Citizens march on TTSE

First Citizens Bank continues its recover, by ending with another gain in the march towards the $40 mark once more, on a day with trading in 12 securities, of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 5 traded firm. Only 93,287 stocks traded, with a value of $5,597,251.
TTSE sum 1-5-14The Composite Index advanced 1.53 points to close at 1,181.19, the All T&T Index rose by 3.05 points to close at 2,017.90 and the Cross Listed Index remained flat at 45.16.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Ansa Merchant Bank trading 3,520 units, to close with a gain of 9 cents at $38.49, First Citizens Bank with 29,063 shares changing hands, for a value of $1,118,588, to close at $38.50, up 28 cents, Neal & Massy enjoyed a 50 cents gain, to end the day at $67, a new 52 weeks high, with 1,650 shares changing hands and Republic Bank with 23,853 shares being traded for $2,870,709, gained 2 cents to close at $120.35.
Declines| In trading, Agostini’s with 569 shares, closed at $17.58 and lost a cent, ANSA McAL lost a cent in trading 148 units, to close at $66.44 and Clico Investment Fund fell by 2 cents, to close at $21.56 in posting 8,395 shares valued at $181,005.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged, at the end of trading, are Guardian Holdings that contributed 14,746 shares, with a value of $199,071, to close at $13.50, Sagicor Financial Corporation 2,000 units to close at $7.02, Scotiabank traded just 198 units at $70 and Trinidad Cement with 1,250 shares changing hands, closed at $2 while West Indian Tobacco added 7,895 shares valued at $931,610 and closed at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with the offer that was lower.

Market directionless

In Thursday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the market was directionless with advancing stocks numbering just below declining ones and the IC market indicator showing investors in a tussle over the immediate future direction of the market. Prices of 6 stocks rose and 8 declined as 20 securities traded resulting in 3,602,192 shares changing hands valued at $19,621,158 in another lacklustre session.
JSE sum 1-5-14Main Market| All advancing shares in the market was in the main market and all but one stock that declined was also in this market, but the indices moved up slightly, with the JSE Market Index inching up by just 1.23 points to 74,599.03 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index edging up by only 1.38 points to close at 82,123.43.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Berger Paints trading 89,657 unitss to close with a gain of a cent at $1.68, Caribbean Cement gained 21 cents to close at $3.91 with 20,500 units changing hands, Carreras traded 443 shares to close 6 cents higher at $33.56, Ciboney with 50,000 shares by increasing by a cent to close at 12 cents for a new 52 weeks high, Grace Kennedy 7,439 shares with a gain of $1 to close at $58 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 451,214 ordinary shares to close up by 4 cents at $7.24.
Firm| There were only 5 stocks in the main market to close without a change in price as Gleaner with 228,484 shares closed at $1.10, Hardware & Lumber traded 3,300 units and closed at $11.70, Mayberry Investments with 3,060 units closed at $1.70, Scotia Group had 59,888 units changing hands to close at $20.62 and Seprod traded 685 shares in closing at $10.84.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Cable & Wireless with 1,500,888 units while losing a cent to end at 40 cents, Desnoes & Geddes with 76,472 shares to end at $4.30 as the price lost 30 cents, Jamaica Broilers with 450,872 shares to close at $4.86, down 4 cents, Jamaica Producers that traded 6,600 units to close at $18.26 while losing 4 cents, National Commercial Bank 571,665 shares as the price closed with a 10 cents lost, at $18, Sagicor Group had 50,529 units changing hands to close with a fall of 71 cents to $9.50 and Salada Foods 2,400 shares to close 45 cents lower, to end at $7.50
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.59 points to close at 743.20 as only 2 junior market stocks traded at the end of the trading session.
Gains| No stock gained at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| Lasco Manufacturing was the only stock in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the previous trading day with 27,096 units to end at $1.20.
Declines| Caribbean Producers was the only stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading as the price fell 9 cents to close at $2.91 as it traded a mere 1,000 units.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.

