GWest IPO is here

December 1, 2017 by

The initial Public Offer (IPO) of shares in the Montego Bay based GWest Corporation is now out with 169.7 million shares offered for sale at $2.50 each. The offer opens on December 7 and is scheduled to close on December 21.
With FosRich and Wisynco opening next week as well it could result in record of 4 IPOs being opened within the same week on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. During July, Express Catering opening on July 12, Stationery and Office Supplies that opened on July 19, Proven Investments with a rights issue opened on July 3, Productivity Business Solutions with an ordinary share issue and a preference share issue that opened on July 5.
GWest offer includes 36,000,000 Shares reserved for the lead broker, JMMB Securities or its clients, 64,000,000 Shares reserved for Jamaica Money Market Brokers’ Pension and Client Funds Investment Management Unit. 19,400,000 Shares are for GWest clients and suppliers and 600,000 Shares for independent directors, the Mentor and employees of the Company. This leaves 69.7 million shares for applications by the general public. If any of the Reserved Shares in any category are not subscribed by the persons entitled to them, they will be made available for subscription by the general public.

Dr. Konrad Kirlew, chairman of GWest.

If the Invitation is successful in raising at least J$250,000,000 and the Shares will be admitted to trade on the Junior Market of the JSE.
The primary purpose of the Company is to provide integrated medical health care services and facilities. The Company established 5 medical businesses under the common “GWest Medical” brand. GWest Corporation owns the GWest Centre, a 4-storey multipurpose commercial complex catering primarily to medical professionals and medical services and in which its owned services will be located. The GWest concept is to provide a wide range of complementary international quality best practice medical services in one location,
The Company will be providing the following medical services to complement those offered by owners and lessees in the GWest Centre:
1. General Practitioner and Specialist Suite (operational since June 2017)
2. A 2,200 square feet Urgent Care Centre (operational since November 2017)
3. Medical Laboratory (to be opened by January 2018)
4. A 5,000 square feet 8-Bed Inpatient Unit (to be opened by September 2018)
5. In addition, its 100% subsidiary company GWest Surgery Centre Limited will own and operate an 8,500 square feet Outpatient Surgery Centre (to be opened September 2018), including two modern operating theatres and two procedure rooms.
The Company has approximately 18,111 square feet of space leased to tenants for periods of 3 to 10 years with lease rates denominated in United States currency, ranging from US$20 to US$22 per square feet. The lease payments are subject to annual increases at a rate of up to 0.5% per annum.

GWest complex in Montego Bay,

Directors include Dr. Konrad Kirlew, chairman, Dr. Leyford Doonquah, Dennis Samuels businessman Denise Crichton-Samuels managing director of Cornwall Medical and Dental Supplies, Peter Pearson, former partner PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Elva Williams-Richard, Chartered Accountant, Wayne Gentles, Accountant, and Mark Hart Businessman and Wayne Wray who is the mentor and director.
The shares are really based of forecast which are vastly different than the historical results. For the year to March 2017 profit reported was $181 million but it includes a large gain on revaluation of the unsold property, amounting to $205 million. The profit was mainly based on income of sale of property. A loss of $29 million was made in the six months to September and for the full year to March 2018 a loss of $111 million is projected, swinging sharply to a profit of $166 million in 2019 and $388 million in 2020 as revenues rise from an estimated $158 million in 2018 to $803 million in 2019 to $1.2 billion in 2020.
Net book value is just $287 million, representing 324,848,485 shares, with net book value of just 88 cents per share, the stock is priced at 3 times book value which can be considered high for a company yet to start showing profit from ongoing operations. The stock is also priced at a high PE of nearly 7.5 times projected 2019 earnings which is way above most other stocks in the market, with a renowned operating track record.

