Big gains for Trinidad stocks to May

May 26, 2026 by
The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange suffered four years of decline, resulting in the T&T Composite index losing 37 percent and the ALL T&T Index declining by a more significant 48.52 percent since the start of 2022 to the end of 2025. For the first five months this year, the market has clawed back a small bit of the loss, with Composite index rising 5.72 percent since the end of last year and the ALL T&T Index rising 4.92 percent.

ICInsider.com returns with an updated PE Chart, with historical and projected earnings to assist investors in navigating stock selection.

Since the start of 2026, Republic Holdings rose $4.02 to $107.25, First Citizens gained $3.02 to $37, National Enterprises more than doubled, jumping $3.50 to $5.50, Trinidad and Tobago NGL surged $7.41 to $10.05, Medcorp dropped $7 to $41, Scotiabank lost $2.49 to end at $45.50 and Endeavor Holdings slipped $2.44 to close at $16.

The market suffered, with several companies posting reduced profits during 2025 and the first quarter this year. Those with increased profits showed mostly mild changes. The same is not the case with Uniiever that reported a major turnaround in profit in the March quarter, suggesting big gains are ahead for the stock price, with the PE ratio at just 10 based on this year’s earnings.  

Filed Under: Feature Stories, Stock Market, Stocks to watch, TTSE Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Concerns over WI Petroleum 1,300% Rally

January 12, 2026 by
West Indies Petroleum Terminal closed trading on Friday at $7.25 per share, capping a remarkable 1,300% surge since its December 23 debut at $0.50. The spectacular gains resulted in the stock trading at valuation levels that defy conventional metrics, with a huge decline clearly on the cards.

At Friday’s close, WIPT trades at 244 times 2024 earnings, according to data compiled by ICInsider.com, after eliminating the one off impairment cost mentioned below, a stark contrast to the broader Jamaica Stock Exchange with an average PE of 18 times earnings. The company was initially valued at roughly 11 times earnings at listing.

The rally reflects scarcity more than fundamentals. WIPT was listed by introduction, with no new shares issued, resulting in a minimal float, fuelling speculative demand.

The company has not released any results for 2025, but profitability remains modest, with net profit of just US$1.04 million on revenue of US$8.21 million for 2025, a 51.9% earnings decline from 2023. The results for 2024 were driven by higher finance costs and a US$1.04 million impairment charge, which is not expected to repeat.

The extreme valuation disconnect suggests investors are pricing in dramatic earnings growth that has yet to materialise. Management has signed third-party storage agreements with Musket Corp, TotalEnergies, and Sunoco to supply fuel across Jamaica, which diversifies revenue, but the path to justifying a 244x multiple remains unclear.

For value investors, the math is sobering: at $7.25, the market is betting WIPT will transform from a US$2 million profit company into something vastly larger, in the order of 17 times, amounting to a profit of US$34 million that is not going to happen.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Investment Tips, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The aroma of rising profit

May 26, 2024 by

The wonderful aroma of increased profit brewed by Salada Foods ended with an impressive 43 percent jump in earnings in the March quarter, to $68 million from $48 million in 2023. For the six months to March, profit rose by a more sedate but still impressive 31 percent to $99 million from $75 million in 2023.
The latest results follow a moderate rise in profits in 2022 and 2023 and a 42 percent jump in 2021.
Contributing to the gains in profits was an 8 percent rise in sales revenues for the quarter, to $427 million from $394 million and a 6 percent pop for the year to date, to $727 million from $688 million in 2024.
Gross profit margin slipped to 68 percent from 69 percent in both the second quarter and for the half year, effectively, pushing operating profit 13 percent in the quarter to $138 million from $122 million and 6 percent for the year to date to $229 million from $216 million in 2023.
Increased revenues were not the sole contributor to the solid rise in profits. Administrative expenses fell 11 percent to $36 million in the quarter and slipped two percent in the six months to $74 million. Marketing and sales expenses dropped by a sizeable 29 percent to $17 million for the second quarter and declined by 28 percent for the six months to $32 million. Finance cost jumped to $6 million in the quarter, from $1.4 million in 2023 and from $3.5 million to $7.6 million for the six months.
The operations generated gross cash flows of $189 million after working capital spend and ended with $95 million after paying $62 million in dividends.

