Pfizer

Lasco, Medimpex losses appeal vs Pfizer

November 11, 2022 by IC Insider.com

The Jamaican Court of Appeal on Friday handed down its judgement on the Lasco Distributors and Medimpex appeal of the judgement received by the lower court against Pfizer. The court dismissed the appeals and awarded cost to Pfizer.

Lasco

According to the Court of Appeal, the learned judge awarded Lasco approximately $273.3 million and Medimpex, approximately $170,8 million in damages. Those figures included interest on the various sums that comprised the award. Lasco and Medimpex were both dissatisfied with their respective awards and, in separate appeals, sought to have this court increase them.
Pfizer resisted both appeals, which were consolidated and heard together. Although the appellants have filed numerous grounds of appeal, the essence of their respective complaints is that the learned judge erred in calculating the size of the amlodipine market, the potential growth of that market, miscalculating the market share for the respective versions of amlodipine sold by each of the appellants, adopting an inappropriate market scenario and applying an inappropriate discount to the market scenario that she adopted. She also had a misunderstanding of the post-injunction sales scenarios for the respective versions of amlodipine sold by the appellants and applied an inappropriate rate of interest to the respective awards of damages.
Lasco Distributors is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market.
The latest award would be highly disappointing for Lasco who had claimed some US$300 million initially and would have collected a fraction of that amount.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jamaican stocks, junior market, Lasco Distributors, Medimplex, Pfizer

Juniors drop 237 points in a week

November 28, 2017 by IC Insider.com

The prices of Lasco Distributors and Lasco Financial cut Junior market index sharply.

The Junior Market Index plunged sharply by 119.67 points to close at 2,829.29, after shedding 45.44 points on Monday and 50 points on Friday. The market has lost 237.24 or 7.7 percent since last week Wednesday.
The two main companies contributing to the fall are Lasco Distributors that fell from $5.90 last week to $4.32 in response to the disappointing court awards in their dispute with Pfizer and Lasco Financial falling from $6.50 to $5.01.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 5 securities advanced, 10 declined and 7 remained unchanged as the market concluded trading on Tuesday with 22 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 1,396,153 units valued at $6,487,135 compared to 2,397,751 units valued at $13,589,523 on Monday coming from 17 securities.
Trading ended with an average of 63,462 units for an average value of $294,870 in contrast to 141,044 units for an average of $799,384 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 110,697 units valued at $543,691 and previously 113,513 units valued at $558,525. In contrast, October closed with average of 74,690 units valued at $362,548 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at $2.99, with 3,159 stock units, Caribbean Cream finished at $5.50, with 43,200 shares, Cargo Handlers ended trading at $10.85, with 500 stock units trading, Caribbean Producers traded at $4.20, with 371,229 units, C2W Music ended 9 cents higher at $0.49, with 16,433 stock units, Express Catering fell 1 cent in closing at $4.49, with 2,023 stock units, General Accident finished with a loss of 10 cents at $2.60, with 22,000 shares. Honey Bun settled 25 cents higher at $4.25, with 14,400 shares, Iron Rock settled at $2.80, with 2,452 shares, ISP Finance ended trading with a loss of 1 cent at $15.99, with 5,529 stock units, Jamaican Teas traded with a loss of 20 cents at $3.80, with 126,600 units, Jetcon Corporation finished trading after losing 10 cents to $4.50, with 12,965 shares. Knutsford Express closed 50 cents higher at $13.50, with 6,631 shares, KLE Group concluded trading 2 cents higher at $2.53, with 20,600 units, Lasco Distributors dropped $1.37 to $4.32, with 115,400 shares, in response to the low award for damages against Pfizer. Lasco Financial ended trading down $1.21 to $5.01, with 337,824 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing fell 5 cents to $3.90, with 32,000 units, Medical Disposables fell 10 cents to $5, with 1,816 shares changing hands, Main Event closed at $6, with 105,855 shares. Paramount Trading concluded trading at $3.15, with 39,425 units, Stationery and Office ended trading at $5.05, with 114,612 stock units and tTech finished trading 1 cent higher at $7, with 1,500 shares.

Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: AMG Packaging, C2W Music, Cargo Handlers, Caribbean Flavours, Caribbean Producers, Daily Trading, Emerging markets, Express Catering, Honey Bun, Jamaican Stock, Jamaican Teas, Jetcon Corporation, Knutsford Express, Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial, Lasco Manufacturing, Main Event, Medical Disposables, Pfizer, Stationery and Office, Trading Activity, tTech

Stationery & Office Supplies back in TOP 10

November 6, 2017 by IC Insider.com

Stationery & Office Supplies back in IC Insider.com TOP 10

There is just one change in and out of the IC Insider.com TOP 10. Lasco Distributors dropped out, resulting from the Judge’s ruling in their claim against Pfizer, suggesting that damages will be substantially lower than the amount claimed.
Lasco is replaced by Stationery and Office Supplies returning after just one week out of the top list. The company should report results for the nine months during the coming week. BUY RATED Caribbean Cement that was expected to exit the top list during the past week remains with the price retreating to close the week at $31 as investors failed to follow through on the pick up in price in the prior week in response to the third quarter results to September. Berger Paints also slipped back, with the price falling from $17 last week to end at $14 this past week, but it traded during the week as high as $18.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks is at 8.4 and a PE at 7.3 for the main market TOP 10. The average PE for the overall main market At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 43 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and 48 percent for the main market.
Market Watch| Investors should keep a keen eye for, Cable & Wireless that is expected to post improved profit in the latest quarter from increasing revenues, NCB Financial, Berger Paints that should release September results early this week, Jamaica Broilers, JMMB Group, Access Financial, General Accident that is expected to benefit from a rise in premium rates, Paramount Trading after the company announced new expansion into chlorine and bleach production and Stationery and Office with September results early this week.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Stock Market, Stocks to watch Tagged With: Access Financial, Barita Investments, Berger Paints, Cable & Wireless, Caribbean Cement, Caribbean Producers, Emerging market, Emerging market stocks, General Accident, Jamaica Broilers, JMMB Group, Key Insurance, Lasco Financial, Medical Disposables, NCB Financial, Paramount Trading, Pfizer, Radio Jamaica, Sagicor Group, Stationery and Office

Lasco damages to be computed

November 3, 2017 by IC Insider.com

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Lasco Distributors who won the case against Pfizer for damages resulting from an injunction preventing Lasco from selling Salts of Las Amlodipine in Jamaica from 2005 until 2014 is awarded J$155,738 for disposal of inventories.
The major part of the claim, that of loss of profit, is to be computed and presented on the November 24. The court awarded interest to be computed at a rate of 8.23 percent from 2005 to 2017 on the disposal of the inventory at the time the injunction was made.
Medimpex has been awarded US$77,000 to be converted at the rate of J$69.06 to the US dollar, for inventories with interest to be computed. The Judge states that the claims by the two Jamaican firms are too high based on the evidence while the amount suggested by Pfizer was too low. Lasco’s claim was for US$300 million in lost sales plus interest and cost and Medimpex US$15 million. The award for partial damages was handed down by Justice Viviene Harris today after presentations by Pfizer, Lasco and Medimpex, a third party to the claim.
Lasco who won the case in the Jamaican courts ultimately won the matter after Pfizer appealed the decision to the Privy Council in the UK. Based on the ruling Lasco resumed sale of the product in 2012.
The suit claimed that Pfizer was the registered proprietor of Jamaican Patent No. 3247 granted by the Governor General of Jamaica on the 22nd January, 2002 to Pfizer’s agent, Maurice Robinson for the protection of the invention “Salts of Amlodipine/Amlodipine Besylate. Robinson assigned the Patent to Pfizer on the 22nd March 2000.
The Company began to sell “Las Amlodipine” which contained Salts of Amlodipine in Jamaica in May, 2002. In 2003 Pfizer joined the Company in a suite that Pfizer had commenced in Jamaica in 2002 under action No. P040 of 2002, to protect its rights under the Jamaican Letters Patent and the Company was constrained to cease selling Las Amlodipine by an injunction granted on the 31st March, 2005 in that action. The weight of the defense mounted by the company was that under the provisions of the Patent Act of Jamaica, the Jamaican Patent was not in force when the Company started to market its own product, Las Amlodipine since an earlier patent No. 18266 granted to Pfizer in Egypt had expired on the 30th March 1997.

