The Junior Market Index rose just 1.98 points to 3,397 at the close of trading after 26 securities changed hands on Monday, resulting in the prices of 6 securities rising, 14 declining and 6 remaining unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 4 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 4 closed with lower offers. This reading suggests that declining stocks should exceed those advancing for the second day in a row.
Market activities, resulted in an exchange of only 1,142,126 units valued at $4,705,199, compared to 3,221,714 units valued at $11,222,507 trading on Friday from trading of 25 securities.
Trading closed with an average of 43,928 units for an average of $180,969 in contrast to 128,869 units for an average of $448,900 on Friday. Trading in September, averaged 484,335 for an average of $2,628,299 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended with 40,952 stock units changing hands after a loss of 4 cents to close at $1.91, Blue Power concluded trading with 5,035 units, and declined 30 cents to $6, CAC2000 jumped $3.75 to an all-time high at $18.75, with 2,000 shares trading, Cargo Handlers settled at $15, exchanging 6,058 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 70 cents higher at $8, with 2,295 shares changing hands. Caribbean Flavours traded 15,300 stock units, with a loss of 2 cents to end at $17, Caribbean Producers finished trading of 1,955 units at $6.35, Derrimon Trading ended at $2.90, in swapping 226,188 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading with a loss of 50 cents at $16.50, with 110 shares. Everything Fresh fell 1 cent and ended trading of 116,277 shares at $1.99, Express Catering ended trading 30 cents higher at $8.50, with 21,625 shares changing hands, FosRich Group ended trading 2,945 shares with a loss of 20 cents at $3.50, General Accident traded 214,892 shares at $3.80, GWest Corporation finished at $2.05, trading 21,641 shares, Honey Bun closed with a loss of 25 cents at $3.70, with 48,907 stock units changing hands.
Indies Pharma lost 8 cents with 119,039 shares changing hands to close at $3.32. Iron Rock ended 40 cents higher at a 52 weeks’ high $5, in exchanging 10,600 units, ISP Finance concluded trading with 3,000 shares after a loss of $2 at $20, Jetcon Corporation settled with a loss of 14 cents at $3.86, exchanging 800 shares, KLE Group traded 70,864 units for 5 cents higher at $3.80. Knutsford Express dropped $1.14 to $11.36, trading 205 shares, Lasco Distributors closed 15 cents higher at $4.10, in the swapping of 9,400 shares, Lasco Financial ended at $5.50, with 136,342 shares trading, Lasco Manufacturing concluded trading of 9,990 stock units with a loss of 10 cents at $3.75, Main Event finished with a loss of 48 cents at $5.92, exchanging 29,158 units and Stationery and Office traded 26,548 shares with a loss of 9 cents at $9.10.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
All Jamaica jumps 9,823 points to record close
The Jamaica Stock Exchange, started the final quarter of the year with huge gains to end at a record close on Monday after the market traded as high as high as 404,050.65 on the all Jamaica Composite Index.
The All Jamaica Composite Index passed the 400,000 mark for the first time shortly after trading commenced on Monday. At the end of trading All Jamaica Composite Index jumped 9,823 points to a record close of 403,100.29 after it earlier jumped 10,773.36 points with just 13 minutes to close and the JSE Index surged 8,949.87 points to a record close of 366,558.39 after trading higher to a record intraday high of 368,135.86. The Junior Market rose 1.98 points to close at 3,397.
In the main market NCB Financial traded at $128.75 but with 77,954 shares trading and Jamaica Producers traded up to $28, Jamaica Broilers traded up to $30, Pan Jam Investment traded at $63, Scotia Group closed at $62 while Supreme Ventures traded at $23.90 and Sterling Investments traded at a new high of $23.
All Jamaica jump over 400,000
The Jamaica Stock Exchange, started the final quarter of the year in record territory and is within just 535 points of the critical 400,000 points milestone at 9.35 am and with just under 35 minutes of trading the market jumped over the 400,000 mark.
The market indices surged sharply with the All Jamaica Composite Index jumping 7,088.22 points to a record 400,365.51 and the JSE Index that surged 6,458.17 points to a record 364,778.28. The Junior Market rose 23.03 to 3,418.05.
