The number of Junior Market stocks trading on Monday slipped marginally from Friday’s levels, but the value of the overall trade jumped, resulting in prices rising and falling equally and ending with the market index dropping 21.16 points to 5997.09.
Similar to Friday, 28 securities changed hands on Monday, with the prices of 10 stocks rising, 10 declining and prices of eight closing unchanged. At the close of trading, the average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.9 based on iC Insider.com’s forecasted earnings for 2020-21.
Trading ended, with an exchange of 4,779,088 shares valued at $20,952,617 compared to 4,892,108 units valued at $13,413,027 on Friday.
The average trade of the day was 170,682 units at $748,308, in contrast to an average of 174,718 units for $479,037 each on Friday. The average stock trading for the month to date amounts to 177,588 units at $463,960 in contrast to 236,512 units at $445,444 previously. May ended with an average of 150,274 shares at $491,077 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial Services fell $4.74 to end at $20 in trading 3,500 units, Cargo Handlers slipped 4 cents and ending at $7.80 in trading 500 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 8 cents to settle at $2.20 with an exchange of 24,013 shares. Caribbean Cream shed 21 cents ending at $2.67 trading 350 units, Caribbean Producers picked up 1 cent to settle at $2.39 while exchanging 33,192 units, Dolphin Cove gained 7 cents to close at $7.50 after investors switched 700 shares. Everything Fresh gained 1 cent to close at 81 cents in trading 12,285 stock units, Fontana rose 9 cents in closing at $5.76 after trading 371,132 shares. General Accident advanced by 37 cents to end at $5.75 after swapping 1,005,000 shares, Honey Bun shed 20 cents and ended at $5.30 trading 2,020,740 shares, iCreate slipped 3 cents to close at 58 cents in exchanging 538,993 units. Indies Pharma gained 27 cents to end at $2.80 with an exchange of 41,001 stock units, Iron Rock Insurance lost 20 cents to close at $3 trading 19,055 shares, Jamaican Teas slid 20 cents to settle at $4.35 with 29,097 stock units changing hands. 
Jetcon Corporation lost 1 cent to end at $1.19, with 39,463 shares crossing the exchange, Lasco Financial added 1 cent to settle at $2.62, after exchanging 2,941 units, Lasco Manufacturing shed 1 cent to close at $3.99 in trading 7,397 shares. Limners and Bards rose 12 cents to end at $2.58 after 243,153 shares crossed the market and Mailpac Group gained 2 cents in finishing at $1.90 with 44,084 stock units changing hands.
In the preference segment, Derrimon Trading preference shares jumped 30 cents to settle at $1.80 in exchanging 2,798 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Net profit soared from $25 million in 2019 to $38 million for the quarter and the six-month net profit was up 52 percent, at $87 million from $57 million. The Lab incurred Corporation taxes of $15 million for the half-year for 2019 and $5.4 million for the 2019 April quarter. Profit for the half-year was 81 percent of pretax profit for all of 2019 when the company reported $107 million in profit before taxation, while revenues are 75 percent of the 2019 outturn. The principal activities of the company are production, media and advertising services.
The result is a slight decline in the gross profit margin down three percentage points at 36 percent for the quarter from 39 percent in 2019 and down two percentage points, at 35 percent for the six months.
May ended with an average of 150,274 units at $491,077 for each security traded.
Honey Bun rose 6 cents to settle at $5.50 and trading 20,599 stock units, iCreate increased 2 cents end at 61 cents with an exchange of 419,025 shares, Indies Pharma lost 30 cents to end at $2.53 in trading 2,041,908 shares. Jamaican Teas advanced by 6 cents to $4.55 with an exchange of 66,421 stock units, Jetcon Corporation lost 10 cents to close at $1.20 with the transfer of 167,533 stock units, Lasco Distributors gained 7 cents to end at $2.98 with 342,986 stock units crossing the market. Lasco Financial dipped 1 cent to $2.61 after swapping 39,603 units, Lasco Manufacturing increased 10 cents to end at $4 with an exchange of 207,929 stock units, Limners And Bards added 11 cents to settle at $2.46 with trading 47,863 shares. Mailpac Group lost 2 cents to close at $1.88, having swapped 280,194 units and tTech rose 1 cent ending at $4.70 with 1,000 stock units changing hands.
