Junior Market slips

Derrimon Trading ended trading at a new closing high of $26.99 on Tuesday.

More prices fell than rose in trading on the Junior Market on Tuesday, with 28 securities being active compared to 26 on Monday, leading to 7 advancing, 10 declining while 11 remained unchanged.
The market closed with the index slipping 6.28 points to close at 3,265.74. Trading resulted in an exchange of 2,437,685 shares valued at $12,670,997 compared to 2,306,821 units valued at $10,660,960, on Monday.
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, 2 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 87,060 units for an average of $452,536 in contrast to 88,724 units for an average of $410,037 on Monday. Trading for the month to date averages 87,861 shares with an average value of $432,073. 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 2 cents at $1.92, trading 40,000 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 56,207 units and rose 3 cents to $5.03, Cargo Handlers settled with a loss of 48 cents at $12.52, with 14,210 shares changing hands, Caribbean Flavours traded at $19, in exchanging 200,000 stock units, Caribbean Producers finished trading 4,615 units at $6.50. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 5 cents at $2.45, with 2,100 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading jumped $3.99 to end at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $26.99, with 4,177 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove concluded trading of 1,000 shares at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 1 cent at $3, trading 15,996 stock units. Everything Fresh rose 5 cents in trading 170,499 shares to end at $2.25, Express Catering ended trading 17,421 shares with a loss of 45 cents to close at $7.55, FosRich Group traded with a loss of 19 cents at $2.80, in exchanging 589 shares, General Accident finished trading 11,700 shares and climbed 44 cents to $4.29, Honey Bun ended 15 cents higher at $4.45, with 1,000,200 units changing hands. Indies Pharma closed at a new high of $2.90, after adding 21 cents and exchanging 367,022 shares, Jamaican Teas settled at $4.20, exchanging 205,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 158,000 stock units at $4, KLE Group finished trading with a loss of 25 cents at $3.05, with 12,342 shares, Knutsford Express closed with a loss of 10 cents at $12.50, with 3,016 shares changing hands. Lasco Distributors ended at $4, with 31,661 shares trading, Lasco Financial concluded trading of 1,409 stock units with a loss of 20 cents at $5.60, Lasco Manufacturing finished 10 cents higher at $4, trading 40,100 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 10 cents at $7, with 3,000 shares changing hands. Medical Disposables ended trading at $6.67, with 1,400 shares, Paramount Trading traded 7,892 shares at $3, Stationery and Office finished trading 20,378 stock units at $8.50 and tTech ended at $6, with 3,217 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Junior Market opens September positively

Cargo Handlers hits 52 weeks’ high.

Trading slipped on the Junior Market on the first trading day of September, with 26 securities being active down from 30 on Friday as well as a fall in volume and value trading, leading to 10 advancing, 7 declining and 9 remained unchanged.
The market closed with the index rising 21.55 points to close at 3,272.02. A volume of 2,306,821 units valued at $10,660,960 changed hands, compared to 4,503,036 units valued at $56,383,723, on Friday.
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 88,724 units for an average of $410,037 in contrast to 150,101 units for an average of $1,879,457 on Friday. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed with a loss of $1.82 at $41.50, trading 1,000 shares, AMG Packaging ended 1 cent higher at $1.94, with 27,913 stock units changing hands, Blue Power concluded trading at $5, swapping 87,428 units, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 5 cents at $9, exchanging 1,640 shares, Cargo Handlers settled 50 cents higher to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $13, trading 100 shares. Caribbean Cream ended trading 21,839 shares, 30 cents higher to $6, Caribbean Flavours traded with 50,000 stock units $1 higher to $19, Caribbean Producers finished trading at $6.50, with 787,109 units changing hands, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2.50, exchanging 5,200 shares. Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 1 cent at $23, trading 20,000 shares, Everything Fresh rose 10 cents trading 747,370 shares to end at $2.20, Express Catering ended trading 16,578 shares with a loss of 18 cents to $8, FosRich Group traded at $2.99, with 41,661 shares changing hands, General Accident finished trading 12,100 shares 5 cents higher at $3.85, with. Indies Pharma traded at a new high of $2.80 but pulled back to close at $2.69 after adding 9 cents and exchanging 141,895 shares, Iron Rock concluded trading of 17,500 shares and rose 5 cents to $3.25, Jetcon Corporation ended trading with a loss of 2 cents at $4, in exchanging 59,711 stock units, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 5 cents at $4, with 34,918 shares changing hands, Lasco Financial concluded trading 1,737 stock units at $5.80. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $3.90, with 49,500 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 1 cent at $7.10, with 207 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables ended trading with a loss of 1 cent at $6.67, with 15,300 shares, after trading earlier at a 52 weeks’ high of $6.70, Paramount Trading climbed 40 cents higher to $3, trading 3,000 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading at $8.50, with 6,157 stock units and tTech ended 50 cents higher at $6, after 11,000 shares changed hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

