The Junior Market Index closed trading on Monday with a gain of just 3.84 points to 2,988.82 as 26 securities changed hands up from 25 trading on Friday, with 5 rising, 12 declining and 9 remaining unchanged.
Market activities closed, resulting in an exchange of 1,467,297 units valued at $6,334,954 compared to 1,334,762 units valued at $6,029,272 on Friday.
Market activity ended with an average of 56,435 units for an average of $243,652 in contrast to 53,390 units for an average of $241,171 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 121,622 units at $506,803 compared to 125,902 units at $524,081 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 3 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial ended at $47, with 144 shares trading, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 4 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $1.93, while exchanging 138,986 stock units, Caribbean Cream fell 65 cents to $5, with 1,000 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading at $5.40, with 15,072 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 5 cents at $1.90, after 11,951 shares changed hands. Derrimon Trading concluded trading at $10, with 6,000 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 5 cents at $3.20, with 121,237 units, Eppley ended trading 10 cents higher at $9.60, with 500 shares, Express Catering traded at $6, with 28,667 shares. FosRich Group finished trading 10 cents higher at $2.45, with 37,631 shares, General Accident closed with a loss of 15 cents at $3.02, with 26,000 stock units, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 3 cents at $2.42, with 28,853 units changing hands, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.60, with 31,000 shares. Jamaican Teas ended trading at $5, with 64,809 stock units, 
Jetcon Corporation traded with a loss of 15 cents at $4.15, with 530,003 units, Key Insurance finished trading 10 cents higher at $3.50, with 1,000 shares, KLE Group closed at $2.45, with 1,796 stock units. Knutsford Express ended at $14, with 761 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.05, with 45,252 stock units, Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 3 cents at $5.62, with 325,528 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled with a loss of 41 cents at $4.08, with 6,000 shares. Main Event ended trading 38 cents higher at $7, with 21,938 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading 5 cents higher at $3.10, with 450 stock units, Stationery and Office closed with a loss of 3 cents at $5.96, with 1,479 units and tTech concluded trading at $6, with 16,240 shares. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley settled at $6, with 5,000 shares, changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
15 Junior Market stocks rise – Friday
A total of 15 securities rose on and only 4 fell on the Junior Market Index on Friday leading to a 22.8 4 points rise to close at 2,98.984 as 25 securities changed hands, up from 24 on Thursday.
Market activities closed, resulting in an exchange of 3,098,900 units valued at $16,170,025 as trading ended with the prices of 6 securities remaining unchanged.
Market activity ended with an average of 53,390 units for an average of $241,171 in contrast to 129,121 units for an average of $673,751 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 125,902 units at $524,081 compared to 130,788 units at $543,145 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 1 stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed at $47, with 500 shares, AMG Packaging ended 1 cent higher at $1.97, with 190,883 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading 2 cents higher at $36.85, with 15,000 units, Cargo Handlers settled with a rise of 30 cents at $10, with 1,500 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 65 cents higher at $5.65, with 19,518 shares. Caribbean Producers finished trading at $5.40, with 3,720 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $1.95, with 108,300 shares, Dolphin Cove fell 1 cent at $17, with 1,626 stock units, Elite Diagnostic rose 5 cents $3.25, with 118,377 units. Express Catering traded 25 cents higher at $6, with 183,244 shares, after it traded at an intraday high of $6.05. FosRich Group finished trading at $2.35, with 31,770 shares, General Accident added 16 cents to end at $3.17, with 93,600 stock units, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 2 cents at $2.45, exchanging 72,159 units. Iron Rock finished at $3.50, with 2,000 shares, 
ISP Finance settled $2.19 higher at $17.20, with 5,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation gained 14 cents at $4.30, with 111,436 units, Knutsford Express ended with a rise of 5 cents to $14, with 2,500 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading at $4.10, with 50,000 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 15 cents higher at $5.65, with 82,424 units, Lasco Manufacturing rose 34 cents to $4.49, with 13,118 shares, Main Event ended trading with a loss of 38 cents at $6.62, with 21,094 shares. Medical Disposables traded 50 cents higher at $5, with 375 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading with a loss of 3 cents at $3.05, while 5,700 stock units changed hands, Stationery and Office closed 1 cent higher at $5.99, with 200,458 units and tTech concluded trading after rising 21 cents to $6, with 460 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
NCB Q2 profit rises 22% before tax
NCB Head Quarters in Kingston Jamaica.
