The Junior Market Index moved higher by 20.70 points to close at 3,150.90 on Tuesday after closing on Monday, for the Independence Day public holiday and being up in 6 of the last 7 trading sessions.
Trading ended with 25 securities changing hands, compared to 23 on Friday, with 7 advancing, 4 falling and 14 remaining unchanged. Medical Disposables traded at a 52 weeks’ high after June Quarter profit climbed sharply. The market closed with, 510,714 units valued at $2,313,622.29 changing hands, compared to 771,621 units valued at $2,972,863 on Friday.
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, one with a lower offer.
Trading closed with an average of 20,429 units for an average of $92,545 in contrast to 57,100 units for an average of $240,564 on Friday. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 38,741 units valued at $161,485, compared to 49,641 units valued at $202,520. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended at $2, after trading 4,221 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading 513 units at $40, CAC 2000 finished at $9, with 5,383 shares changing hands, Cargo Handlers settled at $10.89, in exchanging 6,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 5,395 shares rising 30 cents higher at $5.80. Caribbean Flavours traded with a loss of 20 cents at $12.50, with 3,000 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Producers finished trading 911 units at $6.22, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2.16, exchanging 7,500 shares, C2W Music ended at $1.71, with 8,000 shares changing hands. Derrimon Trading ended at $23, with 19,545 units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic finished at $2.90, trading 28,545 stock units, Everything Fresh traded 198,030 shares to end at $1.98. 
Express Catering ended trading 29,883 shares and rose 5 cents to $8, General Accident finished trading 14 cents higher at $3.47, while exchanging 3,570 shares, GWest Corporation closed at $2.20, with 49,760 stock units changing hands. Honey Bun ended at $4.51, trading 5,505 units, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 20 cents at $4.30, with 11,758 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 4,900 stock units and gained 2 cents to $4.05, KLE Group finished trading at $3, with 2,791 shares. Knutsford Express closed 44 cents higher at $11.95, trading 3,022 shares, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, with 45,380 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing finished 5 cents higher at $4.15, with 9,796 units, Medical Disposables jumped 88 cents higher to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $6.68, with 1,793 shares, Stationery and Office fell 8 cents to $8.04, with 50,993 stock units and tTech ended with a loss of 25 cents at $5, trading 4,520 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Investors shun Junior stocks for the oldsters
Black Panther mash up Palace bottom-line with a huge increase in profit that pushed to stock to no 1 for 2018 in the main market.
Investors shunned Junior Market stocks in 2018 for the older more established Main market stocks. At least that is what the data from the exchange is showing.
According to the Jamaica Stock Exchange report of trading to the end of July, volume and value on the main market is up while that on the junior market is well down on 2017 figures, even as the gains in the overall market shows juniors up 14 percent for the year to the end of July and 9 percent for the main market.
Junior Market volume is down year to July by a stunning 69 percent to 571 million units while the value fell 64 percent to $2.69 billion, less than half of the $6.6 billion traded for all of 2017. In contrast main market stocks traded 1.57 billion units, up 28.5 percent over 2017, for a total value of $32 billion, a strong 79.4 percent increase over 2017 and just shy of the $35.7 million traded for all of 2017.
The big winners for the year to July are, Palace with an increase of 154 percent, that was helped by the huge success of the Black Panther film that ran for several months, Pulse Investments up 67 percent, Kingston Wharves 60 percent, Jamaica Broilers 45 percent and Salada Foods 41 percent, as investors responded to improved profit. In the Junior Market, C2W Music and Derrimon Trading beat all others by huge margins, rising 233 percent after it announced a 10 to 1 stock split and 197 percent respectively. Express Catering climbed 86 percent, Stationery and Office Supplies up 65 percent and CAC 2000 up 51 percent.
The big losers in the main market are, Ciboney, having sold off the property it owned and paid out most of the proceeds as a dividend is down 68 percent, 138 Student Living fell 35 percent, Kingston Properties 31 percent, Wisynco Group 24 percent, Portland JSX 20 percent and in the Junior Market, GWEST Corporation down 36 percent, AMG Packaging 33 percent, tTech 23 percent, Knutsford Express 23 percent and Eppley 17 percent.