 

Junior Market up 19% for 2018 – Friday

Trading picked up on the Junior Market with 30 securities being active up from 27 on Thursday leading to 14 advancing, 8 declining and 8 remained unchanged.
The market closed with the market index rising 32.89 points to close at 3,250.47, lifting the market 5.5 percent for August and 19 percent for the year to date. A volume of 4,503,036 units valued at $56,383,723 hanged hands, compared to 3,136,408 units valued at $17,262,540, on Thursday. The stocks with the leading trades were Caribbean Flavours, Caribbean Producers and Derrimon Trading with more than a million units each.
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, none closed with a lower offer.
Trading closed with an average of 150,101 units for an average of $1,879,457 in contrast to 116,163 units for an average of $639,353 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 244,613 units at $1,348,298, compared to 254,559 units at $1,270,673 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial traded 483 shares and closed 32 cents higher at $43.32, AMG Packaging gained 3 cents to end at $1.93, trading 5,976 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading at $5, with 14,091 units changing hands, Cargo Handlers ended 50 cents higher to close at $12.50, trading 7,520 stock units, Caribbean Cream settled 40 cents higher at $5.70, exchanging 50,000 shares, Caribbean Flavours ended trading with a loss of 1 cent at $18, with 1,108,594 shares changing hands. Caribbean Producers traded 1,265,538 shares with a loss of 30 cents at $6.50, Derrimon Trading closed 50 cents higher at $24, exchanging 1,031,000 shares, Dolphin Cove finished with 8,090 shares changing hands and rose 50 cents to $17, Elite Diagnostic ended with a loss of 9 cents at $3.01, trading 31,215 shares, Everything Fresh fell 2 cents in trading 250,585 shares to end at $2.10, Express Catering concluded trading 13,125 shares and rose 17 cents to close at $8.18. FosRich Group finished at $2.99, with 3,000 stock units changing hands, General Accident settled with a loss of 65 cents at $3.80, with 103,000 units traded, GWest Corporation ended trading 10,000 shares, with a loss of 6 cents to $2.12, Honey Bun traded with a loss of 13 cents at $4.30, exchanging 67,455 shares. Indies Pharma traded 867,462 shares but fell 10 cents to end at $2.60, Iron Rock finished trading with a loss of 5 cents at $3.20, in exchanging 37,200 shares, ISP Finance closed $4 higher at $20, with 1,367 stock units changing hands, Jamaican Teas ended 21 cents higher at $4.20, with 33,821 unit being traded, Knutsford Express closed 10 cents higher at $12.60, with 20,000 shares changing hands, Jetcon Corporation concluded trading of 11,676 shares at $4.02, KLE Group settled at $3.30, with 1,400 shares trading, Lasco Distributors ended trading 15 cents higher at $4.05, with 2,595 stock units changing hands, Lasco Financial traded at $5.80, with 22,192 units, Lasco Manufacturing finished trading with a loss of 10 cents at $3.90, while exchanging 21,200 shares. Main Event closed at $7.11, with 23,654 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables climbed $1.58 higher to $6.68, with 32,868 shares, Stationery and Office finished 35 cents higher at $8.50, exchanging 19,132 units and tTech ended trading 30 cents higher at $5.50, as 73,800 shares changed hands.

All Jamaica leaps 7,789 points to cross 362,000

The All Jamaican Composite Index has surged more than 7,789 points at 20 minutes past 11 am on Friday morning on the Jamaica Stock Exchange to break through the 362,000 points mark.
NCB Financial had jumped earlier to a record $115 from a close of $113 on Thursday, to make the first big move on the index, but Caribbean cement climbed to $50 from $46.50 on Thursday, Sagicor Group rose from $38.05 to $39.75 and helped push sharply higher beyond the 362,000 mark.
The All Jamaican Composite Index has jumped 7,789.19 to an intraday high 362,456.10 and the JSE Index surged 7,096.83 points to a record 330,238.46. The Junior Market index rose 35.93 points to 3,253.51 with Derrimon Trading having just over 1 million shares trading at $24 and Caribbean Producers traded 1.25 million shares at $6.50.

