to close at $6 and Radio Jamaica 6,245 shares at $1.60.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 10,000 units to close at $3 with and the 7.25% closed at $2.50 while trading 1,000 shares.

Losers | Counted amongst the losing stocks are Barita Investments with 3,000 units at $2.50, a 10 cents drop; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had just 1,150 units trading with the price easing 3 cents to close at $7.40; Sagicor Group 25,491 shares to close at $9.30, a decline of 20 cents; Scotia Investments traded just 1,693 units as the price closed at $24.50 for a fall of $2; Supreme Ventures exchanged 13,800 shares at 3 cents less than the opening price.

JSEIndicesFeb10The JSE Junior Market Index closed down by 6.62 points to 749.04 as the price of only 2 stocks gained and 4 declined.

Junior Market winners | Access Financial with a gain of 10 cents in trading 9,028 units to close at $10.56 and Lasco Financial with 64,100 shares at $1.35, up 15 cents.

Firm trades | AMG Packaging trading only 1,054 shares to close at $3.60; General Accident 90,649 shares to close at $1.60 and Honey bun with 5,000 shares and closed at $3. Eppley 9.5% preference shares traded 21,600 units at $6.

Declines | Four stocks that suffered declines include Caribbean Producers while trading only 4,000 shares to close at $2.55 and down 15 cents; Dolphin Cove with 4,900 units, closing down 30 cents to end at $8.60; Lasco Manufacturing 55,962 units to close down a cent to $1.25 and Medical Disposables 10,000 units trading down 4 cents to $2.06.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower. The reading, which had climbed to 10 to 2 on Friday, is back to the levels seen last week Thursday with a 4 to 4.

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