NCB is back IC Top 10

NCB Financial Group is back IC Insider.com Main Market TOP 10 stocks as the price slipped slightly by the end of the week to $135.90. There were no changes to the Junior Market TOP 10 lists.
This week’s focus:  NCB shares have been under selling pressure, with the group reporting lower second-quarter profit than the prior year and concerns about losses that can occur from their loan portfolio. They announced measures to continue their focus on cost-cutting, with a proposed restructuring of the insurance arms that will lead to lower costs. In addition, they announced the cutting of 121 staff members that will lower operating costs, going forward. Investors can expect more adjustments in the group that will flow from the acquisition of the majority shareholding of the Guardian group.
The top three Junior Market stocks this week, with the potential to gain between 260 to 695 percent by March 2021, are Caribbean Producers, followed by Lasco Financial, while Caribbean Cream and Lumber Depot share the third position. In the Main Market, the top three stocks continue to be Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with expected gains of 186 to 208 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020, up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 15.2 and the Junior Market at just 10.7, based on IC Insider.com’s projected 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.7 at just 53 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.6 or 57 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 284 percent, for the Junior Market and 141 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is the potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2021. The expected gain for each stock is based on earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is done in order of likely increases. The highest-ranked stock is the most attractive. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

Steady going for IC Top 10 stocks

The Main Market put in a positive performance this past week, with the market index rising over 5,000 points, at the same time, the Junior Market bob and weaved its way to a minor loss for the week, resulting in changes to the TOP 10 lists.
The market move resulted in just two changes to the IC Insider.com TOP 10 weekly lists as the Main Market recovered almost all of the losses in the previous two weeks of 3,784 points a week ago and just under 2,000 points in the week before.
For the Junior Market TOP 10, Medical Disposables returns to the ten, after just a week’s absence, replacing General Accident that rose in the week.
This week’s focus:  General Accident enjoyed increased buying interest this past week, following the announcement from the company that they acquired an additional ten percent of the issued shares of MotorOne insurance company in Trinidad, taking their holdings to 65 percent. Also, the brokerage house, Mayberry Investments, upgraded the company’s earnings to 70 cents per share for this year, from 60 cents, previously and have a buy recommendation on the stock. IC Insider.com’s forecast is 85 cents per share for the current year. The stock closed on Friday at $6, up from $5.51 last week and traded over $8, last year, October. It now sits just below the Top 10 stocks, with the potential to reach $15 within the next nine months.
The top three Junior Market stocks, this week, with the potential to gain between 305 to 712 percent by March 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by Lasco Financial and Caribbean Cream, with the price dropping from $2.85 to $2.47. In the Main Market, the top three stocks continue to be Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with expected gains of 173 to 205 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020, up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 15.2 and the Junior Market at just 10.6, based on 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.6 at 53 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.8 or 58 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 291 percent, for the Junior Market and 136 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is the potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Gains for each company are based on the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year.
The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. The classification of the securities is in order of likely increases, with the most attractive highest ranked first. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

Junior & Main Market performance gap grows

IC Insider.com TOP 10 weekly reports indicated for some time that the best buys for Jamaican stocks are in the Junior Market. Since the drop in March, the Junior Market is recovering at a faster pace than the Main Market and the trend continues.
Following on from last week when the Junior Main Market rose four out of five trading days, the market rose three days this past week with Thursdays decline being a mere seven points and the market rising 12 points for the week.
The Main Market lost just under 2,000 points last week and lost 3,784 points this week, thus widening the performance gap between this market and the Junior Market, for the year to date.
For the Junior Market TOP 10, Elite Diagnostic price dropped from $4.17 last week to $3.81 and moved back into TOP 10, replacing Medical Disposables that inched up to $6.95 from $6.69 last week. There was no change to the TOP 10 Main Market, this past week.
The past week closed with the three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 254 to 698 percent by March 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by Lasco Financial and Caribbean Cream that took over from Lumber Depot that was number three last week. In the Main Market, the top three continues to be Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with expected gains of 170 to 230 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020 up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14.3 and the Junior Market at just 9.6, based on 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.7 at just 59 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.6 or 60 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 283 percent, for the Junior Market and 140 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is the potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. The expected gain for each stock is based on earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

3 changes to BUY RATED Top 10

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The Junior Main Market rose four out of five trading days this past week, with the market gaining 2.5 percent while the Main Market lost just under 2,000 points for a loss of half of one percent.

