Juniors slip again on Friday

February 26, 2016 by

Lasco Distributors price dropped sharply on Friday.

Lasco Distributors price dropped sharply on Friday.

The junior market ceded ground again on Friday although advancing exceeded declining stocks as 5 stocks declined and 7 advanced leading to fall of 1.1 percent in the index. The market lost 22.36 points to end at 1,956.28 with 14 securities trading, 1 of which traded at 52 weeks’ intraday high. The market ended with 2,536,210 units changing hands, valued at $12,049,340.
At the close, 2 securities ended with no bid and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 7 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and none ended with a lower offer.
In trading, Access Financial fell 50 cents while trading 78,424 units to close at $17.50, AMG Packaging rose by 50 cents with 604 units changing hands, to end at $14.50, C2W Music traded 100,000 units and rose 2 cents to be at 45 cents, Caribbean Cream fell by 10 cents while trading 18,220 shares to close at $3.70. Caribbean Producers had 126,206 units changing hands to close at $5, General Accident traded 21,315 units at $2.50 with a gain of 10 cents,JM sum 26-2-16 Honey Bun ended with 17,122 units changing hands at $13.80 after rising 20 cents, Knutsford Express closed at $18.51 with 3,500 shares changing hands. Lasco Distributors lost 89 cents and closed with 809,400 units trading to end at $5.06, Lasco Financial rose 3 cents to end at $3.23 with 140,450 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 1,040,376 shares and gained 40 cents to close at $4.35. Medical Disposables traded 22,000 shares to close 11 cents higher, at $3.50 after it traded at an intraday high of $3.70, tTech closed with a gain of 34 cents at $4.85 with 33,593 shares trading and Derrimon Trading preference share traded 125,000 units to close 1 cent lower at $2.15.

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Juniors drop 16% from peak on Thursday

February 25, 2016 by
Honey Bun closed at a new 52 weeks' high on Thursday

Honey Bun closed at a new 52 weeks’ high on Thursday

The junior market lost much ground on Thursday, slashing 16 percent off its January high, as the heavy weighted Lasco Distributors dropped 15 percent in a shortened trading session, as the market closed early on election day.
Declining stocks beat out advancing ones 6 to 4 advancing leading to a big fall of 4.65 percent in the junior market index as a huge 96.48 points was slashed to end at 1,978.64. A total of 12 securities traded, 1 of which ended at a 52 weeks’ high. The market ended with 2,076,968 units changing hands, valued at $12,398,257. At the close, 2 securities ended with no bids and 8 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 6 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 1 ended with a lower offer.
In trading, Access Financial fell $1.50 while trading 1,426 units to close at $18, Caribbean Cream declined by 35 cents while trading 26,900 shares to close at $3.80, Caribbean Flavours closed with 6,586 units changing hands but fell 10 cents to $8.60, Caribbean Producers lost 10 cents with 67,954 units changing hands, to close at $5. JM Trd 25-02-16Consolidated Bakeries dropped 22 cents in trading 10,000 shares at $1.40, Dolphin Cove traded 3,100 shares at $15.62, to record an increase of 1 cent, Honey Bun gained 22 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $14 with 408,083 units changing hands, Jamaican Teas traded 41,562 shares with the price remaining unchanged at $7.70. KLE Group closed with 47,759 shares changing hands at $2.50. Lasco Distributors closed with 204,850 units trading to end at $5.95 for a loss of $1.05, Lasco Financial gained 25 cents to end at $3.20 with 433,175 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 825,573 shares and gained 10 cents to close at $3.95.

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

Juniors slips sharply – Wednesday

February 24, 2016 by

CAC 2000 closed at new high of $7.36 on Wednesday.

CAC 2000 closed at new high of $7.36 on Wednesday.


