Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was low, resulting in the prices of 5 stocks rising and 7 declining as 18 securities changed hands, ending in 3,633,602 units trading, valued at $6,595,479, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator was reflecting a very strong signal, showing 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with the offer lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 552.75 points to 75,560.44, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 618.05 points to close at 83,198.39 and the JSE combined index declined by 406.69 points to close at 77,394.93.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement ended trading with 1,650 shares 10 cents higher to $2.50, Kingston Properties reached a new 52 weeks’ high in trading 8,300 shares to close 92 cents up at $6.90, at the close there was a bid to buy 191,700 units at $6.90 and an order to purchase 914,000 units at $6. Mayberry Investments ended trading with 187,117 units 7 cent higher to $1.52.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers ending trading with 3,002 ordinary shares at $7. Jamaica Producers closed trading with 5,718 shares at $17.50, Kingston Wharves finished with 65,667 units at $6 and Pan Jamaican Investment ended trading with 34,067 shares changing hands at $60.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless closing with 2,927,292 units trading with the price slipping 3 cents, to 47 cents. Carreras finished with 4,936 shares trading lower by $1.05 at $36.20. Grace Kennedy ended trading with 3,098 shares changing hands to close down $2.50, at $60.50, Sagicor Group closed with 9,000 shares, 9 cents lower at $10, Salada Foods had 131,000 units trading, with the price slipping 19 cents to $7.81 and Scotia Group traded 26,480 shares and the price closed lower by 49 cents to $20.01.
Strong price gains ahead on JSE
Rising prices hold sway on JSE
Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, continues with a bullish bias and ended in the prices of 10 stocks rising and only 2 declining as 17 securities changed hands, ending in 4,801,191 units trading, valued at $30,772,622, in all market segments. The IC Bid offer indicator is pointing to continuation of rising prices having the upper hand, over declining ones.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 2 stocks with offers that were lower. This is a positive indicator for the market pointing to rising prices ahead.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 190.04 points to 76,113.19, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 212.50 points to close at 83,816.44 and the JSE combined index gained 192.73 points to close at 77,801.62.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Berger Paints finished trading with 46,668 shares with the price rising 9 cents to $1.60, Carreras ended with 195,379 shares, the price jumped $1.10 to $37.25 but at the close there was an offer to sell at $36.20, Hardware & Lumber ended trading with 2,666 shares changing hands to close 4 cents higher at $7.51. Jamaica Broilers completed trading with 2,325,782 shares with the price rising 4 cents to $4.10, National Commercial Bank contributed 420,000 units to trading and put on 10 cents to $18.50, Sagicor Group ended trading with 151,205 shares with an increase of 13 cents to $10.09 and Salada Foods finished trading with 19,200 shares as the price jumped 20 cents to $8.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless finished with 156,869 shares trading at 50 cents, importantly, today’s trade exposes the offer at 55 cents with 95,000 units being offered and just above that, is 97,000 units at 58 cents. The highest bid is now at 48 cents for 1.8 million units. Caribbean Cement ended trading with 27,711 shares changing hands to close at $2.40, Proven Investments ended with 19,520 shares trading at 19 US cents and Scotia Group closed with 104,305 shares changing hands at $20.50.
Declines| The Gleaner Company was the only main stock to end with a loss as there was trading in 59,570 but ended losing 4 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 95 cents.