Lasco Distributors products.

The court in 2009 found that the case for Pfizer for an infringement of Jamaican Patent No. 3247 failed for the reason that it was not valid and subsisting because Letters Patent 19266 for the same substance filed in Egypt in March, 1987 had expired on March, 1997 prior to the grant of Letters Patent 3247 in Jamaica on 22nd January, 2002. For this reason the court gave judgment in favour of the Company.
Lasco had previously committed to pay a portion of the amount to shareholders as dividend but has so far not stated the likely amount.
Lasco Distributors is listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange and traded at $8.01 on Thursday and was priced for a big settlement.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Company News, Feature Stories, General Business News Tagged With: Lasco Distributors, Mediplex, Pfizer

LascoD shot juniors – Thursday

July 7, 2016 by IC Insider.com

The junior market closed trading sharply down on Thursday, with the market index diving 100.65 points, to close at 2,032.92. A $1.57 fall in the price of the Lasco Distributors inflicted most of damage to the junior market index on Thursday, with a fall by 4.7 percent, the stock fell from $7.40 at the start of trading on Wednesday, down to $5.30 in the morning session, for a 28 percent decline.
Caribbean Producers that sunk sharply on Wednesday as investors reacted negatively to the news that profit in the final quarter of the fiscal year to June will be hit by added cost. The stock did not trade but closed with the bid at $3.20 compared to the last sale price of $3, Lasco Distributors was one of the stocks that closed with the bid being higher than the last traded price, but with a small volume.
A total of only 6 active securities with only 472,148 shares valued at $2,592,609 changed hands on Thursday. At the close, 2 stocks advanced and 3 declined
At the end of trading 8 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 ended with a lower offer.
At the end of trading, Consolidated Bakeries gained 15 cents in trading 16,389 shares to close at $2.15, the stock was offered at $2.10 at the close, Key Insurance traded 1,837 shares and rose 10 cents to close at $2.60. Lasco Distributors traded 412,422 units to end at $5.33, as investors continued to respond negatively to news that Pfizer is countering Lasco huge claim of more than US$300 million with their estimate of less than US$1 million. Pfizer had previously challenged Lasco over their right to sell tablets for hypertension and lost, resulting in the need to quantify damages by the courts. Lasco Financial ended with 5,200 shares changing hands at $3.35, after falling 7 cents, Lasco Manufacturing gained 3 cents to close at $5.03 with 8,300 shares trading and Medical Disposables added 28,000 units and remained unchanged at $3.45.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Caribbean Producers, Consolidated Bakeries, Daily Trading, Jamaican stocks, junior market, Key Insurance, Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial, Lasco Manufacturing, Medical Disposables, Pfizer, Trading Activity