The junior market ceded ground again on Wednesday although advancing and declining stocks were equal with 6 declining stocks and 6 advancing leading to fall of 2 percent in the index. The market lost 44.03 points to end at 2,075.12 with 13 securities trading, 2 of which ended at 52 weeks’ highs. The market ended with 2,918,009 units changing hands, valued at $20,407,860.
At the close, 1 security ended with no bid and 6 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 8 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial fell 50 cents while trading 764,000 units to close at $19.50, AMG Packaging dropped had 20,000 units changing hands, to end at $14, Blue Power traded 4,440 shares and fell 29 cents to end at $9.30, CAC 2000 had 12,500 shares changing hand, to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $7.36 after rising 34 cents. C2W Music traded 5,637 units at 43 cents, Caribbean Cream rose by 15 cents while trading 107,800 shares to close at $4.15, Caribbean Producers had 30,000 units changing hands, to close at $5.10, Dolphin Cove traded 500 shares at $15.61, General Accident traded 690,326 units at $2.40 with a gain of 20 cents. JM sum 24-2-16Honey Bun ended with 7,674 units changing hands at $13.78 after rising 8 cents, Knutsford Express gained $1.01 and ended at a 52 weeks’ high of $18.51 with 1,500 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed with 193,650 units trading to end at $7 for a 6 cents loss. Lasco Financial declined by 15 cents to end at $2.95 with 279,491 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 297,431 shares and fell 40 cents to close at $4.20, Medical Disposables traded 477,623 shares to close with a loss of 1 cent at $3.39, and Paramount trading closed with a 6 cents gain at $11.30 with 45,437shares trading.

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

JSE’s modest recovery in early trading

February 23, 2016 by

The Jamaica Stock Exchange is making modest recovery on Tuesday morning. JSE Int Cht 23-02-16After 75 minutes of trading the junior market index is up 1 percent, well up from the 3 percent decline on Monday, in early trading.
A total of 10 stocks fell and 5 rose as 24 securities have been active with just 909,211 units changing hands. The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 224.52 points to 175,694.53, the JSE Market Index rose 200.90 points to 158,147.03, the JSE combined index fell 412.29 points to 168,364.80 and the junior market index dropped 62.47 points to 2,120.16. On Tuesday the junior index is up by 24.66 points to 2,130.69 points, in contrast to a fall of 64.27 in early trading on Monday.

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

Carreras profit up but report wrong

February 22, 2016 by

CarrerasTobaccoFree280x150Carreras recorded moderate growth of 6 percent in the December quarter last year with profit after tax of $851 million from $800 million in the similar period in 2014, but the report issued by the company on the Stock Exchange has the September 2014 quarterly as the comparative December figures.
For the nine months to December, profits rose 16 percent to $2.27 billion from $1.97 billion.
Revenues grew for the nine months by 8 percent to $9.3 billion, up from $8.67 billion, while revenues grew 7 percent for the quarter from $3.3 billion to $3.55 billion.
Apart from the improvement in revenues which helped to improve profits, administrative cost were lower in the quarter, falling to $332 million from $512 million and for the nine months to $1 billion from $1.08 billion while Distribution and marketing cost rose moderately in the nine months to $512 million but the quarterly figure jumped from only $76 million to $245 million in 2015.
Cash funds stood at $3 billion but $1.1 billion is due to be paid for corporation taxes but shareholders’ capital $1.98 billion which is down from $3.1 billion at March 2015.
Earnings per share came in at $4.68 for the nine months and $1.86 for the quarter with full year’s earnings heading for $6.70 per share net asset value turns out at $4.05. The stock last traded at $66 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday for a PE of 10.
The company will be paying an interim dividend of $1.80 per share to shareholders on March 17 and brings the total dividend in the last twelve months to $8.94.

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

More retreating for JSE on Friday

February 19, 2016 by

Seprod traded at 52 weeks' intraday high on Friday at $22.10.

Seprod traded at 52 weeks’ intraday high on Friday at $22.10.