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FosRich could surprise

November 30, 2017 by

FosRich initial public offer of shares opens next week Monday but is getting mixed views in the financial market, partly with similar type reception Access Financial got when it went public in 2010. Access confounded the skeptics and went on to be one of the best performers on the market.
While one does not expect FosRich to perform close to what Access did overtime, it could nevertheless surprise many on the upside in 2018, with not many shares being sold to the general public.
Some seasoned investors are letting this one pass them by. Questions are being asked about an array of issues reflected in the financials.
Why are inventories so high? growth in revenues is inconsistent with a drop in sales on the cards for 2017 and questions about the true quality of receivables. The company made a $20 million provision for doubtful receivables in 2014 of which $10 million was recovered in 2015. For some, the inventories of $580 million at September is the most concerning, with the view that there could be another big a write off as occurred in 2014 when provision was made for $109 million. There is a question as to the rationale for three outlets outside Kingston with two in Montego Bay.
Management seems fully conversant with the issues that need addressing and from all indications are at work to deal with them.
Apart from the raising of long term equity capital by way of the public share issue, that will provide badly needed working capital management is to roll out of the industrial products line later in 2017 and the directors anticipate a profitable end to the fiscal year, unlike the loss in the final quarter of 2016.
FosRich increased gross profit margin for the year to date to 45.2% from 42% in 2016, the Directors are hopeful of maintaining or increasing that level towards the end of the current year, 2017. According to Cecil Foster, Managing director, they are aiming for 50 percent with a focus on the 150 fastest moving items. Their partnership with Phillips, Siemens for electrical equipment and parts and Nexans Brasil for distribution of cables will allow them to source products directly from factories rather than through middlemen.
Addressing the issue of excess inventories, Foster stated that they are aware of the issue but admitted that software issues resulted in an increase beyond the norm. Cash flow issues has forced management to take step to reduce the amounts tied up in stock. At September this year the amount in inventories of $580 million is down from $625 million in 2016. According to Foster within 8-9 months it should be in the rage of 6 months of cost of sales, if achieved it would release more than $200 million in cash. Different strategies are being employed to push sales of the slower moving items and include special deals at reduced prices, targeting large projects and possibly longer credit terms. According to Foster, this area is one for attention a regular at their monthly board meeting.
Debt financing has been high with Interest cost at $47 million in 2016 on loans of $335 million. Rates on leases were at 13.5-15 percent. After the issue closes Stocks and Securities will be going to market to raise $200-300 million in bonds to retire the bank debt and fund expansion. Хотите провести приятно время? Заходите https://escorteurogirls.com по ссылке
Foster confirms Mathew Williams of SSL comments “that the target is to double sales within two years” and indicated that the target for 2018 is 30 percent. Cost should be under control in 2018 as the company focuses on this area as well.
There are some observations that investors ought to note. A number of companies enjoyed big sales bounced shortly after listing as name and product recognition increases. Example of these are Jetcon Corporation, Stationery and Office Supplies, the rigor that monthly board meetings will provide additional governance rigor to get more out of the existing operation. Peter Knibbs the director of Finance formerly of the Pan Jam Investment group, with years of financial experience has been playing a major role in getting the company to focus on some critical areas in order to right a drifting ship.

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Big run for Jamaican stocks coming

October 8, 2017 by

JSE Main market showing next major resistance around the 360,000 point level on the al Jamaica Index

The current state of the Jamaican stock market in one of contrast with the main market hitting 5 days of record close and with gains of 40 percent for the year to date and Junior Market that was up 31 percent in May is now up just 14 percent.
With stability present in the forex market for the Jamaican dollar, lower interest rates being paid on money market funds and with business confidence at record high levels, funds are now moving into the main market stocks with less interest being shown in the Junior Market.
Prices in the US dollar market have come off, after the index was up 63 percent at 268.73 points in February, up from 164.50 at the start of the year, but it is only up 12 percent now with the index at 184.86 points at the close of trading on Friday.