NCB Financial Group recorded an increase of 17 percent in net profit of $11 billion for the six months ended March 2018 over the prior year, pretax profit for the six months was up just 1 percent.
Profit for the March quarter before taxation, rose a strong 22 percent over the similar quarter in 2017 to $8.26 billion but with taxation more than doubling profit after tax climbed just 9 percent to $6.4 billion.
Net operating income grew 22 percent to $35.3 billion over the prior year and 26 percent for the latest quarter. Improvements in foreign currency and investment activities 109 percent in the quarter to $4 billion and by 97 percent in the six months period to $7.2 billion. Net interest income increasing by $1.3 billion or 9 percent and was driven by the consolidation of Clarien Group (CGL). Net fee and commission income grew by 11 percent or $749 million, mainly as a result of higher transaction volumes for point of sale and e-commerce channels, increased investment banking and pension fee income and the consolidation of CGL. Operating Expenses excluding loan loss provision rose 30 percent to $24.5 billion for the half year and 29 percent to $11.5 billion for the quarter.
The Group’s loans and advances, net of provision for credit losses, increased by $127 billion or 61 percent to $334 billion to March. In addition to the consolidation of CGL, the president Patrick Hylton reported that “there was growth in all business segments’ loan portfolios: retail up 22 percent, corporate up 11 percent and credit card receivables up 25 percent. Nonperforming loans totalled $15 billion up from $5.9 billion at the end of March 2017.” The increase was due to the inclusion of CGL which has a non-performing loan ratio of 9.9 percent.
NCB declared a dividend of 70 cents stock unit. The dividend is payable on May 28, for stockholders on record at May 11. The stock closed at $95 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange before the results were released.
Junior Market index falls – Thursday
The Junior Market fell at the close of trading on Thursday with the market Index declined by 22.81 points to close at 2,962.84 with 24 securities changing hands up from 21 on Wednesday.
At the close of market activities 3,098,900 units valued at $16,170,025 changed hands as trading ended with the prices of 8 securities rising, 11 declining and 5 remaining unchanged.
Market activity ended with an average of 129,121 units for an average of $673,751 in contrast to 120,164 units for an average of $518,605 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 130,788 units at $543,145 compared to 130,904 units at $534,112 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 3 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed with a loss of $3 at $47, with an exchange of 500 shares, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.96, with 42,117 stock units, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $5, with 15,403 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded at $11, with 15,000 stock units, Caribbean Producers finished trading 28 cents higher at $5.40, with 85,300 units. Derrimon Trading rose 20 cents to a record high of $10, with 16,779 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 2 cents at $3.20, with 368,218 units, Eppley ended trading 15,484 shares at $9.50, Express Catering traded 2,029,665 stock units and lost 25 cents to end at $5.75. FosRich Group finished trading with a loss of 7 cents at $2.35, with 539 shares, General Accident closed at $3.01, with 2,997 stock units, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 3 cents at $2.47, with 10,000 units, 
Honey Bun concluded trading 15 cents higher at $4.65, with 17,050 shares. Jetcon Corporation gained 1 cent to end at $4.16, with 17,480 units, KLE Group closed at $2.45, with 18,204 shares, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of 5 cents at $13.95, exchanging just 1,146 shares, Lasco Distributors fell 5 cents to $4.10, with 130,657 stock units. Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 15 cents at $5.50, with 62,740 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled 15 cents higher at $4.15, trading 205,000 shares, Main Event ended trading 1 cent higher at $7, with 5,100 shares, Medical Disposables traded with a loss of 50 cents at $4.50, with 26,446 shares. Paramount Trading finished trading with a fall of 2 cents at $3.08, with 8,015 stock units, Stationery and Office closed 3 cents higher at $5.98, with 2,060 units and tTech concluded trading 4 cents higher at $5.79, with 3,000 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Carib Cement post fall in Q1 profits
Carib Cement reports lower Q1 profit for 2018
Revenues rose 6 percent in the March quarter this year for Caribbean Cement, compared to the first quarter of 2017 to $4.3 billion, but profit before taxation slipped modestly to $510 million from $528 million last year.
