NCB & Express Catering drop out

July 31, 2017 by

NCB Financial Group jumped to $80 on Friday & exited the top 10.

Shares of Express Catering were in strong demand during the week, with price closing at $5.20 for gains of 247 percent from the initial public issue price of $1.50. At the close of the week the stock was out of the TOP 10 and so was NCB Financial Group with the price climbing to a record $80, at the close on Friday. 
Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) will not start trading until August 9, when it is expected to surge in price based on the heavy over subscription of 3.5 times oversubscribed with more than 1,200 applications.
Trading in the past week returned to a bullish mood, with the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market index hitting new highs on Thursday and Friday. The trend is expected to continue this coming week as investors react to some new results.
Caribbean Flavours and CAC 2000 that fell out of the top listing at the end of the prior week return this week with the exit of Express Catering , Lasco Financial that rose to $3.80 and Caribbean Cream that returned to $7.
The only movement in and out of the TOP 10 in the main market were Salada Foods coming in as NCB dropped out with gains in the price in the past week.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is down at 7 with SOS in at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market TOP 10, holds at 7.3. The average PE for the overall main market, remains at 13 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 42 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 44 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
NCB Financial and Express Catering the two stocks IC Insider.com listed as our market watch make gains during the past week. NCB has clearly broken out from a triangle of consolidation and seems to be heading higher. Express Catering could possibly rise higher but appears to be fully valued at a PE of 20 currently.

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Neveast the next office supplies IPO

July 30, 2017 by

It was a big giveaway for those familiar with companies prepping for listing, by way of a pending initial public offer of shares. The Jamaica Observer newspaper on Wednesday, July 26, carried an advertisement for Neveast Supplies Limited, telling readers that they were celebrating 55 years of service to its customers.
The advertisement also stated that they were leader in stationery, office furniture and office supplies. In true Jamaican nationalistic style, the advert was rapped in the black, green and gold of the Jamaican flag, no doubt in synch with the 55 years of independence celebration this year.
Industry players say, they may be one of the biggest in stationery and office supplies but not of the office furniture and fixtures. Regardless, checks by this publication with persons knowledgeable about the company’s future plans, confirmed that they are likely to be the next stationery and office equipment to list on the Junior Market of the Stock Exchange. Recently, competitor Stationery and Office Supplies concluded a successful initial public offering of shares that were several times oversubscribed and are set to be the first to list when trading in the stock is expected to commence on August 9.
The brokers to the issue when it does take place, will be Mayberry Investments. Our sources state that they have been contemplating this move from at least 2016, but there are a few issues that need sorting out and should definitely be going to the market to raise capital and be listed before the end of 2017.
According to the company’s website, Neveast Supplies Limited is a family owned Jamaican company that started in 1962 when Founder, Neville East, decided to service the country’s stationery needs. Through market penetration and the help of his wife, Pamela, Neveast Supplies Limited expanded operations to include the supply of office and systems furniture.
Today, the second generation of Easts are at the company’s helm to oversee the daily operations. Sons, David, Paul and Gregory together with thirty-two other members of staff are devoted to the company’s success and ensure that Neveast remains the leader in office furniture and supplies with competitive prices on high quality products and efficient company service.
Neveast continues to be the authorized local distributor for international brands such as Teknion Inc, Global Upholstery Inc, MIN Office Furniture, Godrej, Aurora, Moderco, Virco, and a host of stationery manufacturers from across the globe. With its headquarters located in Kingston, the company’s distribution network covers the entire island of Jamaica and recently includes coverage in neighboring Caribbean countries.
IC Insider.com has been reliably informed that Mayberry Investments should be brokering another two public offers by the end of September and possibly a third by the end of 2017, while there are listings being worked on by other brokers.

Filed Under: Initial Public Offers, Stock Market, Stocks to watch, Street News & Views Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Stationery Company to list early August

July 27, 2017 by

Stationery and Office Supplies that issued shares to the public on the 19th of July should be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on August 9, after the public holidays, subject to the listing committee meeting to approve same, IC Insider.com has been informed by a person close to the issue.
JN Fund Managers announced the method of allocation of the 52 million shares that were offered to the public. The issue attracted 1,216 applications for 241.722 million shares.
Shares allocated to SOS’ staff members were not applied for in full and resulted in 4,061,000 units being added to the general public pool with the staff picking up 8.439 million units.
The general public were all allotted the minimum of 5,000 units with the balance allocated on a pro rata basis taking into account the number of units applied for as a percentage of the total application pool in this category. JN Fund Managers’ clients were allotted up to 77,585 units of the shares applied for. Cheques for refunds should start going out as of Thursday, IC Insider.com was reliably informed.