Pressure on the Jamaica main market stocks eased slightly on Friday with the indices gaining moderately but declining stocks still beat out advancing ones by a good margin with 19 securities declining and the prices of 10 securities gaining as 45 changed hands in all market segments. Trading resulted in 3 stocks closing at 52 weeks’ highs and one at intraday high.
A total of 7,670,934 units valued at $79,145,756 changed hands in all markets. The junior market accounted for 1,035,881 units changing hands, valued at $5,711,682.98.
The JSE Market Index rose 64.41 points to 157,387.02 the all Jamaica Composite Index gained 71.98 points to end at 174,845.16 and the JSE combined index dumped by 463.27 points to close at 168,117.47.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
JSE Sum 19-02-16At the end of the market activities, Barita Investments retreated after the company posted lower earnings in the December quarter of $27.7 million versus $45.6 million as 10,000 units traded to close with a loss of 40 cents at $4.20. Berger Paints lost 49 cents to end at $4.21, with 5,070 units traded, Cable and Wireless closed with a loss of 1 cent as 619,883 units changed hands at $1.58. Caribbean Cement fell 50 cents to close at $30 with 31,123 shares changing hands, Carreras dropped $1 to close at $66, while trading 6,072 units, Ciboney declined by 6 cents to 15 cents with 2,955,517 shares trading, Gleaner traded 113,790 shares but fell 4 cents to $2.46. Grace Kennedy ended with 8,369 shares trading to close at $82.25 after gaining 70 cents. Jamaica Broilers jumped $1.15 with 647,438 units to close at $14.90, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 46,000 shares trading but rose 40 cents to close at $22.35, JMMB Group had 22,851 units changing hands at $11. JSE fn qts 19-02-16Kingston Wharves had 7,260 shares trading with a gain of 5 cents at $11.40, Mayberry Investments traded 35,970 units to close at $4.5 for a decline of 5 cents, National Commercial Bank traded 109,827 shares to close at $41 after gaining 70 cents, while Pan Jamaican traded 14,727 shares with a fall of $1.30 to end at $94.70. Radio Jamaica traded 1,414 units but fell 30 cents to $4.30, Sagicor Group fell 1 cent with 469,568 shares changing hands at $22.10, Scotia Group had 1,242,641 shares changing hands to close with a gain of 50 cents to end at $33.50. Scotia Investments had 5,174 units changing hands at $28 after rising $1. Seprod closed at $22, with 26,364 shares trading, Supreme Ventures fell 5 cents to close at $5.85 with 170,772 units changing hands, JMMB Group 5.75% preference share traded 35,000 at $1.06 and Proven Investments preference share traded 40,000 units at $5.

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Major recovery at General Accident

February 19, 2016 by

General Accident

General Accident

Profit benefited from improvement in the second half of 2015 at General Accident from a drastic fall off in the first half, to record a small decrease of only 6 percent, hitting $301 million, down from $320 million in 2014, resulting in earnings per share of 29 cents for the year compared to 30 cents in 2014.
In the December quarter, the company reported a huge increase in its net profit of 189 percent to $185.9 million, an increase of $64.4 million.
Gross written premiums grew by 21 percent to $6.1 billion in 2015, from $5 billion in 2014 for the full year and for the last quarter, $664 million versus $555 million in 2014. Net premiums ended at $1.19 billion for the year compared with $1.07 billion in 2014 and for the December quarter, $288 million versus $258 million. Commission and other Income fell to $410 million from $424 million in 2014 and is up in the December quarter, to $137 million from $115 million. Investments income grew marginally to $178 million, from $160 million for the year and to $51.6 million from $43 million in the 2014 quarter.
In 2015, the Company’s claims expense, increased marginally by 3 percent to $699 million versus $679 million in 2014 and for the December 2015 quarter it fell to $108 million from $162 million in the 2014 quarter. Notwithstanding higher claims, underwriting profit grew to $107 million compared to $101 million in 2014 and $129 million in the December quarter versus a mere $12 million in 2014.
Commission expenses grew to $224 million for the year from $183 million and to $88 million for the quarter from $90 million. Management Expenses amounted to $451 million for the year while in 2014 it was $442 million, for the quarter $125 million was incurred and in the 2014 quarter $117 million.
Total shareholders’ equity stood at $1.77 billion up from $1.57 billion in 2014. The return on average equity based on the reported profit is 18 percent but including unrealised investments gains its 22 percent.
The stock traded on the junior market at $2.12 on Thursday at a PE ratio of 7.9 which is one of the lowest within the sector and therefore has room to record gains.