Scotia Group this week’s featured stock

In the last week of May, the Junior Market index gained 3 percent in continuation of a 4 percent rise in the prior week while the Main Market rose 2 percent, with less than a percentage point rise for the previous week.
IC Insider.com TOP 10 weekly reports indicated for some time that the best buys in the Jamaican markets are in the Junior Market, investors by their actions since the market dived in March are confirming this by pushing the Junior Market at a faster pace than the Main Market.
For the Junior Market TOP 10, CAC 2000 and KLE Group dropped out, with full-year earnings, downgraded, with the loss incurred for the six months for CAC and KLE struggling from lack of business due to coronavirus, with little possibility of either of them making up grounds to put them back in TOP 10 contention, for 2020. Elite Diagnostic price climbed from $3.74 to $4.17 and moved out of the group. Replacing the stocks dropping out of the TOP 10 are Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Jamaican Teas and Medical Disposables. There was no change to the TOP 10 Main Market this past week.
This week’s focus: Scotia Group released half-year results to April this past week, but investors are concerned about the impact of bad loans on the profits of banks and they may be overreacting to it. Scotia Group reported a net income of $4.02 billion for the six months to April compared to $5.62 billion for the corresponding period last year. Excluding additional loan provisions of $1.11 billion due to the revision of expected credit losses, net income would be down $488 million or 8.7 percent. When the added loan provision and reduced fee income are taken into consideration, the second quarter, the results would have beaten the pretax profit in 2019, by a small margin.
The group loan portfolio increased $34 billion or 18 percent year over year, primarily due to 28 percent growth in commercial loans, with delinquency of only 0.8 percent. The retail loan portfolio increased 11 percent over the prior year and included a 14 percent increase in mortgages. The growth in loans is the most critical factor in determining likely gains in profit going forward.
The past week closed with the three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 260 to 692 percent by March 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by Lasco Financial and Lumber Depot. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group, with expected gains of 165 to 233 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020 up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14 and the Junior Market at just 9.3, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.7 at just 61 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.6 or 62 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 283 percent, for the Junior Market and 140 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is the potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Expected gains are computed based on earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

New changes to BUY RATED stocks

Junior Main Market stocks pulled back this week, resulting in few changes to the IC Insider.com TOP 10 lists as the market may be caught in the usual early summer of consolidation ahead of the release of second-quarter results.
For Junior Market TOP 10, General Accident pulled back to an attractive level of $5.32 and re-entered the TOP 10 at the expenses of Jamaican Teas. Sagicor Group moved back into the TOP 10 Main Market with Victoria Mutual Investments dropping out.
The week closed with the three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 356 to 692 percent by March 2021 as Caribbean Producers, followed by KLE Group and Lasco Financial. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 165 to 210 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020 up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14.2 and the Junior Market at just 9.5, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.1 at 53 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.6 or 60 percent of the PE of the market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 327 percent, for the Junior Market and 139 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is greater potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Expected gains are based on projected earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

 

Some BUY RATED stocks move higher

Junior Market stocks gained 3 percent in the shortened trading week. In comparison, the Main Market rose 2 percent, a continuation of a 4 percent rise in the Junior Market index in the prior week and the Main Market rising, with less than a percentage point rise.
This week’s focus: Caribbean Cream reported full-year profit to February, with profit falling 38.5 percent to $55 million, from $89 million reported in the prior year, with revenues rising 10 percent and 16.2 percent in the fourth quarter. Depreciation charge almost doubled from $63 million to $115 million was the main reason for the fall in profit. IC Insider.com spoke with Christopher Clarke, Managing director of the company.

The price for skim milk powder fell sharply in March.

Clarke stated that the jump in Q4 revenues is due primarily to new products introduced in April last year and increased sales arising from the opening of the May Pen depot that resulted in lower selling price to the public.
Kremi, as the company is also known, seems set enjoy reduced cost in May and August quarters as the price of a critical raw material, milk solids, used in the production of ice cream. The price was $2,924 per ton at the start of November last year and moved to just over $3,000 in January and declined to US$2,747 at the beginning of March, US$2,527 at the end of March and US$2,380 in April and remained there until May 20 before pulling up to $2,549 towards the end of May.
The rise in the market during the past week did little for IC TOP 10 stocks, resulting in no movement in or out of the TOP 10.
The week closed with the three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 387 to 705 percent by 2021 as Caribbean Producers, followed by KLE Group and Elite Diagnostic. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 165 to 212 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020 up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14 and the Junior Market at just 9.6, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.1 at just 53 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.7 or 62 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 330 percent, for the Junior Market and 138 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is greater potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Projected gains are based on earnings and PE ratios, projected for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

BUY RATED General Accident jumps 28%

The big news for the past week was a 28 percent jump in the price of General Accident shares, following the release of the first-quarter results. The stock last traded at $6.01 after rising to a high of $6.63 on Friday and dropped out of the Junior Market TOP 10.