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

Express Catering enters TOP 10

July 24, 2017 by

Ian Dear, Managing Director of Express Catering

Trading started in Express Catering shares on Friday on the Junior Market, with the stock enjoying strong demand up to the $3 level. New information obtained this past week from the prospectus resulted in the earnings for this company being upgraded and it is included in the TOP stocks.
Importantly for Express Catering, the prospectus states that effective at the end on of May, the contract that gave rise to the payment of management fees was cancelled. The amount, the equivalent to 9 percent of revenues or roughly US$1.4 million will no longer be paid and should go towards boosting the bottom-line, and should result in the earnings per share around J$0.26 cents for 2018 fiscal year. The change means it is now a part of the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks. With the strong demand for the stock, it should spend just a short time in the list. The same out turn seems likely for Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) once it starts to trade, with the IPO being nearly 4 times oversubscribed with more than 1,000 applications received for the 52 million shares.
With the initial public offers now out of the way, trading in the secondary markets saw more energy in the past week than for the previous two, with some stocks that were weak before, finding buying at the lower prices.
ISP Finance price rose to $14 after falling to $11 during the past week, but big declines in the prices of AMG Packaging and Caribbean Cream pushed out ISP as well Caribbean Flavours and CAC 2000 out of the top listing.
The only movement in and out of the TOP 10 in the main market were Sagicor Group that spent just one week a short while ago, coming back, as Cable & Wireless dropped out with a big gain in the price in the past week of 17.5 percent.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is down at 6.6 with SOS in at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market TOP 10, holds at 6.7. The average PE for the overall main market, remains at 13 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 45 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
Last week IC Insider indicated that two stocks to watch were Cable & Wireless with the price around support level and NCB Financial with very limited number of stocks currently being offered. Both stocks bounced with the former rising over 17 percent to 94 cents and NCB rising to $75 from $71.50. Active supply for NCB is very low currently and technical chart suggests a big break out for it very soon. NCB is to be watched for a possible break towards $80 and Express Catering to well over $3.

Filed Under: Buy Rated Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Over $487m chased Stationery company IPO

July 21, 2017 by

More than 1,000 investors are expected to have applied for shares in the latest initial public offer to hit Jamaica stock market.
Shares in office suppler, Stationery and Office Supplies which opened to the public for subscription today and closed at just after 9 am, just after opening has been heavily oversubscribed, IC Insider.com has confirmed.
Reports are that up to Tuesday, over 800 applications were received for the just over 50 million shares on offer at $2 each, but up to 11.30 am on Wednesday, the number of applications processed were already at 980 worth $450 million covering 225 million shares. In a release from the company, they stated that as of 12:00pm on Thursday, July 20, 2017, “the subscription was north of $487,000,000 from more than 1,000 applicants.
The Stationery and Office Supplies IPO is the third issue of ordinary shares to be offered to the market in July with all being oversubscribed. The shares are to be listed on the Junior Market of The Jamaica Stock Exchange.

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

ISP Finance and C&W back in TOP 10

July 16, 2017 by

Pull back in the prices of several Junior Market stocks, resulted in changes in the TOP 10 junior stocks at the close of the week. The changes took place against the back ground of an unprecedented 5 issues of new shares around the same time in the market.
Some investors are of the view the public issue of shares all coming around the same time, contributed to the softness in the market over the past two weeks.
On Wednesday, this week, IC Insider.com BUY RATED Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS opens to the public for purchase, at a priced of $2 and is expected to close on the same day it opens. Express Catering IPO opened and close last week Wednesday with more than 1,000 applications received.
ISP Finance price dropped to $13.56 during the past week to re-enter the Top 10. Returning back to the TOP 10 are Caribbean Flavours and Lasco Distributors
Moving out of the top list are AMG Packaging, Lasco Manufacturing with the price rising to $4.70 from $4.30 at the close of the previous week and tTech with the price rising 50 cents to a record $10.
In the main market Sagicor Group spent just one week in the top listing with the price moving from$30 at the end of the previous week to end at $33 and is replaced by Cable & Wireless with the price down under $1 at 80 cents, support for the stock is around 75 cents, hence it could bounce back from these levels soon.

NCB Financial Group is worth watching keenly in the days and weeks ahead.