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

Falling junior stocks down on Thursday

February 18, 2016 by

AMG drops $2.50 on Thursday

AMG drops $2.50 on Thursday

The junior market faltered again on Thursday with 6 declining stocks and 3 advancing leading to a fall in the index 12.27 points to end at 2,240.63 with 17 securities trading. The market ended with 506,784 units changing hands, valued at $2,772,838.
At the close, 2 securities ended with no bid to buy and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 6 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 1 ended with a lower offer.
The bid on Access Financial is $18.20 to buy 12,600 units versus the last trade at $16.80 and the lowest offer is at $23.49 to sell 15,150 units.
In trading, AMG Packaging dropped $2.50 while 7,373 units changed hands to end at $15.50, CAC 2000 had 30,760 shares changing hand, to close at $7.35, Caribbean Cream fell 6 cents while trading 61,890 shares to close at $4.15. Caribbean Flavours ended with 11,285 units changing hands with a gain of 10 cents to end at $8.60, Caribbean Producers lost 35 cents with 350 units changing hands, to close at $5.50, Consolidated Bakeries traded 57,380 units to close with a rise of 1 cent at $1.79, Derrimon Trading ended with 3,800 shares changing hands and closed at a $5. General Accident traded 4,198 units at $2.12 to gain 2 cents, Honey Bun lost 10 cents as 24,270 units changed hands to end at $13.50. JM sum 18-2-16Jamaican Teas had 4,688 shares trading to close at $7.80, KLE Group ended at $2.50 with 134,981 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed with 73,795 units trading to end at $7.50 for a 29 cents loss. Lasco Financial declined by 2 cents to end at $3.50 with 23,307 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 31,622 shares and fell 10 cents to close at $4.60. Medical Disposables traded 4,767 shares to close at $3.51, Paramount trading ended with 5,000 units changing hands at $11.30 and tTech closed at $4.85 with 8,996 shares trading.

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

11 junior stocks fall 1 rise – Wednesday

February 17, 2016 by

Honey Bun closed at a 52 weeks' high on Wednesday.

Honey Bun closed at a 52 weeks’ high on Wednesday.

The junior market fell badly on Wednesday with 11 declining stocks and only 1 advancing leading to a fall in the index 26.12 points to end at 2,252.90 with 18 securities trading. The market ended with 876,572 units changing hands, valued at $3,718,863.
At the close, 2 securities ended with no bid to buy and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 8 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
The bid on Access Financial is down to $18.10 to buy 12,600 units versus the last trade at $16.80 and the lowest offer is at $23.49 to sell 15,150 units but the stock has not traded for several days.
In trading, AMG Packaging dropped $1.15 while 7,373 units changed hands to end at $18, CAC 2000 had 4,200 shares changing hands to close at $7.35, C2W Music traded 6,277 shares at 45 cents, Caribbean Cream fell 19 cents while trading 133,960 shares to close at $4.21, Caribbean Flavours ended with 3,083 units changing hands at $8.50. Caribbean Producers lost 35 cents with 4,500 units changing hands, to close at $5.50, Consolidated Bakeries traded 51,332 units to close with a fall of 1 cent at $1.78, Derrimon Trading ended with 270,000 shares changing hands and closed at a $5. Dolphin Cove lost 39 cents in trading 3,300 units at $15.61, JM sum 17-2-16General Accident traded 133,703 units at $2.10 to shed 25 cents, Honey Bun rose 52 cents as 100 units changed hands to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $13.60. Jamaican Teas fell 20 cents while trading 21,631 shares to close at $7.80, Lasco Distributors closed with 5,323 units trading to end at $7.79. Lasco Financial declined by 17 cents to end at $3.52 with 65,300 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 53,450 shares and fell 20 cents to close at $4.70. Medical Disposables traded 3,233 shares to close with a loss of 1 cent at $3.51, Sweet River ended with 100,000 units changing hands at $4 and tTech closed at $4.85 with 9,807 shares trading after losing 5 cents.

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

JSE down sharply in early trading

February 17, 2016 by

The Jamaica Stock Exchange got to a moderate start with prices being on the soft side, following Tuesday’s large number of declines. JSE Int Cht 17-02-16The market indices all slipped between 1.21 percent for the JSS index to 1.23 percent for the juniors after 75 minutes of trading.
A total of 7 stocks fell and only 8 rose as 30 securities have been active with just 621,780 units changing hands.
National Commercial has not yet traded but seems heavy, with offers at $39.50, below Tuesday’s last traded price of $40, while Scotia Group fell from $34 to $32. AMG Packaging fell from $19.15 to $18 after the stock traded as high as $21.50 last week on low volume and Lasco Distributors declined from $7.79 to $7.35.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 2,151.91 points to 174,687.02, the JSE Market Index lost 1,925.55 points to 157,245.51, the JSE combined index fell 2,069.78 points to 168,600.65 and the junior market index dropped 28.13 points to 2,250.89.

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