Increased taxation, from $67 million to $176 million dragged profit down to $348 million or 39 cents per share versus $460 million in 2017 or 54 cent per share.
“This performance was mainly driven as a result of the scheduled annual maintenance of Kiln 5 and Mill 5, during February and March of 2018,” the directors reported to shareholders and they went on to state that “our investment in maintenance efforts will no doubt increase our operational efficiencies with the goal of driving exports, in due course.”
Operating cost rose over 2017 by 10 percent to $3.7 billion, at a faster pace than revenues but repairs and maintenance jumped 75 percent to $345 million and staffing cost rose 18 percent to $542 million. Cost is set to fall sharply with the buyback of assets that were leased from Trinidad Cement which will reduce the $3 billion per annum charge that was incurred in this area in 2017.
Net cash generated by operating activities for the period of $856 million, but $1.5 billion was expended on capital improvement, including the installation of a new coal mill. According to management, the coal mill project currently in the final stages, and production is expected by the end of the third quarter of this year. This will continue to contribute to the plant’s operational efficiency and also to a reduction in operating costs. Cash on hand at the end of the quarter amounted to just over $1 billion.
The first quarter results left accumulated losses at $2.9 billion with shareholders’ equity at $9.3 billion. The stock closed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at $38.51.
Junior Market climbs again – Wednesday
The Junior Market rose at the close of trading on Wednesday with the market Index advancing by 20.94 points to close at 2,985.65.
At the close of market activities 21 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 2,523,450 units valued at $10,890,709 compared to 2,495,692 units valued at $10,920,433 on Tuesday from 22 securities changing hands. Trading ended with the prices of 8 securities advanced, 5 declined and 8 remained unchanged.
Market activity ended with an average of 120,164 units for an average of $518,605 in contrast to 113,441 units for an average of $496,383 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 130,904 units at $534,112 compared to 131,596 units at $535,111 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 2 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 3 cents at $1.97, trading 41,600 stock units, Cargo Handlers closed 15 cents higher at $9.70, with 500 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 17 cents higher at $5, with 150,000 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading 2 cents higher at $5.12, with 24,355 units, Derrimon Trading rose 35 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $9.80, with 2,000 shares. Elite Diagnostic settled at $3.22 with a loss of 10 cents, exchanging 85,572 units, Eppley ended trading at $9.50, with 780 shares, Express Catering traded at $6, with 8,100 shares, FosRich Group finished trading at $2.42, with 13,400 shares. General Accident closed at $3.01, with 84,388 stock units changing hands, 
Honey Bun concluded trading at $4.50 after rising 9 cents with 28,332 shares, Iron Rock Insurance gained 50 cents to end at $3.50, with 28,271 shares, Jetcon Corporation traded with a loss of 15 cents at $4.15, with 25,000 units. Knutsford Express ended at $14, with 31,313 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.15, with 1,516,542 stock units changing hands, Lasco Financial finished 15 cents higher at $5.65, with 44,100 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled at $4, with 337,151 shares. Main Event ended trading 79 cents higher at $6.99, with 79,305 units, Medical Disposables traded at $5, with 10,000 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading at $3.10, with 2,447 stock units and Stationery and Office closed with a loss of 5 cents at $5.95, with 10,294 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
12 Junior Market stocks rise 2 fall – Tuesday
The Junior Market close trading on Tuesday with 22 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 2,495,692 units valued at $10,920,433, compared to 464,517 units valued at $1,948,493 on Monday.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 12 securities advanced, 2 declined and 7 remained unchanged. The Junior Market Index advanced by 31.26 points to close at 2,964.71.