The first half of the week showed promise of an upward trend, but that trajectory hit a minor setback on Thursday with the market index slipping just 7.23 points to close at 2,600.18 as advancing stocks just edged out declining ones.
At the close of the market, Access Financial slipped 1 cent in the trading of 1,000 units to settle at $24.74, AMG Packaging ended 4 cents higher at $1.69 with an exchange of 8,683 shares, Caribbean Assurance Brokers added 6 cents and transferred 1,000 shares to close at $2.25. Derrimon Trading finished at $2.30 after falling 15 cents with 975 units traded, Dolphin Cove jumped 40 cents to close at $7.50 with 1,500 units changing hands, and Elite Diagnostic advanced 15 cents to $4.25 in the trading of 84,251 units. Everything Fresh slipped 1 cent to close at 80 cents after exchanging 2,116 shares, Express Catering dipped 2 cents in trading 24,774 shares to close at $4.89, General Accident shed 12 cents and swapped 716,590 shares to close at $5.38. Honey Bun climbed 14 cents to finish at $5.44, trading 38,535 stock units, iCreate closed at 59 cents after losing 2 cents and exchanging 450,585 shares, Indies Pharma ended 2 cents lower at $2.83 with 138,990 shares changing hands. Jamaican Teas shed 51 cents as investors transferred 670,692 shares to close at $4.49, Jetcon Corporation inched 5 cents higher to $1.30 with an exchange of 53,899 units, Knutsford Express jumped 50 cents to $8.50 with the trading of a mere 9 units. 
Lasco Distributors gained 2 cents and swapped 200 units to close at $2.91, Lasco Financial rose 7 cents to $2.62 with 8,213 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing dipped 5 cents to $3.90 with 118,649 units transferred. Limners and Bards shed 25 cents and exchanged 547,048 shares to settle at $2.35, Lumber Depot closed 2 cents higher at $1.13 with 475,645 units swapped, Mailpac Group gained 4 cents in the trading of 616,680 units to finish at $1.90. Main Event shed 38 cents to settle at $4.10 with 2,900 units changing hands, Medical Disposables climbed 31 cents to end at $7 with 5,000 shares traded and tTech fell 1 cent to $4.69 with 5,370 units crossing the exchange.
Trading on the Junior Market resulted in an exchange of 7,825,083 shares valued at 20,619,430 compared to 5,099,168 units valued at $15,226,012 from 30 securities on Tuesday. The day’s activities saw 28 securities changing hands, with the prices of nine rising 12 declining and seven stocks closing unchanged. The PE ratio of the market closed with an average of 9.9 times IC Insider.com projected 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging lost 5 cents to settle at $1.65 with an exchange of 514 shares, Blue Power gained 5 cents in closing at $3.65, after exchanging 22,208 stock units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers slipped 1 cent trading 30,679 stock units to finish at $2.19. Caribbean Producers added 3 cents to end at $2.40 in swapping 155,604 shares, Dolphin Cove fell 70 cents to close at $7.10 with 11,000 units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic slipped 7 cents to $4.10 in trading 119,772 shares. Everything Fresh gained 1 cent to settle at 81 cents having swapped 1,259 stock units, Express Catering rose 1 cent and exchanged 26,262 units to end at $4.91, Fosrich shed 1 cent to settle at $3.55 in trading 14,924 stock units. General Accident rose 20 cents to close at $5.50, with a change in ownership of 125,606 units, Honey Bun fell 15 cents to $5.30, swapping 358,619 stock units, iCreate rose 5 cents to 61 cents with an exchange of 418,880 units. Indies Pharma dipped 5 cents to $2.85 with 140,114 shares changing hands, Jamaican Teas climbed 51 cents in trading 420,062 units to close at $5, 
Jetcon Corporation lost 7 cents to settle at $1.25 after exchanging 200,269 shares. Knutsford Express dropped 11 cents to settle at $8 with of 292 stock units changing hands, Lasco Distributors slipped 9 cents to end at $2.89 in trading 8,363 stock units, Lasco Financial gained 1 cent to close at $2.55 in transferring 53,625 shares. Lasco Manufacturing climbed 6 cents closing at $3.95 with 10,099 units traded, Limners and Bards lost 30 cents after a swap of 220,635 stock units to end at $2.60 and Mailpac Group fell 8 cents to $1.86 with 4,165,569 shares crossing the exchange.