Market movement continues to be constrained by near term resistance points, it does not prevent stocks from moving in either direction, but it will tend to keep prices overall from big movements upwards.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is down at 6.8 with SOS in at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market holds at 6.7. The average PE for the overall main market, remains at 13 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 43 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead in the market.
Two stocks to watch are Cable & Wireless with the price around support level and NCB Financial with very limited number of stocks currently being offered.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Stock Market, Stocks to watch Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Office supplies’ company heads TOP 10

July 9, 2017 by

IC Insider.com BUY RATED Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) jumped into the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks in the number one position at the close of the past week.

The SOS stock which opens to the public for purchase, starting on the 19th of this month, is priced at $2 and is expected to close on the same day it opens, as sentiments towards it are very positive.
SOS is projected by IC Insider.com to produce earnings of 40 cents per share for 2018 and is expected to benefit from the increased exposure leading up to the listing and the continuing exposure post listing, giving them an added advantage over the competition. Medical Disposables sits second spot and Caribbean Producers is in at the third spot. CAC 2000 moved into the TOP 10 with the price having fallen to $6.57 by the end of the week.
The inclusion of SOS and CAC 2000 means that Lasco Distributors and Lasco Finance have been edged out of the Top listing. Express Catering that goes to market on July 12, is priced at a level placing them well outside the top listing.
In the main market Sagicor Group fell to $30 by week end and helped it into the TOP 10 lists edging out Grace Kennedy in the process.
Market movement continues to be constrained by near term resistance levels, it does not prevent stocks from moving in either direction, but it will tend to keep prices overall from big movements upwards.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks remain at 7 even with SOS being added at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market slipped to 6.7 with the sharp fall in prices during the week. The average PE for the overall main market, is down to 13 while it remains at 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 40 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.

Filed Under: Buy Rated, Stock Market, Stocks to watch Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SOS solidly BUY RATED

July 6, 2017 by

Stationery and Office Supplies reported earnings of 26 cents per share for 2016 and IC Insider.com forecast 40 cents pretax for the current year from just over $90 million in pretax profit, a near doubling in profits over the $53 million reported in 2016.
Revenues increased 11 percent in 2013, just 5 percent in next year, 14 percent in 2015 and 12 percent in 2016 and 20 percent for the first six months of 2017, hitting $702 million in 2016 and seems on target to get to around $850 million for 2017.
Pre-tax Profit in 2016, pre-tax profits jumped 279.5 percent to end at $53 million compared to only $14 million in 2015, and $8 million in 2014.
Improvement in the Company’s revenues has been attributable to organic expansion driven by the achievement of deeper penetration in the market for the Company’s products and services but inflation and devaluation of the Jamaican dollar versus the United States currency would also play roles. Improved profit and cash flow generated in the last two years helped to fund increased inventory making more choices available to customers and that is reflected in a noticeable pick-up in sales. The Company has expanded its product offerings, adding to the list of brands it distributes and venturing into manufacturing its own brands of furniture – Image and Torch.
Gross profit as a percentage of sales was a strong 48 percent in 2016, coming from 43 percent in 2015 and 44.55 percent in 2014. Lower cost of sales led to an improved gross profit position of $339 million in 2016, which 26.09 percent increase over that earned in 2015 and 10 percent more in 2015 over 2014.
As at the 31 March 2017, SOS reported first quarter revenues of $220 million, 20.7 percent more than the $182 million reported in the corresponding period for 2016. Cost of sales as a proportion of revenue remained in line with the FY 2016 representing 50.66 percent of total revenue; this percentage was however slightly higher than the 48.75 percent for all of 2016. The company reported pretax profits of $30 million compared to $29.5 million in Q1 2016. A number of factors impacted the 2016 results that resulted in higher profits than would normally be the case as such the 2017 profit are better than the figures suggest. In effect the 2016 first quarter could be around $20 million from normal ongoing operation.
Gross profit for the three month period ended 31 March 2017 was $108.64 million or 16.2 percent more than the $93 million reported in 2016. SOS also reported an increase in administrative costs of 21 percent to $53 million and selling expenses climbed 37.5 percent to $18 million.
Total assets were valued at J$498 million at the March this year comprising current assets of $243 million. Inventories stood at $117 million, receivables $93 million and cash of J$12 million. Total liabilities amounted to J$231 million, with trade and other payables of J$78 million. Shareholders equity stood at $270 million or $1.35 per share.
The company will benefit greatly from listing and sales to climb above recent levels form the increased exposure that will be gained from listing on an ongoing basis as well as the increased working capital that will provide additional choices for customers and help fuel increased sales. IC Insider.com accords the stock BUY RATED with the price to rise sharply after the stock list.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results, Initial Public Offers Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,