Market activity ended with an average of 113,441 units for an average of $496,383 in contrast to 24,448 units for an average of $102,552 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 131,596 units at $535,111 compared to 132,910 units at $537,913 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 3 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended at $2, with 103,065 stock units, Caribbean Cream ended trading 3 cents higher at $4.83, with 123,729 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading 10 cents higher at $5.10, with 21,259 units, Dolphin Cove finished $1.50 higher at $18, with 1,345 stock units, Elite Diagnostic settled at $3.32, with 31,420 units. Eppley ended trading 10 cents higher at $9.50, with 5,000 shares, Express Catering traded 30 cents higher at $6, with 73,451 shares, FosRich Group finished trading with a loss of 8 cents at $2.42, with 7,684 shares, General Accident closed at $3.01, with 1,450 stock units. GWest Corporation ended 5 cents higher at $2.50, with 3,910 units, Honey Bun concluded trading 1 cent higher at $4.41, with 224,503 shares, 
Jamaican Teas ended trading 45 cents higher at $5, with 300 stock units, Jetcon Corporation traded 10 cents higher at $4.30, with 31,645 units. Knutsford Express ended at $14, with 14,800 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading 20 cents higher at $4.20, with 1,549,452 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 16 cents higher at $5.50, with 11,600 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled at $4, with 10,530 shares. Main Event ended trading at $6.20, with 550 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading at $3.10, with 160 stock units, Stationery and Office closed at $6, with 104,008 units and tTech concluded trading 25 cents higher at $5.75, with 13,831 shares. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley settled with a loss of 1 cent at $6, with 162,000 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market drops points – Monday
The Junior Market fell at the close of trading on Monday with 19 securities changing hands, the same number on Friday, the market Index declined by 14.28 points to close at 2,933.45.
At the close of trading the prices of 5 securities advanced, 9 declined and 5 remained unchanged
Trading ended with an exchange of just 464,517 units valued at a mere $1,948,493 down sharply from 2,462,706 units valued at $9,020,103 on Friday.
Market activity ended with an average of 24,448 units for an average of $102,552 compared to an average of 129,616 units for an average of $474,742 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 132,910 units at $537,913 compared to 266,611 units at $566,937 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 5 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 7 cents at $2, trading 51,250 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of $3.16 at $36.83, with 1,000 units, Caribbean Flavours traded at $11, with 196 stock units, Caribbean Producers finished trading at $5, with 5,486 units, Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a loss of 5 cents at $9.45, with 17,429 shares. Elite Diagnostic settled 17 cents higher at $3.32, with 126,731 units, Eppley ended trading with a loss of 1 cent at $9.40, with 2,000 shares, Express Catering traded 40 cents higher at $5.70, with 890 shares, FosRich Group finished trading 9 cents higher at $2.50, with 3,060 shares. 
GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 5 cents at $2.45, with 15,300 units, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 20 cents at $4.40, exchanging 4,961 shares, Iron Rock finished at $3, with 49,100 shares, Jamaican Teas ended trading with a loss of 45 cents at $4.55, after 20,000 stock units changed hands. Jetcon Corporation traded with a loss of 30 cents at $4.20, with 12,706 units, Knutsford Express ended at $14, with 7,200 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 15 cents at $4, exchanging 68,550 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 14 cents higher at $5.34, with 206 units. Lasco Manufacturing settled at $4, with 13,010 shares and Stationery and Office closed 10 cents higher at $6, with 65,442 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Berger directors failed to accept Ansa offer
Berger Paints annual report had some good news for investors to digest.
Berger Paints Jamaica (BRG) directors, used a number of unsupported information in highly recommending acceptance by minority shareholder of an offer by ANSA Coatings International to acquire their holdings last year.
The minority shareholders rightly ignored the directors recommendations in rebuffing the offer of $10.88 per share with just over 6 million units out of 105 million were surrendered. The stock now trades at $19 back to the level it traded at before the offer was made.