Current assets ended the period at $1.2 billion inclusive of trade and other receivables of $305 million, cash, investments and bank balances of $492 million, inventories climbed to $417 million from $374 million at the end of September last year. Current liabilities ended the period at $291 million. Net current assets closed the period at $923 million.
At the end of March, this year, shareholders’ equity amounted to $1.13 billion, with no outstanding loans.
Earnings per share for the quarter was 7 cents and 10 cents for the year to date. IC Insider.com computation projects earnings of 22 cents per share for the fiscal year ending September 2024, with a PE of 16 times the current year’s earnings based on the price of $3.76 the stock traded at on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market. The PE ratio compares with an average of the market of 12.9. Net asset value ended the period at $1.09 with the stock selling at 3.44 times book value.

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

Tropical Battery profit explodes in Q1

February 27, 2022 by

Tropical Battery reported stunning first quarter results to December, with profits surging 198 percent from just $19 million in 2020 to $56.7 million as revenues jumped 46.8 percent to $662 million and encouraging investors to react positively to the surprising numbers right out of the block by driving the price up 18 percent for the day of the release and 37 percent for the year to date.
Earnings per share climbed from 1.5 cents to 4.4 cents for the quarter.ICInsider.com forecast is for profit of $280 million, with earnings per share of 22 cents, for the year to September, more than five times 2021 full year earnings, with potential for the price to deliver gains of 153 percent.
Battery Sales jumped 52 percent from $389 million in the 2020 December quarter to $591 million while Tyre Sales rose from $6.5 million to $8 million and Accessories contributed $67 million compared to $60 million in 2020, just 11 percent more.
The big push in sales was facilitated by a recovery in the local economy but importantly, increased inventory levels that doubled from $434 million at the end of December 2021 to $873 million which is up from $609 million at the end of September last year, would have played a big role in increasing revenues. The increase in sales “was achieved through an increase in balanced inventory arrivals and a tremendous effort on the part of our sales team to surpass targets by bringing in new customers,” the company managing director and deputy managing director advised in their interim report to shareholders.
Other Income slipped 14 percent to $2.6 million and interest Income dropped 39 percent to $3.6 million.
Improvement in profit margin remained at 30 percent for both quarters and resulted in gross profit rising 44 percent to $196 million from $136 million in 2020 as cost of sales rose just ahead of the increase in revenues.
Administrative expenses rose 10 percent to $114 million in the quarter from $104 million in 2020. Depreciation charges jumped 79 percent to $16 million. Finance costs rose 13 percent, to $15 million from $13.5 million in 2020.

Tropical Battery line of products

The operation generated gross cash flow of $73 million but ended up with negative inflows of $30 million after increase in working capital and addition to fixed assets and ended with cash funds of $144 million. At the end of the quarter, current assets rose to $1.6 billion from $1.09 billion in 2020 while current liabilities moved from $343 million at the end of December 2020 to $679 million, leaving net current assets at $933 million. Payables rose to $564 million from $223 million at the end of 2020, at the same time shareholders’ equity stands at $883 billion with borrowings at $568 million.
“With our more-than-adequate levels of inventory, we see a bright year ahead. We are also currently expanding our top-selling retail store, located on Grove Road, just off Half Way Tree Road in Kingston, which will allow us to increase sales at this location even further, and achieve higher profitability, given that retail margins are better than our wholesale margins while offering greater comfort and convenience for our team members and customers with a substantial increase in square footage. We plan to increase our retail presence island-wide in the coming quarters. The company rolled out new products in the quarter and plan to launch more in the March quarter”, the company stated in a report to shareholders, jointly signed by Alexander Melville, Managing Director and Daniel Melville Deputy Managing Director.
The stock traded at $1.74 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of just 8 times 2022 earnings compared to an average of over 19 for the market and sits at the top of ICTOP10 Junior Market listing.

