Jamaica stock market plunged on Friday

The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market had a big hit on Friday as declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones, 2 to 1 as investors marked prices of several stocks sharply down leading to a fall of more than 5,000 points in the all Jamaica composite Index.
At the close, the All Jamaica Composite Index plunged 5,207.13 points to close at 254,236.40, the JSE Market Index dived 4,744.29 points to 231,638.15 and the JSE US dollar market index gained 2.61 points to close at 175.65.
At the close of trading, 27 securities changed hands in the main market, with 1 trading in the US dollar market, and 1 in bond market. Activity led to 7 stocks advancing and 13 declining. The main market ended with 3,946,660 units valued at $78,337,785 changing hands compared to 1,498,592 units valued at $27,780,303 at the close on Thursday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 832,819 units valued at US$188,222 bringing the total trade in all the markets to J$320,285,532.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 146,173 units valued at $2,901,399 for each security traded compared to an average of 59,944 units valued at $1,111,212. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 134,528 units with an average value of $3,095,516 compared with an average of 131,617 units with an average value of $3,144,045 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed at $14.80, losing $1.90 in trading 2,182 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 5 cents and closed at $1.05, with 588,717 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement traded 30 cents lower to close at $27.50 in exchanging 2,927 shares, Carreras traded $1 lower after closing at $88 with 3,396 shares changing hands. Grace Kennedy closed at $41.99, losing 1 cent in trading 39,817 units. Jamaica Broilers exchanged 2,000 shares at $18, Jamaica Producers lost 56 cents to close at $14.45, with 12,939 shares switching owners. Jamaica Stock Exchange ended at $6.40 trading 28,978 shares, JMMB Group closed at $18.60, with a loss of 90 cents in exchanging 18,126 units, Kingston Properties traded 2,569 units at $8, Kingston Wharves closed at $30.50, with gains of 50 cents from the trading of 6,400 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 14 cents to close at $4.69, with 15,113 shares changing hands. NCB Financial Group rose 50 cents and closed at $70.50, after exchanging 6,291 shares, 1834 Investments lost 3 cents in closing at $1.32 with 14,400 shares traded, PanJam Investment gained 15 cents to close at $34.25, with 355,285 units changing hands, Portland JSX exchanged 1,000 units at $10.01, Proven Investments traded 1,387,365 shares at $24.01, Pulse Investments lost 50 cents to close at $3, with 37,114 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica shed 10 cents lower to close at $1.50 with 100,638 shares trading. Sagicor Group closed at $30, with a loss of $3 trading 10,436 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 1,800 units at $12.24, Scotia Group traded $1 lower, to end at $42 with an exchange of 617,719 shares, Scotia Investments traded 11,395 shares ad closed at $36.01, Sterling Investments closed at $14.05, with a loss of $1.45 and 2,000 shares changing ownership while Supreme Ventures gained 50 cents to close at $7.50 and with an exchange of 5,500 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 22 US cents in trading 832,819 units, JMMB 7.5% preference share gained 15 cents to close at $2 in exchanging 671,301 units, JMMB Group7.25% preference share rose 6 cents, closing at an 52 weeks’ high of $1.55, with 1,252 units changing hands and ISP Finance bond traded 207,000 units at $1.

 