Jamaica Main market stocks itching to break out of channel that stretches back to 2014

The Junior Market was driven up by excessive buying that drove a number of the stocks to excessive valuations which the market has been correcting for, resulting in the sharp pull back from the all-time high, even then there are some that are still overvalued based on the average valuation of other stocks. The market still has several undervalued stocks but the focus on the bigger and more liquid main market is sucking some energy from the junior ones.
Based on estimated 2017 earnings, the average PE of the junior and main markets are just over 13 times earnings. The main market has more than half of the market trading below this level. Included in the list are Berger Paints with a PE of just 5, Caribbean Cement at 6, Jamaica Broilers 7, JMMB Group at 8, Grace Kennedy, NCB Financial and Sagicor Group at 10. The market has Jamaica Producers selling at 32 times 2017 earnings and Kingston Wharves at 27 times earnings with Kingston Properties at a rich 36 times and are clearly overvalued currently. Jamaica Stock Exchange and 138 Student Living at 22 are well ahead of the market average.

Junior Market under pressure, testing support around 2,900 points.

In the Junior Market Medical Disposables is priced at 6 times earnings, General Accident 6, Caribbean Producers 7, Stationery and Office Supplies, Caribbean Cream and Main Event at 10. Just under half of Junior Market stocks are trading blow the market average with about 25 percent well above the average.
Technical reading| The main market broke through major resistance for the second time since September at 290,000 points, that has its genesis in 1992 and connecting in 2005. The market faces some short term resistance around 300,000 points which should be broken through before long ahead of moving to the next sort term resistance around 360,000 points with 505,000 on the all Jamaica Index, the next big stop. The market has been trading in a distinct upward sloping channel from mid-2014 until now and seems set to break out and move higher.
The Junior Market chart is a big contrast to that of the main market.

Wigton Wind farm should list on the JSE main market in early 2017 with a large capitalization

While the latter is clearly heading higher with new highs being created, the Junior Market index is flashing negative signals. The market has formed a head and shoulder pattern which is a negative signal and the short term 45 days moving average has broken through both the medium term 200 days moving average and longer term moving averages. The market has broken through the channel that it has been trading in since late 2015. There appear to be support around the 2,900 points level but it could go down to 2,800 points where the next support is and it will left to be seen 2,900 points will be the floor ahead of third quarter results that could change the course of the movement.
With just over 2 months for the year to end investors should start to have an eye open for major factors that could make big differences to earnings in 2018 when making investment assessment now. Some of these are, more reduction in interest rates, continued strong foreign exchange growth, low inflation, increased construction activity, increased activity in the tourism sector and of course the potential for several new listings to come to market between now and then. IC Insider.com is aware of 8 such potential listings. The list include, Wigton Wind Farm, Jamaica Public Service as a result of Government of Jamaica’s planned sale of its 20 percent share in the company, Neveast Stationery, KIW International, a relatively new business in Montego Bay and a large manufacturing business, operating out of St Catherine.

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

Keep an eye on Scotia Group

September 4, 2017 by

With cut in Bank of Jamaica benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in the last week of August and fall in the August Treasury bill rates, new life was brought to the main market last week with a number of days of record high.
The entire main market is on IC Insider.com’s watch list as the all Jamaica Composite Index could move to the 300,000 points mark before long.
The most noted move in the Jamaica Stock Exchange last week was Scotia Group racing to a record high of $52 but ending the week without any stock being offered for sale. This stock has to head the stocks to watch list this week.
Others on the list are Barita Investments and Berger Paints two stocks that are subject of takeover offers, both stocks fell back sharply during the week, moves that appear unwarranted. Others on the list are, JMMB Group, NCB Financial Group with just 47,000 units on offer between $90 and $100, Sagicor Group and Supreme Ventures with a 41 percent rise in half year profit.
In the Junior Market, Caribbean Producers with improved 2017 results over 2016 with profit doubling, Jetcon Corporation that came under some selling pressure last week and fell to $4.50 and Stationery & Office Supplies complete the watch list.