NCB pushes All Jamaica to record 359,696 points

NCB Financial jumped to a record $115 on modest volume and helped push the Jamaica Stock Exchange sharply higher in early trading on Friday to reach another record high.
Within just 17 minutes after the market opened, the All Jamaican Composite Index was peeping at the 360,000 points mark by jumping 5,029.92 to an intraday high of 359,696.83 and the JSE Index surged 4,582.83 points to a record 327,724.46. The Junior Market index rose 15.80 points to 3,233.38.

Minor slip for Junior Market – Thursday

Caribbean Flavours ended trading on the Junior Market at a record closing high of $19.

The Junior Market closed trading on Thursday slightly down, even as advancing stocks beat out declining stocks more than 2 to 1 with the market index falling 3.19 points to 3,217.58.
At the close, 27 securities changed hands, down slightly from 28 on Wednesday with the prices of 13 advancing, 6 declining and 8 remained unchanged. Trading resulted in an exchange of 3,136,408 units valued at $17,262,540 compared to 2,597,222 units valued at $24,126,194, on Wednesday.
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, 1 closed with a lower offer.
Trading closed with an average of 116,163 units for an average of $639,353 in contrast to 92,758 units for an average of $861,650 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 254,559 units at $1,270,673, compared to 262,510 units at $1,306,941 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial climbed $3 to end at $43, exchanging 89,300 shares, Blue Power concluded trading of 52,691 units and rose by 30 cents to $5, CAC 2000 finished 5 cents higher at $9.05, trading 100 shares, Cargo Handlers settled with 5,000 shares being exchanged and rose 80 cents to $12, Caribbean Flavours traded 18,000 stock units for a rise of $1 to a record close of $19. Caribbean Producers finished trading 173,788 units, 15 cents higher at $6.80, Derrimon Trading ended at $23.50, with 85,360 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading at $16.50, in exchanging 143 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished 10 cents higher at $3.10, with 487,961 stock units changing hands. Eppley settled at $10.18, with 2,100 units, Everything Fresh fell 2 cents in trading 36,501 shares to end at $2.10, Express Catering ended trading 60,253 shares, at $8.01, FosRich Group rose by 24 cents to $2.99, trading 119,884 shares, General Accident finished trading 5,000 shares, 65 cents higher at $4.45, but closed with the offer at $3.80. GWest Corporation closed at $2.18, while exchanging 11,909 stock units, Indies Pharma traded 867,462 shares but fell 10 cents to end at $2.60, Iron Rock concluded trading at $3.25, with 2,500 shares changing hands, Jetcon Corporation traded with 40,767 stock units with a loss of 8 cents at $4.02, KLE Group finished trading 600 shares and rose 25 cents to $3.30. Knutsford Express closed at $12.50, in exchanging 7,250 shares, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 10 cents at $3.90, after exchanging 297,318 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading with 134,226 stock units at $5.80, Lasco Manufacturing finished 10 cents higher at $4, with 582,909 units changing hands. Main Event settled 11 cents higher at $7.11, trading 11,000 shares, Paramount Trading traded 3,872 shares with a loss of 40 cents at $2.60, Stationery and Office finished trading 30,314 stock units with a loss of 20 cents at $8.15 and tTech ended 10 cents higher at $5.20, with 10,200 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Losses = gains in Junior Market trading – Wednesday