12 stocks fall only 6 rise on JSE
Pan Jam reached a new high on Tuesday, closing at $56.10.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index dipped 480.86 points to 75,043.48, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 537.67 points to close at 82,620.35 and the JSE combined index gained declined by 477.17 points to close at 76,799.79.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Hardware & Lumber closing with 31,000 shares and rising 97 cents to $7.47. Jamaica Broilers concluded trading with 122,964 shares changing hands, with a gain of 5 cents to $4.05, Pan Jamaican closed at a new 52 weeks’ high of $56.10 while 519 shares changed hands, $1.10 higher. Sagicor Group concluded trading with 34,742 units and put on 1 cent to $9.96 and Salada Foods ended with 20,000 units, to close with a gain of 30 cents to $7.80.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless ending trading with 21,759 shares at 45 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers ended with 7,885 ordinary shares changing hands to close at $7, Jamaica Producers closed with 1,321 shares changing hands at $15.96. Mayberry Investments saw trading in 98,300 shares for $1.52, National Commercial Bank ended with only 580 shares changing hands to close at $18.20 and Proven Investments completed trading with 70,000 shares changing hands at 18.5 US cents.Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement ended with 42,116 units as the price slipped 4 cents to $2.40, Desnoes & Geddes closed with 2,560 shares trading lower by 5 cents to $4.65, Grace Kennedy finished with 1,225 shares with a loss of $2 to $60, Radio Jamaica ended with 558,009 units and closed 3 cents down to $1.15, Scotia Group ended trading with 72,402 units as the price slipped 30 cents to $20.10 and Scotia Investments completed trading with 184,817 shares trading lower by $1.40 to $21.10.
Preference| There was no trading of preference shares.
Trading sinks to only $7M on JSE
In a very moderate trading Wednesday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 5 stocks rose and 8 declined as 23 securities changed hands, ending in only 1,348,967 units trading, valued at $6,683,127, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index shed 384.01 points to 74,163.04, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 429.38 points to close at 81,635.89 and the JSE combined index declined by 414.46 points to close at 76,079.90.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras concluded trading with 30,485 shares while gaining 50 cents to $37, Grace Kennedy finished trading with 9,710 shares rising 40 cents to $60.40, Proven Investments concluded trading with 26,880 units and put on 0.69 cent to 17.99 us cents and Seprod ended trading with 80,000 shares with an increase of 20 cents to $12.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in their last traded prices are, Caribbean Cement ending with 193,500 shares trading at $2.40, followed by Ciboney in exchanging 2,000 shares, to close at 7 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers ended trading with 2,120 ordinary shares at $7. Kingston Wharves ended trading with 130,544 shares at $6, Radio Jamaica finished trading with 12,696 shares at $1.18, Sagicor Real Estate Fund had 30,000 shares changing hands at $6.85 and Scotia Group ended with 13,040 units to close $19.55.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless that closed with 79,383 shares trading 1 cent lower, at 43 cents, Desnoes & Geddes with 28,292 shares, at a loss of 1 cent to $4.82, Jamaica Broilers finished trading with 43,836 units, fell 9 cents to $4.01. Mayberry Investments exchanged 65,000 shares to close 2 cents lower at $1.48, National Commercial Bank concluded trading with 16,878 shares changing hands to close at 76 cents down at $18.09 and Salada Foods ended with 10,000 shares changing hands to close at 35 cents lower at $7.50.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded contributed 98,000 units at $2.
October down, better in November
The Jamaica Stock Exchange, closed October with the prices of 5 stocks rising and 5 declining as 21 securities changed hands, ending in 1,856,647 units trading, valued at only $6,072,425, in all market segments. The market closed out the month slightly lower than it started at, measured by the market indices, but technical indicators as well as fundamentals, point to a better out turn for November.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower. With Friday being the close of the month, the stronger closing bids are likely engineered by fund managers’ interest in boosting the value of stocks in their portfolios to boost the end of month performance and is worth watching in the coming days.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 98.56 points to 71,706.29 and is down from the 72,238.36 points, September closed at. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 110.21 points to close at 78,888.89 down on the close of September at 79,483.81 and the JSE combined index declined by 95.70 points to close at 73,559.56 compared to 74,034.71 at the end of September.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Ciboney with 100,000 shares trading, rose 1 cent to 8 cents, Desnoes & Geddes traded 36,000 shares, 15 cents higher at $4.95, Grace Kennedy had 21,330 shares changing hands 76 cents higher at $58, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 4,000 shares at $4.15 as the price closed with 5 cents gain and there was dealing in 2,100 Sagicor Group shares to close 1 cent higher to $9.66.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Carreras with 10,050 ordinary shares trading closed at $34.50, Gleaner had 80,708 units trading and closed at $1.05, Proven Investments with 3,650 shares at 18 US cents, Salada Foods with 1,000 shares closed at $7.85 and Supreme Ventures 40,800 shares traded to end at $1.70
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 7,596 ordinary shares changing hands 5 cents lower at $7, followed by National Commercial Bank with 6,000 units as 30 cents were shed to end at $17 and Scotia Group ended trading with 635 units, 15 cents cheaper at $19.60.