Juniors drop 5% for week

At the close of the Junior Market on Friday, the market index shed almost 5 percent as it fell 68.54 points on and 157.79 points for the week, to end at 3,064.46. Advancing stocks  outnumbered declining ones, 6 to 5, at the close of trading, for the week.
The market closed with 19 securities versus 16 on Thursday leading to 1,798,125 units valued at $9,009,745 trading, compared with 1,273,040 units valued at $6,292,991 on Thursday.
Trading closed with 7 stocks having higher bids than their last traded prices and 1 closing with a lower offer as the short term desire to sell continued to dominate the market currently.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 94,638 units for an average value of $474,197 compared to 67,002 units for an average value of $331,210 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 74,132 units valued at $402,551 compared with units 69,006 units valued at $384,639 previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, Access Financial Services lost 50 cents to close at $46.50, trading 199 units AMG Packaging closed at $4 with 22,679 units changing hands, Blue Power closed at $50 with 862 units changing hands, CAC 2000 shed $1.43 to end at $6.75 with 27,757 shares trading, Cargo Handlers traded 1,259 shares and fell 5 cents to $14.45, Caribbean Flavours ended trading 240 units at $12.10, Caribbean Producers closed trading with 11,400 units to end at $3.40, Consolidated Bakeries closed trading with 12,732 shares at $2.72, Derrimon Trading ended at $8.05 with 132,000 shares changing hands, General Accident closed trading with 103,720 shares to end at $2.90, Iron Rock lost 30 cents and closed with 200 units, changing hands at $3.20 Jamaican Teas lost 30 cents trading 9,800 shares, to end at $3.80, Jetcon Corporation shed 55 cents to $4.50 with 804,795 shares trading, Knutsford Express traded 11,582 shares and lost 15 cents to end at $14.85, Lasco Distributors closed at $6.80 after trading 16,000 units, Lasco Financial ended with 68,052 shares changing hands at $3.60 after slipping 20 cents, Lasco Manufacturing fell 40 cents and ended with 535,551 shares trading, to close at $4.30. Main Event gained 50 cents to end trading 31,922 shares at $5.50 and Medical Disposables lost 50 cents and closed at $5.50 with 7,375 units trading.

Palace jumps $50 to $550 on Thursday

Palace Amusement hit a record of $550 on Thursday.

Palace Amusement stock jumped by $50 to close at an all-time high of $550, with only 143 shares trading, the big price movement would have little effect on market index. The next largest movement was Carreras with a fall of $3 as it pulled back from the record close on Wednesday.
At the close of the market, the All Jamaica Composite Index declined 192.22 points to close at 259,443.53, the JSE Market Index fell 175.13 points to 236,382.44 and the JSE US dollar market index gained 1.21 points to close at 173.04.
At the close of trading, 25 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 8 stocks advancing and 10 declining. The main market ended with 1,498,592 units valued at $27,780,303 changing hands compared to 5,512,413 units valued at $131,703,756 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 620,750 units valued at US$137,765 bringing the total value of trading $204,533,145. In the bond market, ISP Finance bond traded 207,000 units at $1.10 each.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 59,944 units valued at $1,111,212 for each security traded compared to an average of 212,016 units valued at $5,065,529. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 131,617 units with an average value of $3,144,045 compared with an average of 155,508 with an average value of $3,821,656 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed at $16.70, gaining $1.20 in trading 2,094 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 3 cents and closed at $1.10, with 143,899 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement traded 20 cents lower to close at $27.80 in exchanging just 194 shares, Carreras traded $3 lower to close at $89 with 34,284 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy closed at $42, with gains of $1.50 trading 19,382 units. Jamaica Broilers exchanged 44,607 shares at $18, Jamaica Producers added 1 cent to close at $15.01, with 111,089 shares trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 55 cents to close at $6.40 trading 26,463 shares, JMMB Group closed at $19.50, after gaining 50 cents in exchanging 26,717 units, Kingston Properties traded $1 lower, to close at $8, with 3,200 units changing hands, Kingston Wharves closed at $30, with a rise of $1 after the trading of 250 units, Mayberry Investments lost 5 cents to close at $4.55, with 31,464 shares changing hands. NCB Financial Group closed at $70, after exchanging 23,981 shares, 1834 Investments lost 15 cents in closing at $1.35 with 346,000 shares traded, Palace Amusement advanced $50, closing at an all-time high of $550 in exchanging only 143 units, PanJam Investment closed at $34.10, after losing 40 cents with trades of 50,200 shares, Proven Investments gained 1 cent to close at $24.01, with an exchange of 406,756 shares, Pulse Investments closed at $3.50, with 34,714 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica traded 129 shares at $1.60. Sagicor Group lost 50 cents and closed at $33, with 32,985 shares changing hands, Sagicor Real Estate traded 17,766 units at $12.24. Salada Foods exchanged 1,128 shares at $10, Scotia Group traded 45 cents higher and closed at $43 with an exchange of 104,910 shares, Seprod traded 18,250 shares at $30 while Supreme Ventures closed at $7, with a loss of 77 cents and an exchange of 17,987 shares and Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 22 US cents in trading 620,750 units.