Securities traded up but prices mixed

There was trading in 16 securities on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Wednesday, 4 advanced, 3 declined and 9 traded firm, as 157,712 shares traded with a value of $1,646,580.
Market activity lead to two new 52 weeks highs and moderate movements in the indices, with the Composite Index edging up 0.43 points to close at 1,169.87, the All T&T Index gaining 1.73 points, to close at 1,985.33 and the Cross Listed Index declining by 0.12 points to 46.49.
TTSE sum 2-4-14Gains| First Citizens Bank contributed 17,200 shares with a value of $596,996 and gained 70 cents, to close at $34.70, Praetorian Property Fund advanced by a cent to end at $3.41, as it traded 2,000 units, Republic Bank traded a mere 83 units, as the price moved up a cent, to close at $120.17 for a new 52 weeks high and Unilever Caribbean traded just 31 shares to close 2 cents higher at $58.22, a new 52 weeks high.
Firm Trades| Stocks trading with unchanged closing prices, are Angostura Holdings with 16,470 shares valued at $181,170, to close at $11, Flavorite Foods with 33 units at $7, Grace Kennedy with 45,600 shares changing hands for a value of $159,600 and closed at $3.50, National Flour Mills 10,000 shares at $1.26, Neal & Massy 100 shares at $66.31, Prestige Holdings 500 units at $9.35, Scotiabank 138 shares at $71, Trinidad Cement 895 units at $2.06 and West Indian Tobacco 216 units at $118.
Declines| Clico Investment Fund traded 13,277 shares valued at $288,603 as the price declined by 15 cents, to end at $21.70, Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 6,300 shares to close down 2 cents to 54 cents and Sagicor Financial Corporation with a volume of 44,667 shares traded for $312,669 as the price shed 3 cents, to end at $7.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.

Mixed TTSE market action

NatMarket activity was mixed in trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Tuesday with 11 securities changing hands, of which 3 advanced, 3 declined and 5 traded firm. The Composite Index declined by 1.84 points, to close at 1,169.44, the All T&T Index eased down by 3.60 points, to 1,983.60 and the Cross Listed Index inched down by 0.01 points to 46.61. A volume of 336,239 shares changed hands with a value of $2,294,276.
TTSE sum 1-4-14 Gains| Prestige Holdings had 158,395 shares changing hands, for a value of $1,480,422 as the price gained 6 cents to end at $9.35, Republic Bank traded a mere 83 units as the price moved up 5 cents, to close at $120.16, for a new 52 weeks high and Scotia Investments closed with 14,984 shares for a 1 cent gain at $1.60.
Firm Trades| Agostini’s had 20 units changing hands, to close at $17.75, Flavorite Foods 25 units at $7, Guardian Holdings contributed 45,884 shares with a value of $619,434, to close at $13.50, National Enterprises had 1,000 units trading at the close, at $18.25 and National Flour Mills added 15,000 shares valued at $18,900 as it closed at $1.26.
Declines| First Citizens Bank fell 99 cents to close at $34, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 95,653 shares being traded for $53,566, closed down 3 cents to 56 cents, and Sagicor Financial traded 4,000 units to close at $7.03 as it lost 2 cents.
At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4

Hibernating stocks awaken on TTSE

A number of stocks that have either not traded in months or seldom traded from as far back 2013 surfaced from their slumber in Thursday’s trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange. Included in the list, are Ansa Merchant Bank, Berger Paints, Flavorite Foods and Prestige Holdings. The change flushed out some stocks that were showing signs that they would fall when they next traded as offer prices were lower than their last selling price for some time.
Market activity resulted in the trading in 13 securities of which 5 advanced, 4 declined and 4 traded firm resulting in 106,402 shares changing hands, valued at $2,855,845 and moving the Composite Index down by 1.31 points to 1,171.77 while the All T&T Index fell by 2.61 points to close at 1,988.18 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 46.62.
TTSE 27-3-14Gains| Stocks recording gains in the market are Ansa Merchant Bank contributing 9,411 shares with a value of $361,226 as the price moved up 10 cents to end at $38.40, Clico Investment Fund with 24,180 shares valued at $528,333, the price advanced by 9 cents to end at $21.85. One Caribbean Media with 200 shares at $19.75 while gaining 5 cents to record a new 52 weeks high at the close and Republic Bank while trading 2,953 shares at a new 52 weeks high of $120.10 with a gain of 2 cents and Scotiabank with an increase of 90 cents to end the day at $71.00 while trading 205 shares.
Firm Trades| Angostura Holdings traded 602 shares at $11, Berger Paints 100 units at $3.60, Jamaica Money Market Brokers saw 39,340 shares changing hands for a value of $22,030 as the price closed at 56 cents and Neal & Massy traded 20,038 shares for $1,328,720 to close at $66.31.
Declines| First Citizens Bank traded 5,608 shares valued at $197,169 as the price slipped by 25 cents to end at $35, Flavorite Foods fell $1.21 to close at $7, a new 52 weeks low, Guardian Holdings 1,755 shares at 25 cents lower at $13.75, Prestige Holdings traded only 10 shares to close at $9.29 for a 1 cent decline.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with the offer that is lower.