The directors’ circular apart from highly recommending acceptance of the offer, based on what they must have considered to be a fair price following PriceWaterhouseCoopers Tax and Advisory Services
” fair value assessment of the price among other factors. The recommendation went on to say that directors Michael Fennell, Warren McDonald and Milton Samuda along with employees Huron Gordon, Gladys Miller and Jacqueline Warren-Wilson intend to accept the offer. No intention was telegraphed by director Pokar Chandiram who subsequently passed on.
After the closing of the offer, a notice posted on the Jamaica stock Exchange website on October 26, 2017, reported that “Berger Paints Jamaica has advised that a Director and a Senior Manager sold a total of 437,895 BRG shares in response to the take-over bid offer by ANSA Coatings International, during the period the Offer was open and at the Offer price.”
Andy Mahadeo, the Managing Director
The amounts mentioned above represent shares held by McDonald and Miller. The annual report for December 2017 was revealing, as it still had all directors’ shares listed in their own names or that of their connected parties. Only Gladys Miller is shown as having disposed of her shares.
In their opinion they said,” in your directors view, it is highly likely that acceptance of the offer will take the aggregate holdings of ACI beyond 80 percent, in fact the Offeror had made it clear of its intention to delist the Berger shares if it acquires 29% or more of the shares.” “It is therefore clear that Berger Jamaica shares will in all probability be delisted from the JSE.” The directors offer no information from coming to such a conclusion.
The latest information, clearly does not sit well with the strong recommendations made to shareholders to accept the offer. IC Insider.com was advised that the registrar never received the acceptance documents within the time frame required to accept the offer and the matter only surfaced when enquiries were made about nonpayment for the shares. Some directors are adamant that they accepted the offer by submitting the acceptance form. IC Insider.com has been unable to determine where those applications went, suffice to say that they never got to the right place to effect acceptance. Up to Monday this week the shares were not transferred and were still in the names of the directors. With the offer having been closed those shares can no longer be a part of the offer and any disposal would have to be on different terms than that offered in 2017 with the stock now trading at $19. At any rate the notice from Berger to the exchange only mentioned one director with no mention of the others. This matter along with the poor judgement in advising shareholders about acceptance again raises questions as to the suitability of the directors to protect the interest of minorities.
Junior Market jumps 47 points – Friday
The Junior Market fell at the close of trading on Friday with 19 securities changing hands as the prices of 7 securities advanced, 5 declined and 7 remained unchanged as market Index jumped 46.58 points to 2,947.73.
Trading ended with an exchange of 2,462,706 units valued at $9,020,103 up sharply from 1,190,114 units valued at $4,531,582 on Thursday.
Market activity ended with an average of 129,616 units for an average of $474,742 compared to an average of 62,638 units for an average of $997,673 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 266,611 units at $566,937 compared to 140,892 units at $573,523 on the prior trading day. March closed with an average of 149,999 units valued at $623,819, for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 3 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Caribbean Cream ended trading 80 cents higher at $4.80, with 30,000 shares changing hands, Caribbean Producers rose 35 cents to close at $5, with 14,955 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 5 cents at $1.95, trading 542 shares, Derrimon Trading concluded trading 10 cents higher at $9.50, with 40,270 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 5 cents at $3.15, exchanging 129,503 units. FosRich Group fell 14 cents to $2.41, with 13,924 shares, General Accident closed with a loss of 14 cents at $3.01, with 4,967 stock units trading, 
GWest Corporation ended at $2.50, with 9,050 units, Honey Bun concluded trading 15 cents higher at $4.60, with 86,460 shares. Iron Rock finished at $3, with 200,000 shares, ISP Finance settled 1 cent higher at $15.01, with 30,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation traded 25 cents higher at $4.50, with 131,031 units, KLE Group closed at $2.45, with 3,383 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading 13 cents higher at $4.15, with 147,874 stock units, Lasco Financial finished at $5.20, with 194,766 units, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4, with 126,625 shares, Stationery and Office closed at $5.90, with 231,203 units and tTech concluded trading with a loss of 28 cents at $5.50, as 68,153 shares traded. In the junior market preference segment, newly listed Derrimon Trading 9% preference share closed at $2, with 1,000,000 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.