 

More declines for Juniors on Thursday

tTech, one of ICI Insider.com top selections for 2017, traded at arecord high of $9.50.

The Junior Market suffered more losses on Thursday with the market index slipping 12.11 points to end at 3,133.00 as advancing stocks were outnumbered by declining ones 9 to 5. Volume traded fell from Wednesday’s 2 million units to 1.27 million shares.
The junior Market closed with 19 securities versus 16 on Wednesday leading to 1,273,040 units valued at $6,292,991 trading, compared with 1,959778 units valued at $11,361,648 on Wednesday.
Trading closed with 4 stocks having higher bids than their last traded prices and 3 closing with lower offers as the short term desire to sell dominates the market currently.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 67,002 units for an average value of $331,210 compared to 122,383 units for an average value of $710,103 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 69,006 units valued at $384,639 compared with units 69,674 valued at $402,449 previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, Access Financial Services gained 50 cents to close at $47, trading 2,070 units AMG Packaging lost 4 cents and closed at $4 with 8,694 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream fell 15 cents in trading 150,867 units to end at $7.86, Caribbean Producers closed trading with 81,274 units but lost 29 cents to end at $3.40, Consolidated Bakeries rose 10 cents in trading 30,000 shares to close at $2.72, Eppley traded 4,009 shares to close at $12.95, General Accident closed trading with 203,693 shares and fell 10 cents to end at $2.90, Honey Bun lost 20 cents and closed with 41,767 units, changing hands at $5.50, Jamaican Teas lost 5 cents trading 114,265 shares, to end at $4.10, Jetcon Corporation rose 5 cents to $5.05 with 215,883 shares trading, KLE Group ended at $2.10 with 7,734 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express traded 8,798 shares and lost 80 cents to end at $15, Lasco Distributors rose 30 cents and closed at $6.80 after trading 16,000 units, Lasco Financial ended with 47,663 shares changing hands at $3.80 after rising 5 cents, Lasco Manufacturing fell 20 cents and ended with 305,377 shares trading to close at $4.70. Main Event ended trading 13,350 shares at $5, Medical Disposables closed at $6 with 15,166 units trading, Paramount Trading lost 1 cent to end at $2.99 with 3,350 units trading and tTech traded 3,000 units to gain 99 cents to close at record high of $9.50.

SOS solidly BUY RATED

Stationery and Office Supplies reported earnings of 26 cents per share for 2016 and IC Insider.com forecast 40 cents pretax for the current year from just over $90 million in pretax profit, a near doubling in profits over the $53 million reported in 2016.
Revenues increased 11 percent in 2013, just 5 percent in next year, 14 percent in 2015 and 12 percent in 2016 and 20 percent for the first six months of 2017, hitting $702 million in 2016 and seems on target to get to around $850 million for 2017.
Pre-tax Profit in 2016, pre-tax profits jumped 279.5 percent to end at $53 million compared to only $14 million in 2015, and $8 million in 2014.
Improvement in the Company’s revenues has been attributable to organic expansion driven by the achievement of deeper penetration in the market for the Company’s products and services but inflation and devaluation of the Jamaican dollar versus the United States currency would also play roles. Improved profit and cash flow generated in the last two years helped to fund increased inventory making more choices available to customers and that is reflected in a noticeable pick-up in sales. The Company has expanded its product offerings, adding to the list of brands it distributes and venturing into manufacturing its own brands of furniture – Image and Torch.
Gross profit as a percentage of sales was a strong 48 percent in 2016, coming from 43 percent in 2015 and 44.55 percent in 2014. Lower cost of sales led to an improved gross profit position of $339 million in 2016, which 26.09 percent increase over that earned in 2015 and 10 percent more in 2015 over 2014.
As at the 31 March 2017, SOS reported first quarter revenues of $220 million, 20.7 percent more than the $182 million reported in the corresponding period for 2016. Cost of sales as a proportion of revenue remained in line with the FY 2016 representing 50.66 percent of total revenue; this percentage was however slightly higher than the 48.75 percent for all of 2016. The company reported pretax profits of $30 million compared to $29.5 million in Q1 2016. A number of factors impacted the 2016 results that resulted in higher profits than would normally be the case as such the 2017 profit are better than the figures suggest. In effect the 2016 first quarter could be around $20 million from normal ongoing operation.
Gross profit for the three month period ended 31 March 2017 was $108.64 million or 16.2 percent more than the $93 million reported in 2016. SOS also reported an increase in administrative costs of 21 percent to $53 million and selling expenses climbed 37.5 percent to $18 million.
Total assets were valued at J$498 million at the March this year comprising current assets of $243 million. Inventories stood at $117 million, receivables $93 million and cash of J$12 million. Total liabilities amounted to J$231 million, with trade and other payables of J$78 million. Shareholders equity stood at $270 million or $1.35 per share.
The company will benefit greatly from listing and sales to climb above recent levels form the increased exposure that will be gained from listing on an ongoing basis as well as the increased working capital that will provide additional choices for customers and help fuel increased sales. IC Insider.com accords the stock BUY RATED with the price to rise sharply after the stock list.

Juniors drop again on Wednesday

The Junior Market lost further ground on Wednesday as the market index slipped 31.33 points to end at 3,145.11 as advancing stocks just edged out declining ones 6 to 5. Volume traded increased from Tuesday’s 1 million unit level to just under 2 million units.
The junior Market closed with 16 securities versus 18 on Tuesday leading to 1,959,778 units valued at $11,361,648 trading, compared with 1,057,031 units valued at $6,029,750 on Tuesday.
Trading closed with 4 stocks having higher bids than their last traded prices and 3 closing with lower offers as the short term desire to sell dominates the market currently.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of 122,383 units for an average value of $710,103 compared to 58,724 units for an average value of $334,986 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to just 69,674 units valued at $402,449 compared with 43,268 units valued at $248,622, previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, stocks trading and their last traded price are: AMG Packaging closed at $4.10 with 10,000 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream added 56 cents in trading 2,000 units to end at $8.01, Consolidated Bakeries rose 10 cents in trading 14,096 shares to close at $2.72, C2W Music lost 2 cents in trading 1,350 shares to close at 40 cents, Dolphin Cove lost $2 and ended at $18 with 2,979 shares trading, General Accident closed trading with 1,000 shares at $3, Honey Bun lost 17 cents and closed with 1,000 units, changing hands at $5.70 Jamaican Teas lost 5 cents trading 24,538 shares, to end at $4.15, Jetcon Corporation lost 48 cents and ended at $5 with 1,280,719 shares trading, Knutsford Express traded 9,454 shares to end at $15.80, Lasco Distributors fell 48 cents and closed at $6.50 after trading 15,575 units, Lasco Financial ended with 2,000 shares changing hands at $3.75 after losing 5 cents, Lasco Manufacturing ended with 69,398 shares trading closed at $4.90 after rising 2 cents. Main Event dropped 30 cents and ended trading 140,248 shares at $5, Paramount Trading lost 2 cents to end at $3 with 10,000 units trading and tTech traded 374,621 units for 71 cents more to $8.51.

JSE inch up on Wednesday

Carreras climbed to a 52 weeks’ high of $92 on Wednesdaay.

Big movements in a number of main market stocks were mixed at the close of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Tuesday, leaving the market indices with moderate gains with one stock climbing to a new high.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 126.62 points to 259,635.75, the JSE Market Index gained 115.36 points to 236,557.57 and the JSE US dollar market index dropped 2.64 points to close at 171.83. At the close of trading, 26 securities changed hands in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market and one bond traded, leading to 7 stocks advancing and 13 declining. Carreras closed at a new 52 weeks’ high at the conclusion of trading. The main market ended with 5,512,413 units valued at $131,703,756 changing hands compared to 3,076,517 units valued at $75,479,037 at the close on Tuesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 1,886,641 units valued at US$414,205, bringing the total value to J$184,887,663.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 212,016 units valued at $5,065,529 for each security traded, compared to an average of 133,762 units valued at $3,281,697. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 155,508 units with an average value of $3,821,656 compared with an average of 127,255 units with an average of $3,199,719 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed at $15.50, losing $1, trading 3,486 shares, Cable and Wireless gained 3 cents and closed at $1.13, with 70,616 stock units switching owners, Carreras jumped $1.99 higher, in closing at a 52 weeks’ high of $92 with 84,094 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy closed at $40.50, with a loss of $1.50, trading 24,428 units. Jamaica Broilers gained 30 cents, closing at $18, with an exchange of 137,347 shares, Jamaica Producers closed at $15, losing 70 cents with 6,700 shares trading. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 15 cents to close at $6.95, trading 46,311 shares, JMMB Group closed at $19, with a loss of $1 exchanging 9,377 units, Kingston Properties traded 95 cents lower to close at $9, with 4,000 units changing hands, Kingston Wharves closed at $29, losing 50 cents while trading 5,165 shares, Mayberry Investments closed at $4.60, with 3,000 shares changing hands. NCB Financial Group climbed $1.45 to close at $70, after exchanging 768,259 shares, 1834 Investments added 15 cents, in closing at $1.50 with 30,292 shares traded, PanJam Investment closed at $34.50, losing 70 cents with trades of 18,348 shares, Proven Investments lost 1 cent to close at $24 exchanging 2,439,750 shares, Pulse Investments closed at $3.50, with a loss of 85 cents and 22,500 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica traded 86,675 shares at $1.60. Sagicor Group closed at $33.50, with gains of 40 cents trading 28,638 shares, Sagicor Real Estate gained 14 cents to close at $12.24 exchanging 1,015 units. Scotia Group traded $2.45 lower, closing at $42.55 with an exchange of 10,927 shares, Scotia Investments closed at $36.01, losing $1.99 with 42,553 shares changing hands, Seprod traded 29,647 shares at $30 while Supreme Ventures closed at $7.77, with an exchange of 73,630 shares. Margaritaville Turks US ordinary share closed at 32 US cents, with trades of 34,800 units, Proven Investments US ordinary share closed at 22 US cents trading 1,833,841 units, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 1 cent, closing at $1.10 with 1,309,213 units exchanged and JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.85, with 171,442 units traded.