The Junior Market closed trading on Wednesday in a tug of war between advancing and declining stocks with the market ending with 12 each being up and down, as advancing stocks just having the upper hand in steering the market index higher.
At the close, the market index rose 15.68 points to close at 3,220.77, with 28 securities changing hands, the same number on Tuesday.
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, 1 closed with a lower offer.
The market closed with the prices of 12 advancing, 12 declining and 4 remaining unchanged and resulted in an exchange of 9,172,835 units valued at $44,109,271, compared to 2,149,308 units valued at $9,485,152 on Tuesday.
Trading closed with an average of 92,758 units for an average of $861,650 in contrast to 327,601 units for an average of $1,575,331 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 262,510 units at $1,306,941, compared to 273,263 units at $1,335,149 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial traded 1,150 shares and fell $5 to $40, AMG Packaging fell 5 cents to end at $1.90, trading 23,300 stock units, Cargo Handlers settled with 510 shares trading to end at $11.20, Caribbean Cream traded 3,590 shares at $5.30, Caribbean Flavours traded 536,025 stock units to close at $18 after trading at a 52 weeks’ high of $19, Caribbean Producers finished trading 12,500 units but fell 25 cents at $6.65. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a rise of 13 cents at $2.50, with 112,000 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading dropped $1.50 and ended at $23.50, with 374,140 shares, Dolphin Cove lost 50 cents in trading just 238 shares at $16.50, Elite Diagnostic lost 10 cents and finished at $3, exchanging 308,958 stock units. Everything Fresh fell 8 cents in trading 89,500 shares to end at $2.12, Express Catering ended trading 16,022 shares and rose 1 cent to close at $8.01, FosRich Group traded 25 cents down to $2.75, while exchanging 424,072 shares, General Accident lost 5 cents and finished trading of 73,296 shares at $3.80. Honey Bun lost 7 cents and ended at $4.43, with juts 1,000 units trading, Indies Pharma traded 269,311 shares and rose 20 cents to end the highest level since its recent listing at $2.70, Iron Rock concluded trading of 100,000 shares with a loss of 5 cents at $3.25, Jamaican Teas added 4 cents and settled at $3.99, with 3,430 shares. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 39,658 stock units with a gain of 10 cents to end at $4.10, Key Insurance traded 2,000 shares and rose 2 cents to close at $3.08, KLE group rose 5 cents to $3.05 trading 3,500 shares, Knutsford Express climbed $1 to close at $12.50, with 9,690 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors rose 10 cents to $4, trading 21,231 shares, Lasco Financial rose 20 cents with 16,313 stock units trading at $5.80. Lasco Manufacturing rose 4 cents and closed at $3.90, with 81,358 units, Main Event settled at $7, in trading 3,000 shares, Stationery and Office ended trading 69,158 stock units after falling 50 cents to close at $8.35 and tTech closed 3 cents higher to $5.10, trading 2,172 units.

Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Junior Market trading jumps – Tuesday

Indies dominated trading on Tuesday.

Trading volume jumped sharply on the Junior Market, Indies Pharma traded 4,712,727 units or 51.38 percent of trading, followed by Caribbean Producers with 1,769,989 units and accounting for 19.30 percent of the volume traded and Lasco Financial Services with 1,638,268 units representing 17.86 percent of the day’s trade.
Blue Power 10 for 1 stock split took place today, but most investors were unaware as there was attempts to trade the stock at the old price of $47 which falsely push the index up by 557 points which was corrected at the close to reflect a decline.
At the close of the trading session the market index fell 34.25 points to close at 3,205.09, with 28 securities changing hands, down from 24 securities changing hands on Monday.
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, 3 closed with lower offers.
The market closed with the prices of 6 advancing, 6 declining and 16 remaining unchanged and resulting in an exchange of 9,172,835 units valued at $44,109,271, compared to 2,149,308 units valued at $9,485,152 on Monday.
Trading closed with an average of 327,601 units for an average of $1,575,331 in contrast to 89,555 units for an average of $395,215 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 273,263 units at $1,335,149, compared to 269,588 units at $1,318,905 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended at $1.95, trading 2,400 stock units, CAC 2000 finished at $9, exchanging 10,797 shares, Cargo Handlers settled with 1,000 shares trading and rose 20 cents to end at $11.20, Caribbean Flavours traded 513,596 stock units and gained $2 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $18, Caribbean Producers finished trading 1,769,989 units at $6.90. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 13 cents at $2.37, with 20,388 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended at $25, with 1,400 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading of 5,885 shares at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.10, exchanging 24,500 stock units. Eppley settled at $10.18, with 500 units traded, Everything Fresh fell 1 cent in trading 135,831 shares and ended at $2.20, Express Catering ended trading 49,383 shares at $8, FosRich Group traded 5 cents higher at $3, while exchanging 51,984 shares, General Accident finished trading of 38,206 shares at $3.85. GWest Corporation closed 8 cents higher at $2.18, with 30,000 stock units, Honey Bun ended at $4.50, with juts 340 units trading, Indies Pharma dominated trading with 4,712,727 shares to end unchanged at $2.50, Iron Rock concluded trading of 5,000 shares with a loss of 20 cents at $3.30, Jamaican Teas settled at $3.95, with 5,000 shares. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 84,527 stock units with a loss of 5 cents to end at $4, Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1 at $11.50, with 5,648 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 1 cent at $3.90, with 7,868 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading 1,638,268 stock units at $5.60. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $3.86, with 3,935 units, Main Event settled at $7, in trading 30,439 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 21,349 stock units and gained 20 cents to close at $8.85, and Sweet River closed 16 cents higher at $3.86, with 875 units. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading ended 2 cents higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.52, with 1,000 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Big jump for Junior Market index – Monday