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

Junior Market closing in on Main Market PE

January 20, 2022 by

The Junior Market started the year with an average PE ratio of 10 times earnings for 2021 and it gradually moved up throughout last year as the market grew by 33 percent from the start of 2021 to mid-January pushing the ratio to 15.8 times 2021 earnings at the close of trading on Wednesday.
The growth in the PE ratio is remarkable and is helped by nearly 30 percent of Junior Market stocks trading at a PE around 19 times earnings and over. The Junior Market PE is back at 10 times 2022 projected earnings, an indication that investors can look forward to another year of robust growth. Some companies’ PEs are low due to a fall out in revenues and profits for a number of them as investors await new information before revaluing them.
The Junior Market that was playing second fiddle to the Main Market is rapidly closing the gap with a difference now just a few points adrift of the average PE Ratio of 16.2 times 2021 earnings for the Main Market at the close of trading on Wednesday, a level that is has been at from late last year. The Main Market PE fluctuated mostly between 15 and 17 times for most of last year.
At the end of April last year, the average PE for the Junior Market was 13 and 16.5 for the Main Market. At the end of June it was 13 and 17 respectively and September 12 and 15.5 times.
The PE Ratio is one of the most popular formulae used by investors in computing appropriate stock values. In investing in stocks the PE ratio helps in assessing if a stock is overpriced or not. If it is not and is priced lower than others in the market especially those priced lower than the average of the market then an investment in the stock could be a good one.
ICInsider.com daily stock market reports for Jamaica carry the PE for each ordinary share with the projected earnings for each company so investors can make their assessment using those reports.

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

How do I invest in stocks?

April 20, 2019 by

Persons interested in investing in stocks should open an account at a brokerage company so they can start investing when they decide to take the plunge.
Stocks are not like fixed interest securities where the returns are usually known, up front. Put another way, there are no guarantees about the returns on stock market investments, that is a negative. History shows it to be a huge positive with no limit to possible gains. The basic principle is to find companies that are likely to increase profit going forward. This is most important, as profit are the main reasons why investors buy a stock, as it increases the value of a company.
Buy stocks with low price earnings (PE) ratio relative to the rest of the market. What does this mean? Listed companies are required to report profit and show the amount of profit earned per share (EPS). EPS is the profit for each issued share. In simple terms, the EPS is arrived at by dividing the profit by the total issued shares. This figure by itself does not mean much, but it allows for the computation of one of the most important and used investment tools, the PE ratio. PE is the price of the stock on the stock exchange divided by EPS.
Do not buy stocks because the price is low in monetary terms. Instead, have laser like focus on stocks with lower PE ratios. Sometimes when persons buy shares, also called stocks, they may see quick gains, as may happen with the Wigton Windfarm initial public offer (IPO) issue that is now on the Market. More often, investors will not see any gains for months but then may do so with the passage of several months, if the company reports increased profit. Effectively, if one buys stocks of good quality companies they will usually grow in value.
A good quality company is one that has consistent growth in earnings over a number of years, with few if any decline. There is more to it than the above, but these are a few basics. New investors are well advised to start small until they get a better feel of the market. Yes, you can start with $10,000, but $25,000 may be better.
Investors can find the earnings per share EPS and PE ratios for each local stock, on the stock market trading chart shown daily and included in the Junior and Main market reports. The key to using them is to find those stocks with the lowest PE ratios and get more information on them. This website analyses the companies on an ongoing basis to provide relevant investment information for investors.
When investing try to have about five different companies. Some companies to consider investing in now are: Wisynco, NCB, Fontana, General Accident and Wigton

Filed Under: Investment Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Use PE ratio to make big bucks

March 14, 2019 by

Investors can improve return on their stock market investment by just following one critical measure, the PE ratios of stocks. Buy low PE ratio stocks and sell those that are too high relative historical norm that almost a sure recipe for making good money in the stock market.
An important factor worth noting is that the PE ratios based on 2018 earnings are well ahead of those for 2019 earnings. The average PE of stocks listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange based on 2018 earnings is just under 19 times, reflecting valuation as high as 60 times 2018 earnings, with some with PEs in single digits.
The Junior Market boast average PEs around of 17, while the main market is at 19.5. The Junior Market typical PE hoovers around 16 while that of the main market is around 15, all based on 2018 earnings. The typical PE is where a large number of stocks are clustered.
While many investors see stocks as cheap, based on price, that is not the basis of investing in a stock. The focus on the PE is most critical. It is the tool used by most investors to determine if a stock is worth having or not. Many individual investors consider NCB Financial as expensive at

Chart showing falling interest rates & rising PE ratio of the Jamaica Stock Market.