In the main market NCB Financial traded at $127.98 but with only 130 shares trading and Jamaica Producers traded up to $27.80, Jamaica Broilers traded up to $30, Scotia Group up to $61 while Supreme Ventures traded at $23.90.
All Jamaica just 535 points from 400,000
The Jamaica Stock Exchange, started the final quarter of the year in record territory and is within just 535 points of the critical 400,000 points milestone at 9.35 am.
The market indices surged sharply with the All Jamaica Composite Index jumping 6,187.64 points to a record 399,464.93 and the JSE Index jumped 5,637.64 points to a record 363,957.75. The Junior Market had slipped just 1.38 points at the opening but rose 23.03 to 3,418.05 at 18 minutes after opening.
In the main market NCB Financial traded at $127.98 but with only 130 shares trading and Jamaica Producers traded up to $27.80.
Junior Market falls to end September
The Junior Market Index declined by 34.58 points to 3,395.02 at the close of trading after 25 securities changed hands, resulting in the prices of 10 securities rising, 10 declining and 5 remaining unchanged.
Market sentiment closed somewhat negatively at the end of trading on Friday, as the IC bid-offer Indicator was narrowly positive which is an indication of that declining stocks should exceed those advancing.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 8 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 6 closed with lower offers.
Market activities, resulted in an exchange of 3,221,714 units valued at $11,222,507, compared to 2,433,731 units valued at $8,326,070 trading on Thursday from trading of 27 securities.
Trading closed with an average of 128,869 units for an average of $448,900 in contrast to 105,814 units for an average of $362,003 on Thursday. Trading for the month to date averages 484,335 for an average of $2,628,299 and on the prior trading day, an average of 502,180 units for an average of $2,737,706 units. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended 1 cent higher at $1.95, in exchanging 161,113 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading 60,693 units with a loss of 20 cents at $6.30, Caribbean Producers finished trading 3,597 units at $6.35, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 45 cents at $2, with 500 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended 5 cents higher at $2.90, after exchanging 1,332,160 shares. Dolphin Cove concluded trading 13,815 shares and climbed 50 cents higher at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished 3 cents higher at $3.05, with 54,569 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh fell 10 cents and ended trading of 336,061 shares at $2, Express Catering ended trading at $8.20, with 138,800 shares changing hands, FosRich Group traded 24,113 shares and rose 10 cents to $3.70. General Accident finished trading of 2,000 shares at $3.80, GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 5 cents at $2.05, after exchanging 24,594 stock units, 
Honey Bun ended with a loss of 5 cents at $3.95, with 106,500 units changing hands, Indies Pharma rose 1 cent with 622,577 shares changing hands to close at $3.40. Iron Rock concluded trading 10 cents higher at $4.60, with 13,000 shares. Jamaican Teas settled at $4.85, trading 100 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 20 cents higher at $4, with 13,750 stock units, Key Insurance traded with a loss of 42 cents at $3.08, with 5,000 units changing hands, KLE Group finished trading 10,000 shares with a loss of 25 cents to close at $3.75. Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 5 cents at $3.95, with 93,935 shares changing hands, Lasco Financial concluded trading of 114,689 stock units at $5.50, Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 15 cents at $3.85, with 6,362 units trading, Main Event settled 30 cents higher at $6.40, with 10,558 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables dropped $2.40 t0 $5.50, with just 600 shares trading and Stationery and Office finished trading 19 cents higher at $9.19, with 72,628 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market rise but sentiment negative
Caribbean Flavours traded on the Junior Market at a record high of $21.
The Junior Market Index advanced by 12.92 points to close at 3,429.60 at the close of trading closed with 23 securities changing hands, resulting in the prices of 4 securities rising, 7 declining and 9 remaining unchanged.
Market sentiment closed negative on Wednesday and remains negative at the close of trading on Thursday as shown by the IC bid-offer Indicator with more stocks seeming poised to decline than rise by a good margin.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 7 closed with lower offers.