The Junior Market, put in a strong showing in Monday’s trading session and closed with the market index jumping 46.92 points to close at 3,239.34, with 24 securities changing hands, down from 26 securities changing hands on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 3 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 2 closed with lower offers.
The market closed with the prices of 11 advancing, 6 declining and 7 remaining unchanged and resulting in an exchange of 2,149,308 units valued at $9,485,152, compared to 15,120,642 units valued at $55,182,607 on Friday.
Trading closed with an average of 89,555 units for an average of $395,215 in contrast to 687,302 units for an average of $2,508,300 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 269,588 units at $1,318,905, compared to 280,667 units at $1,375,747 on the previous trading day. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed trading of 19,338 shares at $45, AMG Packaging rose 5 cents to close at $1.95, trading 3,424 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 9,672 units at $47, Caribbean Flavours traded 710 stock units at $16, Caribbean Producers finished trading of 60,350 units 11 cents higher to $6.90. Derrimon Trading ended $4 higher at $25, exchanging 18,909 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading at $17, with 1,100 shares being exchanged, Elite Diagnostic gained 10 cents to end at $3.10, with 26,004 stock units changing hands, Eppley settled at $10.18, trading 7,800 units. Everything Fresh gained just 1 cent in trading 65,426 shares and ended at $2.21, Express Catering ended trading 22,033 shares and lost 30 cents to end at $8, FosRich Group traded 50,000 shares with a loss of 5 cents at $2.95, General Accident finished trading 185,258 shares and rose 5 cents to $3.85, GWest Corporation closed 10 cents higher at $2.10, in exchanging 30,756 stock units. Indies Pharma pulled back 4 cents in trading 539,221 shares to end at $2.50, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 30 cents at $3.95, trading 9,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation rose 4 cents to $4.05, in trading 42,069 stock units, KLE Group finished trading of 6,200 shares at $3, Lasco Distributors ended 6 cents higher at $3.91, with 12,000 shares changing hands. Lasco Financial concluded trading of 4,783 stock units and lost 30 cents to end at $5.60, Lasco Manufacturing finished 1 cent higher at $3.86, with 1,013,663 units changing hands, Main Event settled at $7, exchanging 9,692 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 2,000 stock units and rose 5 cents to $8.65 and tTech ended with a loss of 43 cents at $5.07, with 9,900 shares changing hands.

Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Grace performance slips in Q2

Grace Kennedy HQ

Grace Kennedy reported revenues of $48.4 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent or $2 billion over the corresponding period of 2017 for the half year to June, “driven largely by growth in its Food Trading and Insurance segments.” Don Wehby stated in a release following the release of the interim results.
Net profit for the period was $2.5 billion, an increase of $266 million or 12.2 percent compared with 2017. After minority interest net profit rose by 14 percent to $2.15 billion but by just 9 percent in the second quarter to $959 million from $881 million in 2017.
Second quarter sales revenue grew just 3.85 percent to $22.44 billion, a slower pace than the first quarter’s 6 percent. Other income rose a strong 60 percent to $718 million in the quarter over the prior year, and 61 percent for the half year, to $1.45 billion. Interest income was slightly down to $1.13 billion and $2.25 billion in the quarter and half year period respectively, over the similar periods in 2017.
Total comprehensive income a better measure of managements stewardship, more than doubled in the second quarter to $1.338 billion from $625 million in 2017 but slipped slightly to $2.39 billion for the half year.
The Group reported that its Food Trading segment experienced growth in revenue and pre-tax profits over the corresponding period of 2017. This was due to improved performance in the domestic foods business as the local economy picks up and now showing stronger growth. While showing an increase in revenue over prior year, the Company’s international foods business experienced a decline in pre-tax profits compared to the corresponding period of 2017, primarily due to the performance of Grace Foods UK.

Grace Kennedy products

Financial Group experienced mixed fortunes during the period, as the Money Services and Banking and Investments segments both experienced decline in revenue and pre-tax profits, while the Insurance segment grew revenue and pre-tax profits over the corresponding period of 2017. The performance of the Money Services segment was due to a reduction in transaction volumes in the remittance business in Jamaica stemming from the implementation of enhanced compliance measures.
Grace’s financial position remains strong with Shareholders equities of $46.35 billion and the company’s stock traded at $58.50 on Friday with a PE of 11 based on IC Insider.com’s earnings estimate for 2018 of $5.40. The PE is lower than the market’s average of 13.5 and with IC Insider.com forecasting average PE to reach 17 by late this year or early next year, the stock has room for growth.
Grace approved the payment of an interim dividend of 45 cents per stock unit, payable on September 26, an increase of 18 percent from the 38 cents per stock unit paid to stockholders in September last year. Group CFO Frank James said, “This brings the dividends declared to date to approximately $844 million, an increase of 25 percent or $169 million over the corresponding period in 2017.”