Trading resulted in an exchange of 5,099,168 units valued at $15,226,012 compared to 4,645,198 units valued at $13,350,189 on Monday. At the close of market activities, the prices of 14 securities advanced, ten declined and six remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at 10.1 times IC Insider.com projected 2020-21 earnings.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows two stock ended with bids higher than its last selling prices and five with lower offers.
Jamaican Teas ended at $4.49 after losing 1 cent and exchanging 272,114 stock units, Jetcon Corporation rose 22 cents to $1.32 with the swapping of 149,487 shares, Lasco Distributors closed 3 cents higher at $2.98, with 592,454 stock units trading. Lasco Financial climbed 3 cents and exchanged 2,000 shares to finish at $2.54, Lasco Manufacturing lost 11 cents in trading 70,050 units to settle at $3.89, Limners and Bards closed 40 cents higher at $2.90, with 1,224,292 stock units changing hands. Mailpac Group added 5 cents to end at $1.94 with 1,268,543 shares crossing the exchange, Main Event finished at $4.48 after rising 40 cents and trading 8,753 units and Medical Disposables ended with a loss of 1 cent at $6.69 with 800 stock units changing hands.
At the close of the market, Access Financial declined $2.24 in trading of 4,500 units at $22.51, CAC 2000 lost $1.40 in exchanging 4,718 units at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $8, Cargo Handlers closed 50 cents higher at $7.50, trading 25,181 stock units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 8 cents and ended with 5,133 stock units changing hands at $2.24, Caribbean Producers lost 4 cents in trading of 954,039 units at $2.36, Express Catering ended trading with 16,529 shares, after rising 10 cents to end at $4.30. Fontana dipped 51 cents in trading of 276,289 units at $5.46, Honey Bun ended market activity exchanging 201,000 shares to close at $5.10, after falling 23 cents. iCreate lost 3 cents in trading of 457,276 units at 55 cents, Indies Pharma closed trading of 957,799 units and gained 7 cents to end at $3, Jetcon Corporation closed trading of 106,326 units and gained 20 cents to end at $1.10. Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 1 cent at $2.95 with 75,054 stock units changing hands, 
Lasco Financial ended market activity exchanging 7,000 shares to close at $2.51 after falling 13 cents, Lasco Manufacturing ended market activity exchanging 119,598 shares to close at $4, after falling 5 cents. Limners and Bards climbed 35 cents, exchanging 537,280 shares at $2.50. Mailpac Group gained 1 cent with 284,048 shares changing hands at $1.89, Main Event dipped 32cents in trading35,314 units at $4.08, Medical Disposables rose 1 cent to end at $6.70 trading 10,000 shares and SSL Venture declined by 4 cents to settle at 75 cents after 25,931 shares crossed the market.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped $2.24 to settle at $24.75 with just 100 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging ended trading with 100 shares, after rising 11 cents to settle at $1.70, Cargo Handlers gained 49 cents in exchanging 300 units at $7. Caribbean Flavours climbed $2.80 to settle at $14.50 with 22,728 shares trading, Dolphin Cove lost 47 cents in trading of 8,148 units at $7.80. Express Catering fell by 10 cents trading 48,700 units at $4.20, Fontana lost 2cents trading 56,326 units at $5.97, Fosrich closed 38 cents higher at $3.80, with an exchange of 1,050 stock units, 