LascoD & Carib Producers hit juniors – Wednesday

July 6, 2016 by IC Insider.com

The junior market closed trading sharply down on Wednesday with the market index falling 56.88 points, to close at 2,133.57. A 90 cents falls in the price of the Caribbean Producers inflicted much damage to the market index which fell by 2.6 percent, Lasco Distributors also chipped in with a 40 cents fall. Both stocks were the subject of new information that is negative for their stock prices.
A total of 11 active securities with only 777,300 shares valued at $4,030,252, changing hands. At the close, 4 stocks advanced and 5 declined
At the end of trading 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the end of trading, AMG Packaging fell 71 cents in trading 5,854 shares at $12.41, CAC 2000 lost 6 cents with 22,385 shares changing hands, to end at $6.56, Caribbean Cream traded 5,260 shares and gained 5 cents to end at $5.10. Investors continued to react negatively to the release by Caribbean Producers on Monday, about a write down of inventory and other charges, by marking the stock down again by 90 cents, in trading 264,600 shares to close at $3. At the close the only meaningful bid visible is at $1.50 to buy 999,000 units, offers include 30,000 at $3.80 and at $4 a total of 135,000 units. Consolidated Bakeries gained 15 cents in trading 2,800 shares to close at $2.15, the stock was offered at $2.10 at the close. C2W Music traded 5,589 shares to end at 28 cents, Honey Bun rose 1 cent to close at $5.51, with 21,460 units changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance traded 5,000 shares and fell 5 cents to close at $3.25. Lasco Distributors dropped 40 cents while trading 342,459 units to end at $7, as investors responded negatively to news that Pfizer is countering Lasco’s huge claim of more than US$300 million, with their estimate of less than US$1 million. Pfizer had previously challenged Lasco over their right to sell tablets for hypertension and lost, resulting in the need to quantify damages by the courts. Lasco Financial ended with 64,000 shares changing hands at $3.42, after gaining 22 cents and Lasco Manufacturing closed at $5 with 37,893 shares trading.

Filed Under: JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: C2W Music, CAC 2000, Caribbean Producers, Consolidated Bakeries, Daily Trading, Honey Bun, Iron Rock Insurance, Jamaican stocks, junior market, Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial, Lasco Manufacturing, Pfizer, Trading Activity

Buy Rated stocks set for growth

June 6, 2016 by IC Insider.com

TTSE has declined almost 10% from peak and could fall another 9% from May to hit support around 1,600 points. (See orange trendline).

May is a period in the Jamaica stock market when prices usually sag, with a tendency to hit bottom between June and July. This was not the case in 2016 as the market peaked on the 4th of February and bottomed on April 21, based on the all Jamaica Composite Index.
In Trinidad, the market drifted from a peak in the all T&T index at 1,956.55 on December 8, 2015 to a 2016 low of 1,758.40 on May 19. The movements the Jamaica’s junior market saw the index peaking at 2,357.20 on 12th of January and bottomed out on the 7th of April at 1,762.87 points, for a decline of 24.5 percent but have since recovered most of the decline.
Much have happened with companies releasing results since with a number of the results in Trinidad being flat to declining, while most in Jamaica show good increased profit, while interest rates have declined in Jamaica and been static in Trinidad. Added to the profit out turn, a few companies in Jamaica announced stocks splits which have driven the respective prices of all the companies up strongly. Grace Kennedy, one of IC Insider Buy Rated stocks that has been lagging in performance, came to life as the company reported strong increase in the March quarter results, with the price jumping to $115 and seems to have more room to grow, based on the improved results. Pan Jamaican Investment gained 42.5 percent since it was last reported on at the end of April, helped by a 5 for 1 stock split and is up 82 percent since selected to the BUY RATED list. The company has good long term growth prospect but may have plateaued at the current price, around $26.50.

Honey Bun one of IC Insider’s 2015 additions to the BUY RATED list is now placed on Market Watch

The stock has been moved to a watch from BUY RATED.
Honey Bun added to the BUY RATED list in November 2015, gained 112 percent since April and 387 percent since being added to the list. Strong growth in profits and a 5 for 1 stock split helped in moving the value of the stock. ISP Finance added in April, is up 20 percent but there is little supply to be obtained, a recipe for a strong rally in the price ahead. Knutsford Express was put on hold when last reported on and has slipped 20.5 percent, is now restored to a buy below $20 while Lasco Distributors placed on a Watch list last time, is up 52.6 percent and is now placed on watch list at current price at $7.60, supply seems to be drying up for this stock, following release of full year’s results. While investors have priced in a potential big inflows from their law suit claim with Pfizer, at a PE ratio around 20 times fiscal 2017 operating profit, investing at the levels could result in an investment that may underperform the market in the medium term.
Cable & Wireless is up 22.5 percent since April and 332 percent since it debuted on the list in February 2014. The company reported a small profit from operation, for this year to March, and seems headed for earnings around 20 cents per share for 2017. The price should be heading higher before too long, but demand is not electric currently.