Strong arbitrage position in JMMB in JSE & TTSE

Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) closed at 56 cents, the equivalent of JS$9.50 while it closed at J$7.50 in Jamaica, providing investors with a great arbitrage position, with a huge 26 percent price difference at the end of trading.
Trading overall in the Trinidad Stock market on Wednesday saw 12 securities changing hands of which 5 advanced, 5 declined and 2 traded firm resulting in the Composite Index declining by 4.54 points to close at 1,173.08, the All T&T Index falling by 8.83 points to close at 1,990.79 and the Cross Listed Index easing by 0.03 points to close at 46.62. Trading resulted in 653,357 shares changing hands, valued at $6,420,588.
TTSE 26-3-14Gains| (JMMB) was the volume leader with 186,000 shares changing hands for a value of $103,300, closing 3 cents higher to end at 56 cents, National Enterprises gained 2 cents to close at $18.27, National Flour Mills added 110,000 shares valued at $138,600 to close a cent higher at $1.26, a 52 weeks high, Neal & Massy traded only 35 units at $66.31 for a one cent gain.
Declines| First Caribbean International Bank traded 15,072 shares at $5.75, down a cent, First Citizens Bank 3,581 shares at $36.07, down 28 cents Grace Kennedy with 161,400 shares traded for $564,975 and fell 13 cents to $3.50, Scotiabank with 215 shares, close at $70.10, down $1.90 and Trinidad Cement contributed 118,574 shares with a value of $243,723 to close at $2.05.
Firm Trades| Angostura Holdings 900 shares to close at $11.00, Sagicor Financial Corporation had only 50 units changing hands to end at $7.05.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bids higher than their last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.

Trinidad’s sleepy market

Stock market activity in Trinidad on Tuesday, saw trading in 13 securities, of which 3 advanced, 2 declined and 8 traded firm as 603,335 shares changed hands, for $7,429,236. The Composite Index edged up by 0.41 points to 1,177.62, the All T&T Index declined by 0.14 points to close at 1,999.62 and the Cross Listed Index inched up by 0.13 points to 46.65.
TTSE25-3-14Gains| Clico Investment Fund traded 70,814 shares valued at $1,540,905 and gained 6 cents, to end the day at $21.76. Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 230,942 shares changing hands for a value of $122,179, closed 3 cents higher at 53 cents, Republic Bank with 955 units at $120.05 up 2 cents, a new 52 weeks high.
Firm Trades| Stock trading unchanged are Agostini’s with 471 units at $17.75, ANSA McAL 10 shares at $66.49, Angostura Holdings 10 shares at $11, National Flour Mills with a volume of 172,504 shares traded for $215,574 to close at $1.25, Point Lisas Industrial Port Development 300 shares at $3.65, Sagicor Financial Corporation 13,200 shares to close at $7.05, Guardian Media 957 units at $19.75 and West Indian Tobacco which added 17,501 shares valued at $2,065,118 to close at $118.
Declines First Citizens Bank contributed 88,671 shares with a value of $3,223,211 to close 4 cents lower at $36.35, Grace Kennedy traded 7,000 units to close with a one cent fall at $3.63.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.

Moderate demand on TTSE but 5 stocks up

Activity on the Trinidad Stock Exchange resulted in the trading of 10 securities on Friday of which 5 advanced, 3 declined and 2 traded firm.
A moderate volume of securities traded amounting to only 220,535 shares valued at $957,901. The Composite Index eased back by 0.89 points to close at 1,178.27, the All T&T Index declined by 2.73 points to 2,000.85 and the Cross Listed Index edged up by 0.13 points to close at 46.66.
TTSE21-3-14Gains| In trading, First Citizens Bank moved 54 cents higher to close at $36.69 with 4,489 shares, First Caribbean International Bank traded 5,000 units at $5.76 for a one cent gain, Jamaica Money Market Brokers gained 2 cents to close at 47 cents, with 102,137 shares changing hands, for a value of $48,004. National Flour Mills traded 60,400 shares for $75,500 with the price closing 8 cents up, to end the day at $1.25, for a new 52 weeks’ high, Republic Bank had 1,335 shares changing hands to close 2 cents higher at $120.02, for a new 52 weeks’ high.
Firm trades| Clico Investment Fund traded 7,325 shares valued at $159,040, the price held at $21.71 and Scotiabank traded 2,622 units to close at $72.
Declines| Guardian Holdings lost a cent, to close at $14.14 in trading 2,000 shares, Trinidad Cement contributed 29,657 shares with a value of $65,245 while losing 10 cents, to close at $2.20 and Sagicor Financial Corporation added 5,570 shares valued at $40,605 and closed down a cent, at $7.29.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.