Blue Power rose 26 cents and traded 2,327 shares to end at $3.86, Caribbean Assurance fell 9 cents to $2.15 with an exchange of 45,000 units. Derrimon Trading shed 14 cents in swapping 4,500 units to close at $2.45, Dolphin Cove gained 2 cents and exchanged 2,165 shares to settle at $8.27, Fontana slipped 1 cent lower to $5.99 with 245,999 stock units traded. Fosrich closed with a loss of 38 cents at $3.42, swapping 8,938 shares, General Accident fell 14 cents and exchanged 76,302 shares to finish at $5.55, Honey Bun declined by 12 cents in trading 11,712 units to end at $5.33. iCreate dipped 3 cents to 54 cents in swapping 32,288 units, Indies Pharma exchanged 1,653,278 shares, rising 59 cents after the company reported a 92 percent rise in the second quarter, to end at $2.89, Jamaican Teas closed at $4.70 after trading 183,433 shares and falling 19 cents. Knutsford Express jumped 99 cents to end at $8 with 1,173 units changing hands, Lasco Distributors fell 7 cents in the trading of 152,900 units to finish at $2.90, 
Lasco Financial slipped 1 cent to $2.50 with 183,709 shares exchanged. Lasco Manufacturing closed 10 cents higher at $3.95, with 468,332 stock units swapped, Limners and Bards ended at $2.20 after rising 23 cents and trading 138,733 shares, Mailpac Group gained 1 cent to end at $1.86 with 308,449 shares changing hands. Main Event closed 5 cents higher at $4.40, with 1,136 stock units traded, Medical Disposables fell 9 cents in the exchange of 9,173 units at $6.80, Paramount Trading shed 2 cents and swapped 321,870 units to settle at $1.98 and tTech jumped 41 cents to $4.70 with 10,597 units crossing the exchange.
Trading concluded with 27 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,550,105 units valued at $10,318,665 versus to 3,765,461 units costing $7,141,689 from 29 stocks on Tuesday. The PE ratio of the market ended at 9.5 times 2020-21 earnings.
Caribbean Producers exchanged 1,086,459 stock units to close 5 cents higher at $2.40, Derrimon Trading climbed 19 cents to $2.59 with 94,870 units trading, Elite Diagnostic ended at $4.17 after rising 17 cents and swapping 31,990 shares. Everything Fresh closed 10 cents higher at 82 cents, with 109,527 stock units changing hands, Express Catering lost 8 cents in exchanging 29,463 shares to finish at $4.30, Fontana added 10 cents and exchanged 16,442 shares to close at $6. Fosrich climbed37 cents to $3.80 with 14,720 shares crossing the market, General Accident inched 4 cents higher, trading 47,327 stock units to settle at $5.69, Honey Bun closed gained 24 cents to close at $5.45 after exchanging 70,204 stock units. iCreate moved up 3 cents to 57 cents with 338,046 units changing hands, Jamaican Teas slipped 1 cent to close at $4.89 with 3,427 shares traded, Knutsford Express shed $1.29 and exchanged 30,140 shares to close at $7.01. 
Lasco Distributors fell 3 cents in the swapping of 1,237,690 units to settle at $2.97, Lasco Financial lost 12 cents trading 19,000 shares to close at $2.51, Lasco Manufacturing slipped 4 cents to $3.85 with an exchange of 27,829 stock units. Limners and Bards gained 3 cents and traded 12,994 units to end at $1.97, Lumber Depot slipped 1 cent to $1.11 with 97,749 stock units changing hands, Mailpac Group lost 3 cents in trading 624,718 shares to close at $1.85. Medical Disposables ended at $6.89 after rising 14 cents, with 10,000 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading added 1 cent and swapped 4,784 shares to settle at $2 and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 18 cents to close at $6.02 with 14,783 shares crossing the exchange.