Market activities, resulted in an exchange of 2,433,731 units valued at $8,326,070, compared to 28,223,468 units valued at $66,146,106 trading on Wednesday.
Trading closed with an average of 105,814 units for an average of $362,003 in contrast to 1,045,314 units for an average of $2,449,856 on Wednesday. Trading for the month to date averages 502,180 units for an average of $2,737,706 and on the prior trading day, an average of 521,373 units for an average of $2,852,740. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended with the exchanging of 372,400 stock units, and rising 4 cents higher to close at $1.94, Blue Power fell 5 cents to end at $6.50, trading 22,662 units, CAC2000 finished with the trading of 29,525 shares at $15, Caribbean Flavours traded 3,000 stock units to close $1 higher at $19, after hitting an all-time high of $21. Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 9 cents at $2.85, with 160,500 shares changing hands. Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 9 cents at $3.02, after exchanging 37,358 stock units, Everything Fresh closed trading with 108,150 shares changing hands at $2.10. Express Catering ended trading 82,267 shares at $8.20,
FosRich Group traded with a loss of 10 cents at $3.60, with 8,726 shares, GWest Corporation closed 10 cents higher at $2.10, in the exchange of 10,000 stock units. Honey Bun ended at $4, with 10,927 units being exchanged, Indies Pharma lost 1 cent with 834,773 shares changing hands to close at $3.39. Iron Rock concluded trading of 210,000 shares, at $4.50, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 15 cents at $4.85, with 10,977 shares traded, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 13,860 stock units and lost 30 cents to end at $3.80. KLE Group finished trading at $4, with 300 shares, Knutsford Express closed at $12.50, in the swapping of 1,600 shares, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, exchanging 56,900 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading 51,530 stock units and rose 2 cents higher to $5.50. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $4, exchanging 5,875 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 30 cents at $6.10, after 3,063 shares traded and Stationery and Office finished trading at $9, with 37,276 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market drops points Wednesday
KLE Group traded at a 52 weeks’ high on Wednesday.
The Junior Market Index slipped 11.52 points to close at 3,416.68, as 7 securities rose, 11 declined and 9 remained unchanged as 27 securities changed hands compared to 28 on Wednesday.
At the close of trading, leading to an exchanged 28,223,468 units valued at $66,146,106, compared to 1,705,030 shares valued at $6,168,727 on Tuesday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 2 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 5 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 1,045,314 units for an average of $2,449,856 in contrast to 60,894 units for an average of $220,312 on Tuesday. Trading for the month to date averages 521,373 units for an average of $2,852,740 and on the prior trading day, an average of 489,796 units for an average of $2,877,021. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 4 cents at $1.90, trading 172,224 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading 24,326 units and gained 5 cents to end at $6.55, CAC2000 closed at $15, trading 42,500 shares, Cargo Handlers settled at $15, with 1,969 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading of 3,000 shares with a loss of 60 cents at $7.30. Caribbean Flavours traded just 218 stock units, to close at $18, Derrimon Trading ended 4 cents higher at $2.94, exchanging 596,207 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 4 cents at $3.11, with 398,534 stock units changing hands, Eppley settled with 3,850 units changing hands with a loss of $1.01 at $8, Everything Fresh closed trading with 62,506 shares changing hands at $2.10. Express Catering ended trading of 52,045 shares with a loss of 1 cent at $8.20, FosRich Group traded 45 cents higher at $3.70, with 200 shares, GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 6 cents at $2, in exchanging 24,744,890 stock units, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 20 cents at $4, with 52,867 units. Indies Pharma gained 30 cents with 369,580 shares changing hands to close at $3.40. 