Preference| traded units at Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share traded 11,000 units at $3.43, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 981,568 units at $3 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 9,616 units at $5.
Sales up margin down at Lasco Distributors
Peter Chin – Lasco Distributors’ Managing Director
Operating cost jumped 15 percent in the quarter, to $377 million and just over 17 percent for the six months to $738 million, pushing profit down 19 percent to $112.5 million for the quarter, from $138.7 million in 2013 and down a much larger, 33 percent, to $203 million for the half year, versus $303 million in the 2013 period.
As disappointing as the second quarter numbers are, they represent a major improvement over the first quarter with a revenue increase of 4 percent, and a fall in profits of 45 percent compared to the 2013 June quarter.
Finances|The company has quite a bit of funds tied up in inventories $1.3 billion and receivables $1.7 billion, that are in excess of normal trading levels, cash funds on the other hand is up to $850 million and will be handy in helping to finance the 110,000 square foot warehousing facility, that they will be embarking on shortly, to meet what management says, is increasing demand flowing from new products to be distributed by the company.
The expected payment from their successful law suit against Pfizer is not yet booked and the amount not yet made public but should exceed $1 billion.
Lasco Manufacturing new “I Cool” drinks
8 up & 9 JSE stocks down Wednesday
Wednesday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 8 stocks rising and 9 declining as 24 securities changed hands, ending in 1,412,626 units trading, valued at $4,275,609, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 91.59 points to 71,657.61, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 102.42 points to close at 78,834.46 and the JSE combined index gained 91.20 points to close at 73,547.09.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement with 62,500 shares changing hands, closed 20 cents higher at $2.40, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 12,260 shares, 1 cents higher at $4.16, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 214 ordinary shares trading, rose 5 cents rise to $7.05, National Commercial Bank saw trading in 19,401 shares as the price ended with a 40 cents gain, to $17.95, Radio Jamaica 27,916 shares ended with the price rising 5 cents to $1.20 and Sagicor Group had 32,554 shares changing hands 5 cents higher at $9.65.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded price are, Carreras with 4,520 shares and closed at $34.60, Mayberry Investments had 2,040 shares trading to end at $1.40, Salada Foods had 20,000 shares trading to close at $7.85, Scotia Group with 21,100 shares changing hands ended at $19.11 and Seprod closed with 114,269 shares at $11.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless with 174,393 shares, closing a cent lower at 28 cents, Desnoes & Geddes with 50,000 shares, lost 18 cents to $4.80, Gleaner closed with 13,994 units changing hands, 5 cents lower at $1.05, Grace Kennedy with only 240 units, ended down 76 cents to $57.24, Pan Jamaican Investment had only 1,000 active shares, but lost 15 cents to end at $49.05 and Supreme Ventures ended with 3,500 units with a loss of 2 cents at $1.70.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 83,412 units at $3 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference share traded a mere 970 shares, closed with a cent loss, at $2.49.
3 sevens clash again on JSE
Wednesday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 7 stocks rising and 7 declining as 21 securities changed hands, culminating in 1,774,287 units trading, valued at $11,185,286, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 478.38 points to 71,406.17 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined 534.89 points to close at 78,553.31.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement with 3,000 units, increased 1 cents to $2.13, Jamaica Broilers exchanged 3,350 shares, 5 cents higher at $4.05, National Commercial Bank saw trading in 459,910 shares as the price ended 39 cents higher to $17.90, Pan Jamaican Investment with 5,000 shares closed 10 cents higher to $49.10, Proven Investments with 414 shares added 0.99 cents to 18 US cents and Scotia Group had 10,400 shares changing hands, 4 cents higher to $19.11.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Carreras with 17,596 shares trading to close at $34.99, Gleaner with 140,883 units closed at $1.05 and Mayberry Investments traded 1,357 shares at $1.55.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Desnoes & Geddes in trading 14,000 shares at $4.79, slipped 1 cent, Jamaica Money market Brokers with 14,420 ordinary shares, closed 50 down at $7, Jamaica Stock Exchange with 592 units, lost 5 cents to end at $1.84, Kingston Wharves traded 98,465 units with a fall of $1.40 to close at $5.10 and Salada Foods with only 6,100 shares, closed with a 5 cents loss at $7.85.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 1,067 units at $2.98 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 12,200 units at $5.