More gains for Junior Market – Friday
The Junior Market Index climbed higher by 19.74 points to close at 3,130.20 on Friday as 23 securities changed hands, compared to 19 on Thursday, with 9 advancing, 8 falling and 6 remaining unchanged.
The market closed with, 771,621 units valued at $2,972,863 changing hands, compared to 3,659,666 units valued at $16,503,092 on Thursday. The market will be closed on Monday, Independence day public Holiday.
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, one with a lower offer.
Trading closed with an average of 57,100 units for an average of $240,564 in contrast to 40,612 units for an average of $156,466 on Thursday. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 49,641 units valued at $202,520. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial traded 500 shares and closed with a loss of 50 cents at $46.50, AMG Packaging ended at $2, trading 2,350 stock units, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of 27 cents at $5.50, in exchanging 12,086 shares, Caribbean Producers gained 32 cents to close at $6.22, with 60,659 units trading, Consolidated Bakeries closed 6 cents higher at $2.16, with 20,000 shares. Derrimon Trading jumped $2.37 to $23, in exchanging 500 shares, Dolphin Cove finished trading at $16.50, with 5,047 stock units, Elite Diagnostic settled at $2.90, exchanging 49,649 units, Everything Fresh traded 7,795 shares but lost 2 cents to end at $1.98, Express Catering traded with a loss of 5 cents at $7.95, with 18,000 shares. FosRich Group finished trading with a loss of 45 cents at $2.52, exchanging 52,712 shares, GWest Corporation ended at $2.20, with 1,220 units, 
Honey Bun concluded trading 8,667 shares with a loss of 14 cents to $4.51, Jamaican Teas jumped 65 cents to $4.50, trading 12,298 stock units. Jetcon Corporation traded with a loss of 8 cents at $4.03, after 13,432 units were exchanged, Lasco Distributors concluded trading 2 cents higher at $4, with 162,200 stock units changing hands, Lasco Financial added 5 cents and closed at $5.25, with 173,650 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled 8 cents higher at $4.10, trading 53,978 shares. Main Event ended trading with a loss of 39 cents at $7.11, with 11,269 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies rose 2 cents to $8.12, with 13,781 units. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading 9% ended at $2.50, with 422,708 stock units, Eppley 8.25% concluded trading 171,500 units and rose 10 cents to $6.21 and Eppley 8.75% settled at $6, with 39,300 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Profit jumps 77% at Lasco Manufacturing
Profit jumped a strong 77 percent at Lasco Manufacturing, in the June quarter to, $238 million from $134 million in 2017, from sales revenue that rose just 14.8 percent to $1.73 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2017.
The results follow the 2018 fiscal year, when profit fell from $707 million to $560 million, after rising 73 percent in the December quarter, to $195 million from $113 million in 2016. For the nine months to December, profit fell 24 percent to $533 million from $700 million in 2016.
Profit margin climbed to 35 percent from 31.7 percent in the 2017, as input cost climbed much slower than revenues, with an increase of 9 percent, to $1.1 billion. The effect, operating profit rose an impressive 27 percent to $607 million, from $478 million.
Depreciation cost rose 5 percent to $55 million but administrative, marketing and sales expenses declined by 1 percent to $252 million from $256 million. Finance cost rose to $31 million from $30 million in 2017.
“The positive out turn reflects growth in volumes, improved operational efficiencies and streamlining and cost control”, Managing Director, James Rawle, stated in his report accompanying the quarterly.
Gross cash flow brought in $293 million but growth in receivables, inventories, addition to fixed assets offset by loan inflows and increased payables resulted in a decline in cash of $110 million, leaving cash on hand and bank at $261 million.
At the end of June,shareholders’ equity stands at $5.16 billion with borrowings at just $1.6 billion. Net current assets ended the period $1.7 billion well over payables of $937 million. 