General Accident is now out of IC TOP 10 with Q1 profit more than doubling.

During the week, investors pushed the Junior Market up 4 percent but barely moved the Main Market higher, with less than a percentage point rise. This trend is worth watching as bullish indicators point to more gains for Junior Market stocks going forward, with the latter being highly undervalued compared to the Main Market.
Medical Disposables rose from $6.20 at the start of the week to close at $7 and was the other stock to fall out of Junior Market, IC TOP 10. Coming into the TOP 10 are CAC2000 and Elite Diagnostic. The latter faced challenges in critical machine operation, resulting in lost income. Management stated that they “continue to have challenges getting the CT and MRI machines” at the St Ann branch operational. The company will hopefully resolve the problems soon so that the 2021 fiscal year can deliver optimally. Revenue for the 3rd quarter rose to $111.4 million, from $107 million the previous year and resulted in a loss of $2 million compared to a profit of $16 million the past year. In the Main Market, Proven Investments dropped out of the TOP 10 and replaced by Victoria Mutual Investments.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 344 to 634 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by KLE Group and Lasco Financial. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 165 to 190 percent.
This week’s focus: General Accident reported profit rising 146 percent to $76 million, with investment and other income moving from just $7 million to $74 million. The report showed no cost-benefit from savings that could result from lower motor vehicle accident claims, from sharply reduced motor vehicle usage, since March. Gross Premiums written declined to $2.54 billion from $2.69 billion, but Net Premiums written increased to $689 million from $543 million. Claims rose to $448 million from $294 million in 2019. The December quarter usually generates the highest profit, with claims accounted for conservatively in the earlier quarters adjusted to reflect expected amounts. The new subsidiary, Trinidad based MotorOne Insurance made a small loss of $2 million in the quarter, an indication that not much contribution to profit is expected from it for the current year, it could add to 2021 profit for the group. Total assets of the company grew substantially since March last year from $7.5 billion to $12 billion in the current year, with liabilities rising by $3.5 billion.
Over at Jamaican Teas a report in the newspaper stated, “President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, JMEA, Richard Pandohie, says the coronavirus has opened trade doors that the sector had been knocking on for a long time.”
“On one level there have been great ­stories where those businesses have exploded in terms of exports. A lot of small manufacturers who are into natural juices, and natural products from cassava and natural spices have gone into markets that they have trying to do for years,” Pandohie told the Financial Gleaner.
One company that has seen an uptick in business, Jamaican Teas, had to lay on new work shifts and extra production days to keep up with export demand.
“Because of our product base, there’s been strong demand overseas to the extent that we’re doing over time, even on Saturdays, keeping up with the extra demand, said JamTeas CEO John Mahfood.
Although General Accident stock is now out of the Junior market IC TOP 10 listing, it boasts a PE ratio of just 7 versus the market average of 9.4 times this years’ earnings, an indication of potentially more upside for it.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after 2020 second quarter up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14 and the Junior Market at just 9.4, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.2 with or 55 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.7 or 62 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 319 percent, for the Junior Market and 136 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

SOS & Proven back in IC TOP 10

The Junior and Main Market, IC Insider.com TOP 10 closed the week with Medical Disposables and Stationery and Office Supplies returning the TOP 10, after a week’s absence as they replaced CAC2000 and Elite Diagnostic.
In the Main Market, Seprod rose to $49.99 from $44.10 on limited volume, following robust first-quarter results, to be replaced by Proven Investments.
During the past week, investors pushed the Main and Junior Markets slightly higher than at the close of the previous week, but the message from the markets is that they are both in a consolidation mode as investors absorb results released during the past week.
If history is anything to go by, the market could remain in a period of consolidated until early July when it usually starts a slow recovery.
The past week saw the release of quarterly results with positive gains, the companies reporting sharp increases include Grace Kennedy, tTech, Caribbean Flavours, 138 Student Living, Eppley, Kingston Wharves and Sterling Investments.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 355 to 663 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by KLE Group and Caribbean Cream. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 165 to 213 percent.
This week’s focus: Caribbean Cream released full-year results, after trading closed on Friday, with profits falling 38 percent, from $89 million to $55 million, from a 10 percent rise in revenues to $1.7 billion. Depreciation more than doubled in the year, with an increase of $63 million, to end at $115 million, negatively affecting the results for the year to February. In the final quarter, sales grew 16 percent over the similar period in 2019 and might be indicating that revenues are poised to rise above recent growth levels. If this is, in fact, the case then the company is poised for strong growth in profits going forward.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after this year’s second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 13.6 and the Junior Market a mere 8.9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.4.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 44 percent of the average for Junior Market and Main Market stocks trade at a discount of 38 percent to the overall market. The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 332 percent, for the Junior Market and 144 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