Juniors drop again on Tuesday

The Junior Market lost further ground on Tuesday with the market index slipping 19.51 points, to end at 3,176.44, as advancing stocks just edged out declining ones 7 to 6. Volume traded recovered somewhat from Monday’s low level, to just over 1 million units.
The junior Market closed with 18 securities versus the same number on Monday leading to only 1,057,031 units valued at $6,029,750 trading, compared with 500,614 units valued at $2,920,659 on Monday.
Trading closed with 4 stocks having higher bids than their last traded prices and 6 closing with lower offers as the short term desire to sell dominates the market currently.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average of just 58,724 units for an average value of $334,986 compared to 28,812 units for an average value of $162,259 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to just 43,268 units valued at $248,622 compared with 162,259 units valued at $162,259, previously. In contrast, June closed with averages of 395,969 units valued at $1,799,200 for each security traded.
At the close of the market, stocks trading and their last traded price are: Blue Power closed at $50 with a mere 800 units changing hands, Cargo Handlers dropped $1.40 in trading 500 shares to end at $14.50, Caribbean Cream dropped 56 cents in trading 168,533 units to end at $7.45, Caribbean Flavours gained 10 cents in trading 560 units to end at $12.10, Caribbean Producers ended trading with 25,160 shares to close at $3.69, C2W Music lost 1 cents in trading 17,385 shares to close at 42 cents, Dolphin Cove recovered the $3 it dropped on Monday and ended at $20 with 5,037 shares trading, Honey Bun gained 27 cents and closed with 5,000 units, changing hands at $5.87, Jamaican Teas traded 24.400 shares, to end at $4.20, Jetcon Corporation rose 13 cents and ended at $5.48 with 713,635 shares trading, Key Insurance traded 1,035 shares to end at $3.05. Knutsford Express traded 4,570 shares and rose 80 cents to end at $15.80, Lasco Distributors fell 2 cents and closed at $6.98 after trading 24,253 units, Lasco Financial ended with 1,622 shares changing hands at $3.80, Lasco Manufacturing ended with 4,925 shares trading closed at $4.88 after falling 12 cents. Main Event dropped 70 cents and ended trading 26,572 shares at $5.30, Medical Disposables rose 0 cents and ended at $6 with 30,544 units trading and Paramount Trading rose 2 cents to end at $3.02 with 100 units trading.

JSE majors in moderate fall – Tuesday

Main market stocks declined on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at the close on Tuesday and just barely taking a small bite out of the strong gains on Monday. At the close, the All Jamaica Composite Index declined 335.47 points to close at 259,509.13, the JSE Market Index fell 305.65 points to 236,442.21 and the JSE US dollar market index dropped 5.99 points to close at 174.47.
At the close of trading, 23 securities changed hands in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 9 declining. Three securities ended trading at a new closing high. The main market ended with 3,076,517 units valued at $75,479,037 changing hands compared to 2,897,944 units valued at $74,825,788 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 2,038,184 units valued at US$473,952.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 133,762 units valued at $3,281,697 for each security traded compared to an average of 120,748 units valued at $3,117,741. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 127,255 units with an average value of $3,199,719 compared with an average of 120,748 units with an average value of $3,117,741 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Berger Paints gained $1.50 to close at $16.50 while exchanging 7,536 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 1 cent and closed at $1.10, with 100,957 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement closed at $28, with 1,350 shares traded, Carreras traded $1.01 higher, closing at a 52 weeks’ high of $90.01, with 1,725 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy gained $2 to close at $42 in trading 1,400 units. Jamaica Broilers lost 30 cents, closing at $17.70, with an exchange of 26,548 shares, Jamaica Producers closed at $15.70 with gains of 70 cents while trading of 28,804 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.10, gaining 5 cents trading 18,990 shares, JMMB Group closed at $20 exchanging 2,648 units, Kingston Wharves lost 50 cents to close at $29.50 trading 90,917 shares, Mayberry Investments closed at $4.60, with 1,112 shares changing hands. NCB Financial Group closed at $68.55, with a loss of $1.45 after exchanging 145,990 shares, PanJam Investment closed at $35.20, losing 31 cents with trades of 16,532 shares, Portland JSX lost 99 cents, with 1,052 units traded, Proven Investments added 1 cent to close at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $24.01 in exchanged for 2,200,900 shares, Pulse Investments closed at a new high of $4.35, with gains of 60 cents and with 65,062 shares changing hands. Radio Jamaica traded 69,640 shares at $1.60, Sagicor Group closed at $33.10, with gains of 50 cents in trading 147,145 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund exchanged 1,000 units at $12.10. Scotia Group closed at $45, with a loss of 70 cents and an exchange of 42,725 shares while Supreme Ventures closed at $7.77, and lost 1 cent with 50,318 shares changing hands. Proven Investments US ordinary shares, closed at 22 US cents, having lost 0.02 US cent trading 2,068,184 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share gained 0.02 US cents to close at US$1.12 with trades of 15,718 units, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 2 cents, closing at $1.11 with 51,966 units exchanged and JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.85, with 2,200 units traded.

This SOS IPO who are the connections?

The McDaniel family owned Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) after 50 years of serving their more than 3,000 clients, are heading in a new direction. No longer content to hug up 100 percent of the company the family is now are embarking enjoining the public to ride on with them to the next level.

In furtherance of this new thrust SOS is now seeking to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market with an initial public offering 50,024,100 ordinary shares, to raise approximately $95,048,200 before expenses. The issue is inclusive of 22,500,000 reserved shares some of which are being sold at $1.60 for staff, with the rest being made available to the general public at $2 per share the offer opening at 9 on July 19th, with the closing set for 4:30 P.M. on July 26th.
The Company reported pretax profits of $53 million in 2016, from sales of $702 million, with earnings of 26.5 cents per share, resulting in a PE of 7.5 before tax. Earnings for 2017 is estimated at around 40 cents on a pretax basis at an attractive PE of 5.6 times 2017 earnings. Revenues for the first six months of 2017, are up almost 20 percent over the similar period in 2016. Office furnishing and fixtures account for approximately 60 percent of sales revenues and stationery and office supplies for 40 percent management advised IC Insider.com.
The Company estimates that the expenses in the invitation will not exceed $12,000,000 inclusive of General Consumption Tax and an expanded marketing and publicity spend, expected to not only drive interest in the IPO but create greater awareness about the company. and its products.
Minimum raise| The Company needs to raise at least $50,000,000 to qualify for listing on the Junior Market. If that amount is not achieved an application will not be made for the shares to be admitted to the Junior Market and all funds will be returned to the persons who made them.
History| The Company started business in July 1965 under the guidance of Richard Hing, George Hew and David McDaniel. In 1970, the Company became wholly owned by the McDaniel family when all of the issued ordinary shares were acquired by David and Marjorie McDaniel. The Company now operates out of a 35,000 square feet warehouse, office and showroom on Beechwood Avenue in Kingston and a 3,000 square feet location in Montego Bay that houses 1,200 square feet of office and showroom space and a 1,800 square foot warehousing facility supported by a staff complement of sixteen. The Head Office currently employs eighty-three team members. Eleven delivery vehicles are operated by the company including trucks, which support delivery to customers.
Products|The Company now sells and market office supplies and stationery items, modular office furniture, partitions, metal products, chairs, cabinets and shelving. The Company is the sole local distributor for the leading international brands in office furniture – Fursys and Boss. In 2011, lower priced items were introduced to meet growing demand, by introducing the first of two proprietary brands, the first being the “Image” brand and shortly thereafter in 2012, the Company introduced its second brand “Torch”. SOS also does a small amount of sales to the eastern Caribbean and will be seeking expand business into that Region. According to the company’s management, the increased warehouse space will be critical to this effort. A lesser known service the company carries out, is the servicing of office equipment. This area they indicate has room for increased revenues and profit.

During the last six years, the Company added commercial shredding to its suite of services offered to the general public.  The service has become popular among entities which have large volumes of waste paper and other sensitive material that stores data, but are concerned about improper disposal methods. The Company’s states that its “shredding facility meets international best practice standards and has the capacity to shred up to 5,000 pounds of paper per day as well as the destruction of tapes, hard drives and compact discs. The Company’s shredding facility offers the customer the ability to view an on-line real-time video stream of the shredding process being undertaken on-site on their behalf, or if preferred the customer may also be present when the shredding process is being undertaken”.
The directors of the company are, David McDaniel, Marjorie McDaniel, Allan McDaniel, Stephen Todd, Kerri (McDaniel) Todd, Kelli (McDaniel) Muschett, Anthony Bell, Gary “Butch” Hendrickson and Evan Thwaites.