General Accident and Honey Bun are placed on the watch list with the former unable to get profit to rise outside the range of 30 cents per share and the latter now being priced at a PE of 18, well ahead of the average for the junior market. Honey Bun supply notwithstanding the 5 for 1 stock split, is scarce but profit growth could continue to be strong thus lending support to the stock going forward.
Companies in Trinidad are not doing well but their performance is not disastrous in the main with the price of a number of stocks have pulled back sharply and will offer good entry points when it is time to buy into that market. The time may not be right to enter that recession affected market just yet. Technical reading of this market shows it peaking at 2,032 points and have lost 13.5 percent since then and could fall another 9 percent from the May 2016 levels to reach 1,600 points before the decline is over. A look at the trading report shows that the prices of some major companies remain under pressure and is likely to fall as demand remains weak.
Technical and fundamental assessments suggest that Access Financial, Caribbean Cream, Medical Disposables and National Commercial Bank are due for a break out sooner than later, with Caribbean Cement to follow.

Filed Under: Buy Rated Tagged With: Cable & Wireless, Caribbean Cement, General Accident, Grace Kennedy, IC Insider BUY RATED, Jamaican Stock, Lasco Distributors, Medical Disposables, National Commercial Bank, NCB, Pfizer, TTSE

Cost hurts Lasco Distributors’ profit

April 10, 2016 by IC Insider.com

Lasco’s ICool drinks.

Lasco Distributors reported a 50 percent jump in profit after tax of $592 million, for the nine months to December last year, up from $197 million in 2014. Profit after taxation of $26 million for the quarter rose by 10.4 percent to $213 million over prior year.
Revenues for the nine months ended at $10.9 billion, 36 percent higher than in 2014 while revenues for the quarter were up 36.4 percent to S4 billion. Profit after taxation came in at $213 million and is up from $193 million in 2014, mainly driven by growth in new business.
Gross profit grew by only 20 percent for the quarter to $644 million and 23 percent for the year to December to $1.77 billion as profit margin declined. Gross profit margin slipped sharply from 19 percent in the December 2014 quarter to 16 percent in 2015 and for the nine months, gross margin ended at 16 percent from 18 percent in 2014.
Other operating income, inclusive commissions from principals and interest on investments generated $82.5 million, an increase of 19 percent compared to the prior year’s $69 million for the nine months and was up 47 percent for the quarter to $53 million.

Lasco’s products

Operating expenses incurred in the period were S1.2 billion, an increase of 10.7 percent. For the December quarter, operating cost climbed by a much higher 21 percent to reach $458 million reflecting inflationary increases as well as costs related to growth strategy for new principal lines of business.
Total assets at the end of the period stood at $7 billion, an increase of S2.5 billion or 54 percent over prior year. Growth was driven mainly by increased inventory of $950 million arising from new business lines and capital expenditure of $550 million relating to the warehouse expansion. Receivable balances grew by 25 percent over prior year to close at S2.7 billion, while Payable balances grew by 81 percent to $3.4 billion. Short term Investments, Cash and bank balances at the end of the period were $1.076 billion up from $600 million. Shareholders’ equity stood at S3.4 billion, or 26 percent growth and the return on equity for the nine-month period was 27 percent compared to 22 percent in the same period last year.
IC Insider’s forecast is for per share earnings of 27 cents after tax for the March 2015 fiscal year and 50 cents for 2016 from ongoing operations. The stock last traded at $5 on the junior market of Jamaica Stock Exchange, with a PE of 18.5 times 2016 earnings but 10 times 2017 estimated earnings. The likelihood of a large settlement for the claim against Pfizer could enhance the attractiveness of the stock.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Jamaica Stock Exchange, Lasco Distributors, Pfizer