The company has so far incurred $731 million on work in progress that includes 65,000 feet warehouse expansion, scheduled for completion in September. According to managing director, James Rawle, “the facility will help to simplify logistics and result in important cost savings.”
Earnings per share came out at 6 cents for the quarter and is projected to end the fiscal year ending to March 30 cents. The stock traded at $4 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 12 times 2019 earnings and is in line with the market average.
The company will pay a dividend of 3.8 cents per share on August 31, resulting a total payment of $155 million.
Junior Market inched higher – Thursday
The Junior Market Index inched higher by 8.32 points to 3,110.46 on Thursday as just 19 securities changed hands, compared to 28 on Tuesday, with 10 advancing, 7 falling and 2 remaining unchanged.
The market closed with less trading activity than on Tuesday ending with, 771,621 units valued at $2,972,863 changing hands, compared to 3,659,666 units valued at $16,503,092 on Tuesday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 6 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, none with a lower offer.
Trading closed with an average of 40,612 units for an average of $156,466 in contrast to 130,702 units for an average of $589,396 on Tuesday. Trading in July, averaged 154,060 units valued at $655,146 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $47, with 1,558 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging ended 1 cent higher at $2, in exchanging 2,615 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of just 328 units at $40, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 89 cents at $9, trading 5,300 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading with a loss of 10 cents at $5.90, after 37,091 units were exchanged but traded earlier at an intraday high of $6.22, C2W Music ended 1 cent higher at $1.71, with 45,715 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading dropped of $2.87 to close at $20.63, trading 2,625 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 7 cents at $2.90, with 156,163 units, Everything Fresh traded 184,163 shares and gained 10 cents to end at $2, Express Catering traded 19 cents higher at $8, with 40,299 shares changing hands. FosRich Group finished trading 24,747 shares and rose 25 cents to $2.97, 
Jamaican Teas declined of 15 cents the close at $3.85, with 19,700 stock units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation traded 11 cents higher at $4.11, trading 84,913 units, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 2 cents at $3.98, in exchanging 14,100 stock units. Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 1 cent at $5.20, as 47,330 units changed hands, Lasco Manufacturing gained 1 cent to close at $4.02, with 66,800 shares, Main Event ended trading 5 cents higher at $7.50, with 7,428 shares, Paramount Trading rose 25 cents to $3, exchanging 2,500 stock units and Stationery and Office added 10 cents to close at $8.10, with 28,100 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Modest slip for Junior Market – Tuesday
Lasco Financial traded 1.5 million shares on Tuesday.
The Junior Market Index declined by a mere 4.42 points to close at 3,102.14 on Tuesday as 28 securities changed hands, compared to 27 on Monday, with 11 advancing, 9 falling and 8 remaining unchanged.
At the close of market activity, 3,659,666 units valued at $16,503,092 traded compared to 1,680,855 units valued at $8,331,767 on Monday. Trading was dominated with Jamaican Teas with 1.1 million units and Lasco Financial with 1.5 million shares.
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 and 3 with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 130,702 units for an average of $589,396 in contrast to 62,254 units for an average of $308,584 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 154,060 units valued at $655,146 and 155,454 units valued at $659,264 on the previous trading day. Trading in June, ended with an average of 139,543 units, valued at $671,002 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $47, with 723 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging ended at $1.99 after rising 3 cents in trading 78,745 stock units, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 11 cents at $9.89, while trading 12,197 shares, Cargo Handlers settled with 3,600 shares trading at $10.89, Caribbean Cream ended trading 10,000 shares and rose 47 cents to $5.77. Caribbean Producers finished 1 cent higher at $6, trading 43,477 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2.10, with 4,000 shares changing hands, C2W Music ended with 3,600 shares and lost 1 cent to close at $1.70, Derrimon Trading closed at $23.50 trading 2,000 shares. Elite Diagnostic settled 12 cents higher at $2.97, with 33,526 units, Everything Fresh traded 86,132 shares and lost 5 cents to end at an all-time low of $1.90. Express Catering traded 23,000 shares with a loss of 14 cents to end at $7.81, FosRich Group finished trading with a loss of 25 cents at $2.72, swapping 29,250 shares, General Accident closed 18 cents higher at $3.33, trading 22,000 stock units. GWest Corporation ended at $2.20, with 3,411 units, Honey Bun concluded trading of 5,366 shares and rose 15 cents to $4.65, Iron Rock finished 5 cents higher at $3.15, with 5,000 shares trading, Jamaican Teas lost 75 cents to close at $4 in exchanging 1,122,839 stock units. 
Jetcon Corporation traded 216,062 units at $4, KLE Group closed 10 cents higher at $3, exchanging 7,034 shares, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of 9 cents at $11.51, trading 4,271 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading 263,097 stock units and rose 26 cents to $4, with. Lasco Financial finished 15 cents higher at $5.21, with 1,533,871 units, changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing settled with a loss of 1 cent at $4.01, switching ownership of 10,564 shares, Main Event traded 6,194 shares at $7.45, Medical Disposables closed 20 cents higher at $5.80, exchanging 2,000 shares and Paramount Trading finished trading with a loss of 21 cents at $2.75, with 101,007 stock units, after the company posted a decline in profit for the year to May of $59 million versus $101 million. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley 8.75% traded 26,700 shares at $6.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
More records for JSE main market
Mayberry Jamaican Equities traded for the first time after a successful IPO at $9.82 and NCB Financial traded at $102, for a gain of $1.48 to help to main market to new record high in early trading on Tuesday.
The Mayberry Jamaican Equities trade was for 1,000 units and resulted in a gain of $2.26 or 29.89 percent gain on the IPO price of $7.56. NCB traded just 35,991 shares.
With just 45 minutes of trading elapsing, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 1,476.90 points to a record high of 342,356.79 and the JSE Index gained 1,345.62 points to close at 311,925.68. The Junior market was down by 17.75 points to 3,088.81.
Junior Market at 8¾ months high
The Junior Market Index rose 13.46 points to close at 3,106.56, the highest point since closing at 3,126.33 points on November 6, last year.
At the close 27 securities changed hands, compared to 28 on Friday as 10 advanced, 13 declined and 4 remained unchanged leading to 1,680,855 units valued at $8,331,767 trading, compared to 1,107,171 units valued $5,663,225 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 and 4 with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 62,254 units for an average of $308,584 in contrast to 39,542 units for an average of $202,258 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 155,454 units valued at $659,264 and 161,147 units valued at $663,703 on the previous trading day. 
Trading in June, ended with an average of 139,543 units, valued at $671,002 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial gained 30 cents and closed at $47, trading 1,200 shares, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 2 cents at $1.96, while exchanging 1,830 stock units, Blue Power jumped $4.01 to end at $40, with 100 units trading, CAC 2000 finished 90 cents higher at $10, with 11,067 shares changing hands, Cargo Handlers climbed 56 cents to $10.89, trading 1,492 shares. Caribbean Producers finished trading 29 cents higher at $5.99, with 55,100 units, C2W Music ended with a loss of 29 cents at $1.71, swapping 26,583 shares, Derrimon Trading concluded trading $3 higher to a 52 weeks’ high of $23.50, with 4,800 shares being exchanged, Dolphin Cove finished with a loss of 50 cents at $16.50, after 1,220 stock units traded. Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 5 cents at $2.85, trading 17,000 units, Everything Fresh traded 58,725 shares and lost 13 cents to end at $1.95, Express Catering traded 54,008 shares and rose 15 cents to $7.95, FosRich Group finished trading at $2.97, with 300 shares, General Accident exchanged 15,600 stock units and closed at $3.15. GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 15 cents at $2.20, swapping 6,589 units, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 46 cents at $4.50, with 2,787 shares, Jamaican Teas ended trading 12,122 stock units and rose 24 cents to $4.75, 
Jetcon Corporation traded at $4, with 170,000 units. Knutsford Express ended with a loss of 35 cents at $11.60, with 13,153 shares trading, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 6 cents at $3.74, with 41,946 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 1 cent higher at $5.06, trading 1,070,500 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled with a loss of 3 cents at $4.02, after exchanging 40,991 shares. Main Event ended trading 1,630 shares at $7.45, Medical Disposables traded 15,000 shares and rose 9 cents to $5.60, Paramount Trading finished trading with a loss of 4 cents at $2.96, while exchanging 40,000 stock units and Stationery and Office closed with a loss of 50 cents at $8, trading 8,959 units. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley 9.5% finished with a loss of 2 cents at $5.98, with 8,153 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Volume falls on Junior Market – Friday
Junior market volume contracts.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 10 securities advanced, 9 declined and 9 remained unchanged leading the Junior Market Index to rise 6.35 points to 3,093.10. Trading resulted in an exchange of 1,107,171 units valued at $5,663,225 compared to 2,324,843 units valued at $12,333,157 on Thursday.