Lasco Distributors disappoints, major expansion coming
Lasco Distributors reported disappointing results for the first quarter, for the 2015 financial year to June, with revenues crawling up 4 percent to $2.4 billion and profit dropping 45 percent to $91 million from $164 million in 2013.
Lascelles Chin Chairman of the company however, indicated to IC Insider that the company will be embarking on a major expansion which will include increased warehouse space to accommodate distribution of new products. Chin indicated that “the funds from winning the legal case against Pfizer Limited, will play an important role in funding the expansion”. The proceeds is expected to exceed well over J$1 billion. Already “Lasco have acquired a warehouse at a reduced price to what it originally cost to be assembled in Jamaica” Chin Indicated.
This June quarter performance is after the company took on the Salada Foods distribution. Margins on goods sold declined badly to 22.67 percent from 25 percent, while operating cost climbed by 20 percent from $302 million to $361 million. Earnings per share came in at 0.27 cents versus 0.49 cents in 2013.
“We planned for increased staff strength and marketing activities in preparation for pending new product rollouts. The current business environment with a devaluing dollar impacts the trade as there are continuous increases in prices and lower consumer spending power. The company continues to deploy measures to mitigate effects of the volatile market conditions and at the same time maintain its market positioning to provide overall value for consumers.
We continue to build our core portfolio and have several new products in the pipeline to ensure long term growth and profitability,” Peter M. Chin, Managing Director reported to shareholders.
Chin went on to state “total assets grew by 30 percent to $4.288 billion compared to $3.308 billion in the corresponding period last year. Property, plant and equipment grew by 59.7 percent to $313 million. This is primarily due to increased capacity and improvements in work flow processes in the distribution centres in preparation for new product launches.
Inventories increased by $331 million to $1.31 billion and this is mainly due additional inventory from new business agreements. Short Term Deposits increased by $80 million to $552 million and Cash and Bank Balances decreased to $285 million from $496 million. Trade and Other Receivables was at $1.598 billion, an increase of $400 million over the prior year. We continued with the arrangements to extend credit terms to our key institutions. There was also a related increase in Trade and Other Payables, an increase of $570 million to $1.76 billion.”
The company may have had a bad quarter but with plans for expansion and new products to be launched investors may want to be taking a look at the stock now that it’s been hit down to a low level with a view of benefitting when the profits rebound with additional sales to come from new products.
Lasco shares sell & buy FX or hold
Our response back then, thanks for your enquiry. As you will see our BUY RATED list contains these three stocks. Here are our views. First off the local stock market tends to go down around May until last June or July. This is not cast in stone, just a tendency. One reason for it is that investors get the full information as to what companies did last fiscal year and a glimpse for the new-year. In the case of the three Lasco companies they have just reported their full year results. The distributorship earning is the most encouraging of the three and looks like it will probably do better than the other three in the short to medium term. It will also benefit from the Salada Foods distribution which started this year, as well as from increased production to come from the expanded Lasco Manufacturing Company’s operation. The information suggest that the next set of results should possibly show growth over that of 2013.
Lasco Financial seems poised for good things but big marketing spend last fiscal year kept profits down as they went for more market share. It does look as if they will be spending on the world cup promotions which could build business, but may also keep profits pressured somewhat for a while.
Lasco Manufacturing seems cheap at $1 bearing in mind the impact that the factory expansion is likely to have on both sales and profits ultimately. Short term they will have to pick up interest cost and depreciation on the completed factory but will enjoy cost savings and ultimately increased profits.
It is my view that the market overall, is undervalued but investors will need to be patient and the payoff is likely to huge for those who wait, the gains to be reaped elsewhere is not likely to be all that great, to cause one to jump and possibly miss the gains in the local market that is ahead.