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JMMB could continue higher

August 20, 2017 by

JMMB Group traded at a 52 weeks’ closing high od $21.45.

Based on the trading activity for the past few days there seems to be increased interest in JMMB Group shares with a sharply declining supply being offered after the company released its first quarter results and announced that they have commenced commercial banking operations in Jamaica.
On Friday the price closed at $21.50 with 782,460 shares traded, after it traded at $23 in the morning session as supply totally dried up at one stage when only a small volume was on offer at $29, the first this has happened in a long time. At the close less than 240,000 units were offered for sales, with most quoted at $22.50. The group reported pretax profit rising to $995 million from $857 million in 2016 but profit after tax just inched up to $613 million from $590 in 2016.
Cable and Wireless came in for buying but sellers were just as interest in selling, in the end supply on the market has been shrinking. The stock could well see side-ways movement during the week, don’t be surprised if the price moves up as supplies around last week’s closing price recedes. NCB Financial Group has seen the price in Trinidad coming close to the Jamaican price on Friday, with demand still strong in that market and no stock on offer. The closing bid in TTSE suggests upward price movement can be expected. Supply in Jamaica is not great, it’s just that buyers are taking their time to acquire and could well be trying to hold out until close to the release of the full year’s results in early November. There was spirited buying of Barita Investments on Thursday gone, with 163,100 units being snapped up aggressively. There was no follow through of such aggression on Friday. It is anyone’s guess where this one will go, in the days ahead, but it is worth watching. Berger Paints pulled back to $14 during the week, with no announcement from its new parent company about the minority holdings. Ansa McAl announced that they would be making a submission about the 20 percent minority holdings in the Trinidad sister company, with no comments about the operations in Jamaica.

Consolidated Bakeries (Purity) stock could fall during coming week.

There is a fair bit of swing in the price of Stationery and Office Supplies with selling coming in during the week, but with buying more subdued than before. Investors can probably expect the price to swing between $4 and $5 for a while. The price could even falling into the $3 to $4 range depending on how fast sellers want to exit. At least that is what the bids and offers suggest, unless there are some increased buying in the week ahead.
Jamaican Teas after reporting nine months results with increased earnings per share over 2016, traded as high as $5.30 during the day but closed at $5 as increased interest was visible for the stock, suggesting that the price could rise further. Jetcon Corporation continues to attract buying interest after posting doubling of profits for the first six months of 2017 and traded as high as $5.70 before pulling back to $5.50 at the close on Friday, with bids to buy in line with the closing price. Paramount Trading came in for some buying with the price recovering from its fall to $2.50 recently after the company stated that they were I the process of constructing the Lubricant plant with operations to commence later this year. Currently supply below $4 is scanty.
Consolidated Bakeries reported a loss in its June quarter leading to a fall in the stock price. Selling continues with more than 660,000 units on offer at $2.15 and weak bids. Further decline is to be expected.

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Junior market drops again

August 16, 2017 by

Jamaican Teas CEO, John Mahfood. The company traded 25m shares. on Wednesday.