ISP Finance finished at $22, in exchanging 2,000 shares, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 30 cents at $5, with 6,850 shares changing hands, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 10 cents higher at $4.10, with 87,875 stock units, KLE Group finished trading of 1,010,000 shares and rose 25 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high at $4. Knutsford Express closed at $12.50, trading 882 shares, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, trading 44,462 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading of 237,886 stock units with a loss of 2 cents to close at $5.48, Lasco Manufacturing finished at $4, in exchanging 1,226 units. Main Event settled 80 cents higher at $6.40, with 3,200 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading with a loss of 5 cents at $7.90, in exchanging 82,386 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading at $9, with 76,847 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market recovers 128 points in 2 days
The Junior Market Index having recovered 71.51 points of the 136.58 points lost on Friday, regained another 56.96 points on Tuesday to close at 3,428.20, as 17 securities rose to 6 that declined and 5 remained unchanged.
At the close of trading 28 securities changed hands, including 3 that closed at 52 weeks’ high, compared to 23 securities trading on Monday, leading to an exchanged 1,705,030 shares valued at $6,168,727, compared to 2,563,014 units valued at $10,430,621 on Monday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 4 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 3 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 60,894 units for an average of $220,312 in contrast to 111,435 units for an average of $453,505 on Monday. Trading for the month to date averages 489,796 units for an average of $2,877,021 and on the prior trading day, an average of 518,389 units for an average of $3,054,135.
Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $48, with 100 shares trading, AMG Packaging ended at $1.94, with an exchange of 50,000 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of 49 cents at $6.50, with 28,132 units changing hands, CAC 2000 jumped $2.50 to an all-time high of $15, with 4,785 shares trading, Caribbean Cream ended trading of 15,300 shares at $7.90. Caribbean Flavours traded 5,359 stock units and rose $1.10 to $18, Caribbean Producers finished trading 25 cents higher at $6.35, with 27,102 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 1 cent at $2.45, with 14,200 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended 10 cents higher at $2.90, with 334,164 shares. Elite Diagnostic rose 3 cents to $3.15, trading 169,251 stock units, Everything Fresh closed trading with 152,436 shares changing hands at $2.10, Express Catering ended trading of 29,398 shares and rose 21 cents at $8.21, 
FosRich Group traded 298,283 shares and gained 4 cents to $3.25, General Accident finished trading with a loss of 20 cents at $3.80, with 2,823 shares. GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 9 cents at $2.06, trading 10,433 stock units, Honey Bun ended 20 cents higher at $4.20, trading 100 units, Indies Pharma lost 40 cents and closed with 370,098 shares changing hands at $3.50, ISP Finance jumped $2 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $22, trading 6,334 shares, Jamaican Teas settled 30 cents higher at $5.30, with 13,106 shares trading. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 2,400 stock units and rose 2 cents to $4, KLE Group finished trading 45 cents higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.75, with 31,795 shares, Knutsford Express closed 50 cents higher at $12.50, with 500 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 5 cents at $4, in exchanging 3,200 shares. Lasco Financial concluded trading of 101,878 stock units and rose 10 cents to $5.50, Lasco Manufacturing finished 15 cents higher at $4, switching 1,100 units, Main Event gained 50 cents to $5.60, with 25,000 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading 5,000 shares and rose $1.35 higher to $7.95 and Stationery and Office finished trading at $9, with 2,753 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market recovers 71 points on – Monday
The Junior Market Index recovered 71.51 of the 136.58 points lost on Friday, to close at 33,371.24, on Monday as 7 securities rose to a decline of 9.
At the close of trading 9 securities ended the prices closing unchanged from 23 securities changing hands, compared to 29 on Friday. Investors exchanged 2,563,014 units valued at $10,430,621, compared to 27,838,500 units valued at $164,750,850 on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 7 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 5 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 111,435 units for an average of $453,505 in contrast to 959,948 units for an average of $5,681,064 on Friday.