New year, new dividends

IC Insider’s tracking of the latest announcements on dividends for the New Year to February 28th 2014.

Sagicor Group ups dividend and approved the payment of an interim dividend of 35 per share payable on March 31, 2014 to shareholders on record as at March 21, 2014. The ex-dividend date is March 19, 2014. The company paid a dividend of 21 cents per share on October 31, 2013 and brought dividends paid in 2013 to 40 cents per share with a dividend of 19 cents per share paid on March 28, 2013. In 2012 the company paid two dividends of 28 cents each.

Jamaica Broilers Group has declared an interim dividend of 8 cents per share payable on April 9, 2014 to shareholders on record as at March 13. The ex-dividend date is March 11. The 2013 dividend represents an increase of 33.33 percent on the amount paid in 2012. The company paid an interim dividend of 6 cents per share on March 28, last year and 8 cents per share on December 2.

Pan-Jamaican Investment Trust will pay its first interim dividend for the year 2014 of 60 cents per share on March 31, 2014 to shareholders on record as at March 17, 2014. The ex-dividend date is March 13, 2014. Dividends per share paid in 2013 amounts to 45 cents on September 20, $1.10 in March and 50 cents on December 20.

Scotia Investments approved an interim dividend of 45 cents per stock unit, payable on April 10, 2014, to stockholders on record as at March 20, 2014. The company pays four dividends per annum and have paid 45 cents each for the prior four quarters

Scotia Group approved an interim dividend of 4o cents per stock unit, payable on April 10, 2014, to stockholders on record as at March 20, 2014. The company pays four dividends per annum and have paid 40 cents each for the prior four quarters.

Supreme Ventures declared a dividend of 3 cents per share payable on March 26, 2014 to shareholders on record as at March 12, 2014. The stock traded ex-dividend on March 10, 2014. The company paid a dividend of 3 cents per share on January 8, 2014.  In 2013 dividends per share were paid as follows –  3 cents on September 2, 8 cents on June 17 and 10 cents on March 28.

Eppley Limited declared an ordinary interim dividend of $9 per share payable on February 28, 2014 to shareholders on record as at February 21, 2014. The ex-dividend date is February 19, 2014. This is the first dividend the company is paying on its ordinary shares since listing in 2013.

General Accident Insurance approved an ordinary dividend of 7.64 cents per stock unit payable on April 1, 2014, to shareholders on record as at March 6, 2014. The stock traded ex-dividend on March 3, 2014. General Accident Insurance paid an interim dividend of 8.728 cents per share on October 14, 2013 and also paid an interim dividend of 4.85 cents per share on March 28, 2013. In 2012 they made two payments of 4.85 cents each.

Dolphin ups dividend up 50% | Dolphin Cove has declared an interim dividend of $0.15 per share payable on April 9, 2014 to shareholders on record as at March 21, 2014. The ex-dividend date is March 19, 2014. Interim dividends were paid as follows by the company, 10 cents per share on December 4, 2013, 10 cents per share on September 16, 2013, 10 cents per share on June 6, 2013 and 10 in March 28 last year.

Gleaner Company declared an interim dividend of $0.04 per share payable on March 13, 2014 to shareholders on record as at February 27, 2013. The ex-dividend date is February 25, 2014.

PROVEN declared a dividend of US$0.0015 per ordinary share payable on March 13, 2014 to shareholders on record as at February 26, 2014. The ex-dividend date is February 24, 2014.

Carreras declared an interim dividend of $1.62 per share payable on March 13, 2014 to shareholders on record as at February 20, 2014. The ex-dividend date is February 18, 2014. This is the fourth regular dividend being paid for the year. An interim dividend of $1.30 per share and a special dividend of $0.94 per share were paid on June 20, 2013. Interim dividends of a dollar per share each were paid in August and November last year. A special capital cash distribution of $1.18 was also paid on January 30, 2014.