Just three IC TOP 10 changes

Investors seem to be shrugging off some of the recent negative developments in the Jamaica stock market, with their activity moving the Main Market higher by the close of the week and the Junior Market just a few points lower.
The market is moving into a period where prices tend to move slightly downward until early July when it usually, starts a slow recovery, in this regard, first quarter results are going to be important for the market’s direction for a few weeks. Information management presents current and future business developments that will be critical in informing investors.
Developments of note this past week are the reporting of new results, with Barita Investments reporting profit of $1 billion for earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24 for the half year to March, versus 68 cents in 2019. Jamaican Teas with negative EPS of 3 cents after gross profit climbed 33 percent over 2019 out turn. Pulse Investments EPS ended at 12 cents versus 5 cents in 2019 for the nine months to March and Wisynco Group generated EPS of 78 cents vs 61 cents for the nine months to March. General Accident released 2019 audited accounts that showed for the first time the impact of the acquisition of their 55 percent interest in the Trinidad based Motor One insurance company at $238 million.
The Junior and Main Market, IC Insider.com TOP 10 closed the week with Medical Disposables and Stationery and Office Supplies exiting the TOP 10, to be replaced by Access Financial Services and Caribbean Cream, after the latter fell to $2. Seprod replaced Victoria Mutual Investments in the Main Market listing.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 362 to 726 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers leading, followed by KLE Group and Lasco Financial. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 173 to 213 percent.
This week’s focus: Seprod released first quarter results after trading closed on Friday, with ongoing operating profits more than doubling from $312 million to $632 million for the 2020 first quarter, with EPS of 86 cents. Revenues climbed 6 percent from continuing operations to $9.14 billion, an increase of $544 million. The big improvement arose from the closure of the sugar manufacturing operations and improvement in profit margin. The Sugar operations generated a loss of nearly $140 million in 2019 and just $15 million in the latest quarter while gross profit margin jumped to 30 percent from 26.6 percent in 2019.  The first quarter results are in line with ICInsider.com’s forecast of $4 per share earnings for this year and put the PE at just 11 times current year’s earnings.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after this year’s second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 13.3 and the Junior Market a mere 8.9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.5.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 44 percent of the average for Junior Market and Main Market stocks trade at a discount of 36 percent to the overall market. The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 338 percent, for the Junior Market and 139 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

Just two IC TOP 10 changes

The week just ended saw investors knocking bank stocks down following the surprise announcement by Bank of Jamaica to get banks to suspend the payment of dividends for the remainder of 2020 and that helped to push the market index sharply lower with some recovery on the last three days of the week.
Caribbean Cement and NCB Financial released first-quarter results in the past week with lower profit than the previous year’s March quarter. As if investors expected the outturn, the stock prices did not seem to react to them.
The Junior Market, after attempting to close higher for the past six days finally did so on Friday a sign that it could be heading higher in the days ahead as it traded as high as 2,478 points on Friday just below the close on April 16.
 The Junior and Main Market, IC Insider.com TOP 10 closed the week with one change each. Dropping from the list are Access Financial Services for the Junior Market and replaced by Stationery and Office Supplies, while Stanley Motta dropped from the Main Market listing and replaced by Victoria Mutual Investments.
The three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 344 to 660 percent by 2021 are Caribbean Producers leading, followed by Lasco Financial and KLE Group. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group, with projected gains of 173 to 213 percent.
This week’s focus: Stationery and Office Supplies fell from a high of $16.35 last august is now trading at a discount of 61.5 percent to that price. The stock had moved from $6.85 in May last year to the high after revenues climbed by 23 percent for the half-year to $639 million to $519 million and profits rose 63 percent from $56 million to $92 million. The half years revenues compare favourably with the $702 million generated in the twelve months in 2016, the year before listing in 2017. Revenues grew around 12 percent from 2013 to 2016, then increased to 17.4 percent for 2018 and 14.5 percent for 2019. The company has an excellent management team that is growth-oriented as such investors can look forward to revenues growing in the 15-20 percent range going forward. In pursuit of this objective, the company is putting in place additional storage facilities to accommodate a robust expansion of sales. Investors should not rule out the possibility that they could expand from acquisitions as well as was the case with the addition of the business making the SEEK brand. While the disruption caused by the Coronavirus could derail the medium-term growth, it will only be a matter of time for management to pick up and return to the pre virus growth levels.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after this year’s second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 12.5 and the Junior Market a mere 9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.3 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.3.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 43 percent of the average for Junior Market and Main Market stocks trade at a discount of 34 percent to the overall market. The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 319 percent, for the Junior Market and 148 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis when new information is received that can affect earnings significantly.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.