2 new BUY RATED stocks

April 10, 2016 by IC Insider.com

Jetcon Corporation and ISP Finance have been added to the IC Insider BUY RATED list. The list continues to sport selections that have some room to grow before they reach the stage of maturing. Some have reached levels that look like they may be close to the top and stay there for a while and the may be just be rated hold than BUY RATED at this stage of the market’s rally in Jamaica.
The Trinidad based companies appear to be saddled by the effects of the recession on their performance.
There are now a few that were previously listed as BUY RATED have moved to Watch, as these stocks are likely to be market underperformers. If these are already owned then investors may want to hold on a little longer, buying into them now, while such a move could be profitable such investment may not be the smartest move at this time. At this stage of the Jamaican market it has become more challenging to continue to back some of the strong performers to date, as their valuation has risen and future gains will most likely come from gain in profit, unless the market revalues the PE ratios higher, a factor that is expected with lower interest rates likely in the months to follow.
Knutsford Express has been to Market Watch as it close to our target price of $24 at this time and while there is more growth to come with increased frequency slated for the north coast routes, increased profits going forward could slow considerably from recent strong gains. Buy Rated gwth 2016 Sagicor Group has done well since we selected it, with an increase close to 150 percent plus dividends, the immediate future looks like the gains are going to slow compared to the growth since the start of 2015. In past bull market, investors gave it a big premium over the rest of the market. That is not so now, but could change as the current bull market continues it run.
Lasco Distributors that was moved to a hold is now back to a buy, since the price has pulled back to $5, the company will benefit from taking over the overseas distribution of all of the manufacturing company products. The inflows expected from the lawsuit with Pfizer should add to the company’s value when the courts agree the amount, which management puts at more than US$300 million.
AMG Packaging, Caribbean Cream and Paramount are all up more than 300 percent but expansion into new products should give revenues and profit a kick in the not too distant future for AMG and Paramount. Caribbean Cream full year results are due shortly and should exceed 55 cents per share as the company benefited from sharp drop in raw material cost.
Jamaica Stock Exchange is now a Watch as it seems close to fairly valued currently, but dividend yield could well push it higher. In addition, of note is that while trading levels have improved they are still well off from historical highs, so there could still be much more gains ahead later on.
Trinidad is in recession and the results of companies are showing it with pressure on profit particularly for companies that earn the bulk of their income in the twin island state. As a result prices have been declining for many of the companies on the Trinidad market with a few exceptions. With the exception of Trinidad Cement that is undervalued, a hold has been placed on Trinidad based listed stocks for the time being but investors should wait for TCL to settle before buying.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Company News Tagged With: AMG Packaging, I$P Finance, IC Insider BUY RATED, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Jetcon, Knutsford Express, Lasco Distributors, Paramount, Pfizer, Sagicor Group, Trinidad Cement

Lasco Distributors profit climbs 69%

January 29, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Peter Chin – CEO Lasco Distributors

Lasco Distributors profit jumps a strong 69 percent, in the December 2014 quarter, on rising sales of 25 percent, an increase over the 10 percent for the six months to September 2014. The company recorded profit of $192 million in the quarter versus $114 million in 2013 and recorded lower nine profits of $395 million from $417 million. Lasco recorded improvement in gross profit margin that climbed to 24 percent, in the December quarter from 23 percent in the same period in 2013, the margin, year to December, is down to 23 percent from 25 percent in the nine months of 2013. Administrative and marketing expenses rose 17 percent in the quarter and year to date, compared with the prior year. Earnings per share for the quarter amounted to 6 cents and for the nine months 12 cents. Earnings for the full year to March should end up around 20 cents per share. With new products being added to be added to its portfolio from within the group and new clients, will swell revenues going forward. The stock now priced at $1.40 remains a buy even if the bigger gains are likely based on 2015/16 results which should be in the order of 30 cents per share.

The company is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange junior market, has virtually no debt, is yet to book its successful legal claim against Pfizer and boast equity of $2.7 billion and cash funds of $608 million. The company is to build out a new warehouse for housing the increased need of space for new product lines they represent, the building has already been bought and booked in the accounts.