Trading for the month to date averages 518,389 units for an average of $3,054,135 and on the prior trading day, an average of 541,966 units for an average of $3,204,801. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.94, in exchanging 117,200 stock units, Blue Power climbed 59 cents to $6.99, with 70,243 units changing hands, Cargo Handlers settled at $15, trading 12,189 shares, Caribbean Flavours with a loss of $1.10 in trading 3,757 stock units at $16.90, Caribbean Producers finished trading 13,662 units and rose 10 cents to $6.10. Derrimon Trading ended at $2.80, with 75,428 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading with a loss of 50 cents at $16.50, with 500 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 4 cents at $3.12, with 66,264 stock units, Everything Fresh closed trading of 163,250 changing hands shares at $2.10, Express Catering lost 21 cents to close at $8, trading 65,806 shares. General Accident finished trading 10 cents higher at $4, with 1,989 shares changing hands, 
Honey Bun ended at $4, in exchanging 15,000 units, Indies Pharma lost 39 cents and closed with 1,269,841 shares changing hands to close at $3.50, Jamaican Teas settled trading of 25,350 shares at $5, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 94,876 stock units with a loss of 2 cents at $3.98. KLE Group finished trading 30 cents higher at $3.30, with 196,224 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express closed 50 cents higher at $12, with an exchange of 16,106 shares, Lasco Distributors rose 55 cents to $4.05, with 11,320 shares trading, Lasco Financial concluded trading 15 cents higher at $5.40, with 118,389 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 5 cents at $3.85, trading 7,000 units, Paramount Trading closed at $3, in exchanging 17,120 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading of 30,000 stock units with a loss of 25 cents at $9. In the Junior Market preference segment, Eppley 8.25% concluded trading at $6, with 171,500 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Everything Fresh down but not out
Everything Fresh is one of a hand full of initial public stock offers to be selling below the IPO price months after the issue. The stock that was over priced has only been partially helped by a big jump in 2018 half year profit.
The fall in the price was due to over pricing the initial offer and failure to provide more up to date information on the 2018 performance to the time of the IPO and to address developments with the margins. Even with improved results, the stock remains one of the higher priced units on the Junior Market, at a PE of 14 times this year’s pretax earnings and is in line with the market’s average.
Boosted by a big jump in profit margins, earnings after tax jumped 180 percent in the June quarter, to $26.5 million from $9.5 million in 2017. For the six months to June, profit climbed 99 percent to $38.6 million from $19.4 million in 2017. For the next five years, profit will be free of corporate taxes and in the second five years will pay taxes at half the regular rate.
Sales revenue rose 9.7 percent for the quarter, to $494 million from $451 million and increased 6 percent for the half year, to $969 million from $915 million in 2017.
Improvement in profit margin in the first half of the year that grew from 8 percent to 11 percent, increased further to 13 percent in the June quarter and was the major contributor for the sharp increase in profit. The Chairman, Gregory Pullen informed IC Insider.com, that the company took a deliberate decision in 2017 to go after certain clients with an introduction of low margins, with the expectation that they would be able to enjoy higher margins in 2018 onwards.
Everything Fresh two major owners and directors, Mr. & Mrs. Pullen.
The effect of the changes, operating profit rose 84 percent in the quarter, to $66 million from $36 million and increased 49 percent for the year to date, to $108 million from $72 million in 2017.
Sharp increase in administrative expenses by 38 percent to $28 million in the quarter and by 30 percent in the six months period to $54 million, kept the growth in the top line from filtering fully into profit. Marketing expenses associated the public of share issue added to cost in the period. Finance cost rose in the quarter, to $5 million from $4.3 million in 2017 and from $8.7 million to $9.3 million for the six months.
Earnings per share before tax came out at 5 cents for the quarter and 8 cents for the six months and should end the year at 15 cents for PE of 14 times 2018 earnings and 10 times 2019 projected earnings of 20 cents per share. The stock traded at $2.10 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday.
Gross cash flow brought in $48 million but changes in working capital and inflows from the issue of shares, resulted in $213 million of cash funds as of June. A large portion of the share issue proceeds was received after the end of the quarter, the chairman’s report to shareholders stated.
At the end of June, shareholders’ equity climbed to $651 million from $225 million in 2017. Borrowings stood at just $107 million. Net current assets ended the period at $614 million inclusive of trade and other receivables of $503 million and cash and bank balances of $213 million. Current liabilities ended the period at $207 million.
The company is looking at three meat processing facility locally with a view to acquiring one and expects that discussions will conclude by the end of this year or early in 2019. The plan is to enable the manufacturing of products by them to sell directly to its clients at more competitive prices.