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 and 8 with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of just 39,542 units for an average of $202,258 in contrast to 105,675 units for an average of $560,598 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 161,147 units valued at $663,703 and previously, 169,372 units valued at $694,911. Trading in June, ended with an average of 139,543 units, valued at $671,002 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $46.70, trading 2,500 shares, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 2 cents at $1.98, in exchanging 56,013 stock units, CAC 2000 rose 10 cents to end at $9.10, with 2,407 shares changing hands, Cargo Handlers gained 33 cents to close at $10.33, trading 179,074 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of 50 cents at $5.30, with 65,795 shares. Caribbean Flavours traded 60 cents higher at $12.70, with 6,000 stock units being exchanged, Caribbean Producers finished trading with a loss of 10 cents at $5.70, with 2,000 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed 5 cents higher at $2.10, with 7,500 shares, C2W Music ended at $2, with 2,250 shares. Derrimon Trading concluded trading at $20.50, with 7,545 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled at $2.90, with 29,475 units changing hands, Everything Fresh traded 91,598 shares and gained 8 cents to end at $2.08, Express Catering traded 10 cents higher at $7.80, with 12,945 shares, FosRich Group finished trading with a gain of 55 cents at $2.97, with 40,147 shares. General Accident closed 5 cents higher at $3.15, with 48,812 stock units trading, 
GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 5 cents at $2.35, exchanging 3,869 units, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 4 cents at $4.96, after 1,272 shares changed hands, Jamaican Teas declined 49 cents to $4.51, with 29,000 stock units trading. Jetcon Corporation traded 44,268 units and lost 10 cents to close at $4, KLE Group closed at $2.90, trading 30,137 shares, Knutsford Express ended 40 cents higher at $11.95, exchanging 8,585 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading at $3.80, with 296,375 stock units changing hands. Lasco Financial traded just 262 units and finished with a loss of 5 cents at $5.05, Main Event ended trading at $7.45, with 17,284 shares, Medical Disposables traded 48,807 shares with a loss of 49 cents at $5.51, Paramount Trading finished trading 16,539 stock units at $3 and Stationery and Office rose 50 cents to $8.50, exchanging 6,420 units. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading 9% preference share ended at $2.50, with 50,292 stock units changing hands.Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
All Jamaica index breaks 341,000
The Jamaica Stock Exchange All Jamaica Composite Index made another record run and hit 341,378.20 after rising 2,697 points as NCB Financial traded at $102.
Investors were responding to the third quarter results to June, showing net profit attributable to stockholders of $20.7 billion, an increase of 40% or $5.9 billion over the prior year’s nine months to June. The group recorded $4.4 billion in one off gains from the acquisition of the majority shares in Clarien bank in Bermuda.
The previous high was reached during trading in the morning sessions oon friday July 20 when the market surged to a then new record high of 340,893.72 points on the all Jamaica Index while the JSE index rose to a record high of 310,624.04 but then closed down at the close.