$145, but with a PE ratio of less than 10 times 2019 earnings, suggest otherwise. PEs based on current year’s estimated earnings, are just 10 for the Junior Market and 14 for the main market, with the typical average of 12 for the main market. Should economic factors remain relatively stable, as they current are in Jamaica, as well as globally, the PEs based on 2018 earnings, are indicative of good gains in stock prices in 2019. The above would equate to the junior stock posting gains of 60 percent by next year March and the main market 25 percent.
Investors can compare, the current PE based on 2019 estimated earnings of each stock against the typical ones based on 2018, to get a picture of which ones are likely to gain strongly this year. IC Insider.com daily stock market report charts carry projected earnings and current PE for each stock that investors can use as their tool for identifying stocks with above average potential gains.

Filed Under: Investment 2024, Investment Tips, JSE Combined, Stock Market, Stock Market 2019 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Cost control boost Purity’s profit

August 21, 2018 by

Consolidated Bakeries (Purity) recovering from 2017 loss

Cost fell and profit margin rose at Consolidated Bakeries in the June quarter, this year, as the company put in a vastly better performance in the quarter than for the similar period in 2017.
For the half year, administrative, selling and distribution cost rose just 2 percent to $166 million but declined 6 percent to $79 million in the June quarter. While sales revenue grew 10 percent for the six months to $493 million and less than one percent to $221.5 million in the latest quarter. Input cost climbed just 3 percent for the half year, compared to 2017 and fell 4 percent for the quarter, giving rise to increased profit margin in the first half of the year to 38 percent, from 34 percent in 2017 and in the June quarter, to 35 percent from 31 percent in the year ago period.
Profit rose from a loss of $8.5 million in 2017, for the six months to June, to a profit of $22.6 million this year and earnings per share of 9 cents, but the company is reporting a loss of just $891,000 after tax credit of $128,000, a big improvement over the loss in the prior year’s quarter of $14 million. Full year’s profit should end at around 17 cents per share. If achieved, it would be the first time since the year it listed that profit has been this high.
Administrative expenses fell 13 percent to $42 million in the quarter and increased marginally in the six months period to $92 million from $91.6 million. Distribution and sales expenses declined 4 percent to $33 million. Finance cost rose in the quarter, to $3.6 million from $812,000 in 2017 and from $2.5 million to $6.8 million for the half year.

Consolidated Bakeries Miss Birdie Easter bun.

Gross cash flow brought in $38 million but growth in receivables, inventories, addition to fixed assets of $35 million offset by loan inflows and increased payables position ended at a negative $3 million. At the end of June, shareholders’ equity stood at $736 million with borrowings at just $115 million. Net current assets ended the period at $100 million inclusive of trade and other receivables of $96 million, cash and bank balances of $99 million. Current liabilities ended the period at $140 million.
The stock traded at $2.17 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with a PE ratio of 12 times 2018 earnings. Net asset value is $3.31 with the stock selling at just 66 percent of book value. The company is the only Junior Market stock to be selling at a discount to net asset value. This means management has a lot of work to do to break even and much more to reach the average of the market of a premium of more 400 percent.