Trading on the Junior Market of Jamaica Stock Exchange jumped on Wednesday with Jamaican Teas traded over 25 million shares as one large shareholder reorganized a portion of their holding. A total of 22 securities traded, 9 advanced 5 declined and 8 traded firm.
The Junior Market Index declined by 44.92 points to close at 3,112.54. Trading closed with 8 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers. The Market closed with 28,446,953 shares valued at $130,472,160 trading, compared with 2,187,410 shares valued at $12,791,307 on the previous day.
At the close of the market, the volume of stocks changing hands on Wednesday and the last prices they traded at are: Access Financial with 3,630 shares at $46.20, AMG Packaging closing with 4,624 shares at $3.50, CAC 2000 ended 35 cents higher to $7.40 with 46,692 shares, Cargo Handlers gained 30 cents to close at $11 with 1,000 shares, Caribbean Cream closed 80 cents higher at $6.70 with 1,877 shares, Consolidated Bakeries lost 24 cents, to close at $2.26 with 221,280 shares, after the company posted a loss in the June quarter on Lower revenues than in 2016. Derrimon Trading fell 90 cents, to $7 with 800 shares, Dolphin Cove closed at $17.50 with 5,534 shares, Express Catering with a loss of 1 cents, closed at $5.20 with 311,836 shares, General Accident with a loss of 7 cents, closed at $2.60 with 615,796 shares, Honey Bun closed at $5 with 4,500 shares, Jamaican Teas moved 25 cents higher to $4.95 with 25,101,325 shares, Jetcon Corporation climbed 20 cents higher to $5.50 with 43,070 shares, KLE Group closed 10 cents higher at $2.10 with 738,400 shares, Knutsford Express closed at $15 with 5,538 shares, Lasco Distributors rose 15 cents while closing at $6.70 with 576,888 shares, Lasco Financial lost 15 cents, and closed at $3.85 with 20,000 shares, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.33 with 71,292 shares, Main Event gained 5 cents to $5 with 3,732 shares, Paramount Trading closed at $2.85 with 64,224 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies traded 604,415 units with the price falling 59 cents to $4.40, and tTech rose 20 cents to $7 with 500 shares.

Filed Under: Feature Stories, JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Securities trading jump on Tuesday

August 15, 2017 by

Trading in the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Tuesday with a number of stocks declining out pacing those rising. The volume and value of stocks traded declined compared to that on Monday while the market index closed lower by 38.26 points to 3,157.46.
The Market closed with 2,187,410 shares valued at $12,791,307 trading compared with 5,636,428 valued at $31,083,116 on the previous day. A total of 28 securities traded compared 22 on Monday as 17 stocks declined, 2 advanced and 9 traded firm.
At the close of the market, stocks trading and their last traded price are: Access Financial with 35,383 shares trading, closed with a loss of 30 cents to end at $46.20, AMG Packaging closed with 25,000 shares at $3.50, Blue Power had 5,450 units changing hands with fall of 50 cents to $41.50, Cargo Handlers with a loss of 30 cents, closed at $10.70 with 18,817 shares, Caribbean Cream closed with a loss of 84 cents, at $5.90 with 24,346 shares, Caribbean Producers ended 11 lower to $3.39 with 13,000 shares, Consolidated Bakeries lost 12 cents and closed at $2.50 with 1,627 shares, C2W Music closed at 38 cents with 18,237 shares, Derrimon Trading with a loss of 10 cents, closed at $7.90 with 12,065 shares, Dolphin Cove closed at $17.50 with 2,185 shares, Express Catering ended 20 cents higher at $5.30 with 319,964 shares, General Accident closed at $3.30 with 46,866 shares, Honey Bun closed 20 cents higher at $5 with 4,066 shares, Iron Rock closed at $3 with 38,000 shares, Jamaican Teas closed at $4.70 with 7,346 shares, Jetcon Corporation with a loss of 1 cent, closed at $5.30 with 176,320 shares, KLE Group closed at $2 with 23,000 shares, Key Insurance with a loss of 5 cents, closed at $3 with 5,000 shares, Knutsford Express closed at $15 with 9,850 shares, Lasco Distributors with a loss of 15 cents, closed at $6.55 with 149,100 shares, Lasco Financial traded at $4 with 54,927 shares, Lasco Manufacturing with a loss of 37 cents, closed at $4.33 with 41,292 shares, Main Event fell 5 cents, and closed at $4.95 with 117,083 shares, with a loss of 5 cents, Medical Disposables closed at $5 with 200,000 shares, after falling 50 cents, Paramount Trading eased 5 cents closed at 5 cents with 47,256 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies traded 725,061 units with the price falling 41 cents to $4.99, Sweet River dipped 3 cents, to $3.52 with 60,169 shares and tTech dropped $1 and closed at $6.80 with 6,000 shares.

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

Junior market closed higher – Monday

August 14, 2017 by

Trading in the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with a number of stocks rising out pacing those declining 2 to 1. The volume and value of stocks traded declined sharply compared to that on Friday and the market index closed higher.
The Market index surged 45.93 points to close at 3,195.72 as 5,636,428 shares valued at $31,083,116 traded compared with 15,739,900 units valued at $100,160,789 on Friday.
Overall Market activity resulted from trading in 22 stocks, down from 25 on Friday as the market closed with 10 advancing, with Stationery and Office Supplies closing at a new high of $5.40, as the prices of 4 declined and 10 remaining unchanged.
Trading in the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with a number of stocks advancing out pacing those declining. The volume and value of stocks traded advanced compared to that on Friday and the market index closed higher.
At the close of the market, stocks trading and their last traded price are: Blue Power traded 623 shares and rose 50 cents to end at $42, CAC 2000 fell 45 cents to $7.05 with 5,000 shares, Cargo Handlers closed at $11 with 3,410 shares, Caribbean Cream lost 6 cents and closed at $6.74 with 35,028 shares, Caribbean Flavours climbed 5 cents and ended at $13 with 1,561 shares, Caribbean Producers closed at $3.50 with 18,367 shares, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2.62 with 70,000 shares, Express Catering closed at $5.10 with 3,590,526 shares after falling 40 cents, General Accident climbed 30 cents to $3.30 with 8,000 shares, Honey Bun rose 30 cents to closed at $4.80 with 13,899 shares, Jamaican Teas closed at $4.70 having gained 10 cents with 40,871 shares, Jetcon Corporation closed 11 cents higher at $5.31 with 31,932 shares, KLE Group closed at $2 with 130,557 shares, Knutsford Express closed at $15 with 30,955 shares, Lasco Distributors traded 225,541 shares at $6.70, Lasco Financial closed at $4 with 25,254 shares, Lasco Manufacturing closed 20 cents higher at $4.70 with 2,715 shares, Main Event closed at $5 with 1,670 shares, Medical Disposables gained 25 cents and closed at $5.50 with 35,000 shares, Paramount Trading added 25 cents to close at $2.90 with 35,000 shares Stationery and Office Supplies traded 1,290,789 units as the price climbed to a new closing high of $5.40 after rising 32 cents, earlier in trading the stock went as high as $6 before pulling back ahead of the close and tTech fell 25 cents to $7.80 with 39,730 shares.

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

SOS trades at a record $5.75

August 14, 2017 by

With about 8 minutes to the opening of the Jamaica Stock Exchange this morning there are orders to purchase 5.38 million units of Stationery and Office Supplies shares and only 208,000 units being offered.
The bids range from 2.60 to a high of $5.10 while the offers start at $5.75. Including in the bids are two amounts totalling 2.34 million units at $2.60 each. The stock eventually traded at $5.75 with 38,000 units after the market opened with the bid moving to $5.75.

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

Strong demand for SOS after listing

August 10, 2017 by

Stationery & Office Supplies was listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday. The stock was offered to the public in mid-July at $2 each and was heavily oversubscribed, has bids to buy 98,660 units as high as $3.50 and 19,800 shares at $3.51.
No trade has taken place with 10,346 units being offered at $4.50, 10,000 units at $6 and 34,105 shares at $12 in the morning session.
Currently bids amount to buy more than 3.2 million units down to $2.50 up to $3.51. The stock exchange circuit breaker rule would restrict the maximum price the shares can trade at today at $2.60, and if it does not trade by the close, the maximum it can trade at on Friday would be $2.90. With bids at $3.50 and above currently, then it may not trade on Friday either if investors starts bids above $2.90 on Friday. Unless management intervene as they did for Express Catering it likely to be well into next week before the first trades would start.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, Street News & Views Tagged With: ,