Cargo Handlers declared a dividend of 50 cents per share payable on March 6, 2014 to shareholders on record at February 18, 2014. The ex-dividend date is February 14, 2014. In 2013 ahead of the change in the tax rate on dividends from 5 percent to 15 percent the company paid a dividend of $1.00 per share on March 28, 2013.

AMG Packaging declared a dividend payment of 20 cents payable on March 28, 2014 to shareholders on record as at February 17, the Ex-dividend date is February 13. At the current stock price of $3.48 the yield is 5.7 percent. This is the first dividend the company has paid since listing in 2011.

The Board of Directors of Kingston Properties Limited has declared its first dividend for the year 2014 in the amount of US$0.0025 per stock unit payable on February 28, 2014 to stockholders on record as at February 10, 2014. The ex-dividend date is February 6, 2014.

Caribbean Producers (Jamaica) Limited | declared an interim dividend of 3 cents per stock unit payable on January 31, 2014 to shareholders on record as at January 16, 2014. The ex-dividend date is January 14, 2014. An interim dividend of 4.5 cents per stock unit was paid on March 28, 2013, previously an interim dividend of five cents per share paid on June 20, 2012.

Barita cuts dividend to 3 cents | Stung with a big drop in reported profits from $255 million in 2012 to only $70 million for the year ended September 2013, Barita Investments’ board approved the payment for an interim dividend of 3 cents per stock unit to be paid on January 27, 2014 to shareholders on record as at January 10, 2014.  The ex-dividend date is January 8, 2014. In January 2013 a dividend of 11.4 cents per share was paid.

Dividends delayed | Sagicor Group has moved the dividend consideration from February 28 to March 6th.

Not announced | The Board of Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances who had indicated that they will consider a dividend declaration at a meeting to be held on February 5, 2014 has not yet reported the decision to the Jamaica Stock exchange nor has Jamaica Broilers who should have met on February 26.

The Board of Directors of Grace Kennedy will consider a resolution for the declaration of an interim dividend at a meeting to be held on Friday, February 28, 2014. Grace last paid an interim dividend of $0.70 per share paid on December 11, 2013, an interim dividend of $0.78 per share paid on September 30, 2013 and an interim dividend of 70 cents per stock unit was paid on March 27, 2013.

Profits down at Scotia

Scotia Group and its subsidiary Scotia Investments reported lower profits for the first quarter ended January this year.

Scotia Group reported net income of $2.54 billion for the first quarter ended January 31, which is $168 million above the previous quarter ended October last year and $104 million below the quarter ended January 31, 2013. Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was $0.79 compared to $0.82 for the same period last year.

The Directors maintained the dividend at 40 cents per stock unit payable on April 10.

Total operating income, comprising net interest income after impairment losses and including other revenue, was $8.3 billion, a decrease of $28 million relative to the prior year.

Net interest income after impairment losses for the period was $5.7 billion, down $134 million or 2.30 percent when compared to the same period last year. However, the loan loss expense increased by $234 million to $517 million compared with $284 million with prior year.

scotiabankBuilding150x150As reported by management, “Other revenue for the quarter was $2.56 billion, up $106 million or 4.3 percent when compared with prior year. This was due primarily to increased insurance revenue of $54 million, higher gains on our foreign currency trading and investment book of $36 million and net fee and commission income of $11 million. The increase in the net fee and commission income was due to growth in our mutual funds and unit trust business.”

Operating Expenses were $4.87 billion for the quarter, representing an increase of $237 million or 5.12 percent over prior year. This is due primarily to higher staff related costs of $139 million and operating expenses of $117 million.

Scotia loan portfolio fell in the latest quarter to reached $133.4 billion from $134.8 billion in October last year but is still well ahead of the $122.3 billion at the end of January 2013.

Scotia Investments reported net income for the quarter of $421 million, $66 million or 13 percent below the quarter ended January 31, 2013 and $152 million or 26 percent below the October 31, 2013. Operating Income, comprising net interest revenue and other income of $989 million for the quarter was $119 million or 11 percent below the $1.108 billion for the same period last year; and $230 million or 19 percent below last quarter. Non-interest income, which includes fee income, securities trading gains and net foreign exchange trading income, was $352 million for the quarter, $7 million above the same period last year; and $138 million or 28 percent below last quarter. Net interest income fell to $636 million from 745 million in similar period in 2013 as interest margins contract. Wages grew but other operating expenses fell leaving overall expense in line with that of 2013.

The Board maintained dividend at 45 cents per stock unit, payable on April 10, 2014.

Related posts | Scotia reports record profit | Profit jumps 39% for Scotia Invest