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

JSE PE ratios heading higher

August 12, 2018 by

The stock market combined index climbed from 82,934.95 points at the end of 2013 to 324,801.52 on Friday, for increase of 292 percent but the average PE ratio has moved from 7.3 by just under 100 percent to peak at an average of 14.5 times last year December.
During the same period, Treasury bill rates tumbled 75 percent from just over 8 percent to 2 percent or were 300 percent more than they are now. While the fall in interest rate would appear to be close to the rise in the market index, the much slower increase in the PE ratio indicates that the major part of the rise is due to increased profits.
Based on the trends in interest rates and PE ratios, coupled with the serious shortage of supply of several stocks, currently, the PE ratio of the market will rise from the current level of 12.5, first to the high of 14.5 reached at the end of December last year and should move on to around 17 to 18 by the end of the year or early 2019.
A look at the chart, indicates that investors are more cautious in moving stock valuation higher. The PE ratio seems to be moving higher each year since the sharp jump in 2015, suggesting that the increase in PE is not yet over. The other factor is that interest rates have fallen faster in 2018 than for some time, investors seem to need more time to digest the rapid change in rates and determine how long it likely to remain at very low levels.
The big question to come will be, when will interest rates start to reverse? If the PE hits 17 by year end, it would represent an approximate 35 percent increase from current levels. Quite a number of stocks are selling above the average of 12.5 presently. A total of 24 stocks in both markets trade above 12.5 and 7 each in the main market and Junior Market selling above 16 times current year’s earnings.

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

2018 interest rate cut was big buy signal

June 22, 2018 by

Apartment complex in Kingston – Real estate values to benefit from low interest rates.

Declining interest rate is a huge buy signal for both stocks and real estate investments. If the decline in rates is expected to be prolonged then investors will swicth their investments to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere.
Last year this publication boldly advise readers that the drop in interest rates by the central bank was a huge buy signal for stocks and that investors should be piling into stocks and real estate. Some were skeptical, clearly unaware that there are really two major factors driving stock prices – interest rates and profits. Interest rates have fallen to the lowest levels on record, in Jamaica.
Many who consider the present values of stock to be ioverpriced not factoring the major cahnge the falling rates will have on valuations of both stocks and real estate. A few companies may overpriced currently, but not the vast majority. The incredibly low interest rates being enjoyed by many Jaamicans are not about to change substantially, any time soon. While the low rate of 1.7 percent on treasury bills reached in 2018 won’t last forever, it is expected that it will not go up too far from current levels of just over 2 percent, any time soon.
In May last year, Bank of Jamaica cut the overnight policy rate, by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent that along with a decline in short term Treasury bill rates at the same time.
IC Insider.com stated then, that the moves provided more ammunition for a big surge for Jamaican stocks. The piece went on to state that with a 15 percent fall in BOJ’s policy rate in 2018 so far, stocks are lagging behind, with an increase of just 6.6 percent for the Junior Market and 4 percent for the main market.
The fall in Treasury bill rates was far greater than the rise of the All Jamaica Composite Index, an indication of a lot more upside for stocks based on the downward movement of interest rates.
Investors seem then to be focusing more on profits in valuing stocks than on interest rates so far. That will change the article suggested. The fall in the overnight rate at that time, translated to a 9 percent rise in stock market prices, but rates seem likely to decline some more before settling off, providing more ammunition for greater gains in stock prices.
We stated that with the fall in interest rates, the PE of money is at the high end 40 times income and using corporate bond rates around 12 times, but the PE ratio should be more tied to Treasury Bill rates and that PE is now in 30 range but stocks are mostly in the low teens and below. IC Insider.com further stated that most investors did not appear to be paying much attention to the tsunami that was on the way that will see prices move sharply higher.
With just over five months of 2018 passing, investors have not only warmed to the fall in rates but many are not willing to part with their stocks. Late comers to the party will pay much higher prices than in May and June. Then the Junior Market was up 24 percent and the Main market 31.7 percent and rising. Technical reading of the market suggest that the Main market has another 25 percent run to make before probably cooling for a charge to 720,000 points on the All Jamaica Composite Index in 2019.
The fall in interest rates makes it cheaper to buy real estate with lower interest rates for each dollar borrowed. Additionally, investors will switch funds from fixed interest investments into stocks and real estate thus driving up their values.
Note that this is an updated version of an article posted last year after Bank of Jamaica cut their overnight policy rate.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, JSE Combined, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , ,