The junior market closed trading sharply down on Wednesday with the market index falling 56.88 points, to close at 2,133.57. A 90 cents falls in the price of the Caribbean Producers inflicted much damage to the market index which fell by 2.6 percent, Lasco Distributors also chipped in with a 40 cents fall. Both stocks were the subject of new information that is negative for their stock prices.
A total of 11 active securities with only 777,300 shares valued at $4,030,252, changing hands. At the close, 4 stocks advanced and 5 declined
At the end of trading 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the end of trading, AMG Packaging fell 71 cents in trading 5,854 shares at $12.41, CAC 2000 lost 6 cents with 22,385 shares changing hands, to end at $6.56, Caribbean Cream traded 5,260 shares and gained 5 cents to end at $5.10. Investors continued to react negatively to the release by Caribbean Producers on Monday, about a write down of inventory and other charges, by marking the stock down again by 90 cents, in trading 264,600 shares to close at $3. At the close the only meaningful bid visible is at $1.50 to buy 999,000 units, offers include 30,000 at $3.80 and at $4 a total of 135,000 units. Consolidated Bakeries gained 15 cents in trading 2,800 shares to close at $2.15, the stock was offered at $2.10 at the close. 
C2W Music traded 5,589 shares to end at 28 cents, Honey Bun rose 1 cent to close at $5.51, with 21,460 units changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance traded 5,000 shares and fell 5 cents to close at $3.25. Lasco Distributors dropped 40 cents while trading 342,459 units to end at $7, as investors responded negatively to news that Pfizer is countering Lasco’s huge claim of more than US$300 million, with their estimate of less than US$1 million. Pfizer had previously challenged Lasco over their right to sell tablets for hypertension and lost, resulting in the need to quantify damages by the courts. Lasco Financial ended with 64,000 shares changing hands at $3.42, after gaining 22 cents and Lasco Manufacturing closed at $5 with 37,893 shares trading.
LascoD & Carib Producers hit juniors – Wednesday
Portland JSX list gains $1.51
The Jamaica Stock Exchange suffered another morning of slippage on Wednesday. The latest IPO, Portland JSX was listed at the start of the session after a successful public offering that saw the offer being oversubscribed. The stock opened with a bid to buy 30,000 shares at $12, compared to the IPO price of $11 and later traded 666 units up to $12.51.
Caribbean Producers continues to see investors react negatively to news from the company of write down of inventories and restructuring cost, that will hit profits for the company’s fourth quarter, by cutting the price from the $3.90 it fell to on Tuesday, down to $3. Elsewhere Scotia Group traded 107,887 units at $30.51, AMG Packaging fell from $13.10 to $12.41 with 5,854 shares trading while Carib Cement crashed to $22.28 from $25 with 6,750 shares.
The session had low volumes trading overall, after 75 minutes of the market’s opening, resulting in 18 securities changing hands and accounting for a volume of 309,785 shares as 6 stocks gained and 6 declined. The average number of shares traded amounts to 17,210 units, compared to an average of 24,178 units on Tuesday.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 607.16 points to 177,956.81, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index fell 542.91 points to 160,166.80, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index declined by 657.15 to close at 170,886.98 points andthe junior market index slipped 14.97 points to 2,175.48.
More 1834 Investments delays
Having not published the December 2015 quarterly report as required by the Jamaica Stock Exchange rules, 1834 Investments (formerly The Gleaner Company Limited) who previously advised of a delay in reporting the March 2016 before the end of June, now promises the release of the audited accounts of the company by July 31, 2016.
The companies release comes against the background of an IC Insider report on the further delay in a posting on Tuesday.
According to the release which was issued and posted July 5, 2016 at 3:57 pm, the company stated, “as previously advised, the restructuring activities of the company during 2015, coupled with the change in financial year-end, and close of the merger transaction with Radio Jamaica Limited in March 2016, have necessitated an extensive revision to how the company’s accounts are compiled, reviewed and presented in order to distinguish between the continuing operations of 1834 and the discontinued media operations.”
“1834 Board is aware that shareholders are anxious to see the company’s financial results; however, 1834 is taking time to ensure the total accuracy of the accounts.1834 also advises that the audit review exercise is substantially complete and every effort is being made to finalize the accounts for release in advance of July 31, 2016.”
Radio Jamaica last week also indicated that their 12 months results are further delayed resulting from the merger.
Whether, the companies make the revised deadlines, the Jamaica Stock Exchange is not looking pretty in the messy situation of the failure for the Gleaner to release the 2015 numbers. The question now to be asked, should these companies shares still be trading with an unclear financial picture, occasioned by the long delays and the uncertainty resulting therefrom.
Juniors hit by 6 losers – Tuesday
The junior market closed trading on Tuesday with the market index falling 16.25 points, to close at 2,190.45. A total of 13 active securities with only 450,190 shares valued at $1,993,763, changing hands. At the close, 4 stocks advanced and 6 declined.
At the end of trading 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the end of trading, CAC 2000 gained 1 cent with 1,500 shares changing hands, to end at $6.56, Investors reacted negatively to the release by the Caribbean Producers on Monday, about a write down of inventory and other charges, by marking the stock down by 78 cents, in trading 100,545 shares to close at $3.90.At the close there were bids to buy 2,000 units at $3.85 and 50,000 units at $3.50 then 200,000 units at $3, offers are 98,000 at $4.68 and $4.69 with 50,000 units at $4.75. Dolphin Cove traded 6,282 shares to end with a rise of 35 cents at $12, General Accident Insurance closed at $2.05 with 46,820 units trading, Honey Bun fell 10 cents to close at $5.50, with 76,633 units changing hands, 
Iron Rock Insurance traded 9,000 shares and fell 5 cents to close at $3.30. Jamaican Teas traded 1,800 shares to close at $3.80, Jetcon Corporation lost 35 cents in trading 54,044 units to close at $2.60, Lasco Distributors rose 2 cents while trading 23,496 units to end at $7.40, Lasco Financial ended with 10,098 shares changing hands at $3.20. Lasco Manufacturing fell 1 cent and closed at $5 with 119,342 shares trading, Medical Disposables gained 5 cents in trading 530 shares to close at $3.45 and tTech declined by 10 cents in trading 100 units to close at $4.40.
TTSE record modest trading – Tuesday
Trading on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market ended on Tuesday with all three indices rising but with modest volumes as only 8 securities traded. Trading accounted for only 28,986 shares valued at just $494,935 changing hands. The market closed with 2 stocks rising, 2 declining and 4 remaining unchanged.one stock traded at a 52 weeks’ high and one at a low.
The Composite Index gained 0.17 points or to close at 1,139.72, the All T&T Index climbed by 0.03 points to close at 1,794.23 and the Cross Listed Index advanced 0.05 points to 64.59 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Clico Investment Fund gained 2 cents in trading 5,914 units at $22.72 and Firstcaribbean International Bank gained 1 cents to close at $7.01 with 10,000 shares changing hands.
Losses| Massy Holdings lost 1 cent to close at $55.24 with 400 shares changing hands and Republic Financial Holdings ended with 100 shares to close at $107.16 with a loss of 1 cent to a 52 weeks’ low.
Firm Trades| First Citizens traded 1,649 shares, to close at $34.51, National Enterprises traded 3,613 shares at $10.75, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 100 shares changing hands, to end at $7.25 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed with 7,210 shares changing hands at $22.36.
14 up 13 down on JSE – Tuesday
Trading on the Jamaica stock market on Tuesday remains modest, with just 2,299,731 units valued at $26,990,419 in all market segments changing hands. The junior market accounted for 626,581 shares valued at $2,868,043 of all trades. All market indices lost ground as stocks declining were almost equal to the ones rising.
A total of 39 securities traded 3 more than on Monday, with the prices of 14 stocks rising, 13 declining, including 3 stocks rising and 8 declining from the junior market. The market is in a consolidating mode with the indices rising and falling from day to day, with no new information to cause a break out.
The JSE Market Index dropped 400.51 points to end at 160,709.71.The all Jamaica Composite Index declined 447.93 points to close at 178,563.97 and the JSE combined index fell 538.83 points, to end at 171,544.13.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 9 with lower offers. At the end of market activities, Cable & Wireless lost 10 cents trading 202,701 shares to close at $1.10, Caribbean Cement gained $1 to close at $25 but with just 290 shares trading, Carreras traded a mere 650 shares but gained 60 cents to $65.40, Ciboney traded 35,000 shares at 21 cents, 1834 Investments traded 31,000 shares to close at $1. Grace Kennedy gained 50 cents and closed at $120.50 with 7,280 units changing hands, Jamaica Broilers ended with 92,592 units changing hands and gained 20 cents to close at $15 as the company released audited accounts showing earnings per share of $1.44, up from 86 cents as the Jamaican operations saw a surge in segment profits of nearly $1 billion. Jamaica Producers traded 6,950 units after rising 90 cents to end at $49, Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 28,804 shares but fell $1.10 to close at $24, Kingston Wharves traded 2,907 units and gained 45 cents to close at $15.01, Margaritaville Turks traded 164,600 shares at 20.5 US cents up from 19 US cents on Monday. Mayberry Investments closed with 15,000 shares changing hands at $3.56, for a gain of 1 cent, National Commercial Bank ended with just 2,936 units changing hands with a rise of 10 cents to $42. 
Pan Jamaican Investment Trust rose 47 cents in trading 7,185 shares to close at $25.48, Radio Jamaica fell 20 cents to close with 38,074 shares changing hands at $1.45, Sagicor Group ended with 212,900 shares changing hands at $23.05, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 903,896 shares but lost 3 cents to close at $10.12. Scotia Group fell $1 with 2,792 shares trading to close at $31, Scotia Investments ended with 49,334 shares trading to close at $26, Seprod held firm at $16.60 while trading 5,000 units. Proven Investments traded 17,950 units to close at 16 US cents, down from 16.99 US cents and JMMB Group 7.25% preference share traded 15,000 units to close with a fall of 30 cents at $2.15.
FX authorized dealers stock dips to US$25M
The foreign exchange market closed on Tuesday with dealers selling the equivalent of US$7.6 million more than the amount they bought in all currencies, cutting the surplus purchased in the last seven days to just under US$25 million, with the amount bought by dealers bringing US$41,291,337 while they sold US$48,935,256, compared to US$34,816,027 purchased and US$27,530,551 sold on Monday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$37,461,931 compared to US$32,597,751 on Monday as the buying rate for the US dollar rose 30 cents to $125.70. A total of US$46,552,628 was sold versus US$26,126,325 on Monday with the selling rate rising by 7 cents to end at $126.35. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose by $1.27 to end at $95.34 with dealers buying C$1,643,548 and selling C$1,255,725, at an average rate that dropped $2.19 to $96.95. The average rate for buying the British Pound climbed $1.02 to $163.17 for the purchase of £1,663,078, while £676,667 was sold, with the rate dropped $2.54 to $166.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, rose 7 cents to close at J$140.65 from Monday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$137.57, for a fall of 51 cents from Monday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$423,920 being bought, while US$530,120 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday include, a sharp fall of $6.46 in the highest buying rate of the US dollar to close at $126.70, a surge of $10.95 in the lowest buying rate to $102.95 and a big jump of $28.50 in the lowest selling rate to end at $121.50. There was a decline of $3.68 in the highest buying rate of the Canadian Dollar to $97.30. The lowest buying rate for the British Pound fell $1.49 to $132.80, the highest selling rate jumped $5.26 to close at $180 while the lowest selling rate gained $7.50 to end at $156..
Authorized dealers stock pile US$32M
Trading levels fell below a normal Monday with a subdued amount of inflows and outflows coming off heavy inflows on Friday. In the process the Jamaica dollar remained stable against the United States dollar but slipped versus the Pound and Canadian, with trading leading to a 6th straight day of more buying of foreign currency by dealers than selling.
The foreign exchange market closed with dealers buying the equivalent of US$7 million more than the amount sold in all currencies, bringing the surplus purchased in the last six days to just under US$32 million, with the amount bought by dealers bringing US$$34,816,027 while they sold US$27,530,551, compared to US$63,555,858 purchased and US$42,928,790 sold on Friday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$32,597,751 compared to US$61,641,959 on Friday as the buying rate for the US dollar fell 53 cents to $125.40. A total of US$26,126,325 was sold versus US$41,808,480 on Friday with the selling rate remaining unchanged at $126.28. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose by 19 cents to end at $94.07 with dealers buying C$1,008,510 and selling C$971,896, at an average rate that climbed $2.80 to $99.14. The average rate for buying the British Pound dipped $1.67 to $162.15 for the purchase of £1,031,175, while £447,195 was sold, with the rate jumping $1.16 to $168.54.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, rose 17 cents to close at J$140.57 from Friday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$138.08, for a rise of 45 cents from Friday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$128,393 being bought, while US$44,402 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Monday include, a sharp rise of $6.56 in the highest buying rate of the US dollar to close at $133.16, a drop of $10.96 in the lowest buying rate to $92 and a fall $9.91 in the lowest selling rate to end at $93. There was a rise of $3.18 in the highest buying rate of the Canadian Dollar to $100.98, a rise of 90 cents in the lowest selling rate to close at $91.60. The British Pound suffered losses, with the highest buying rate dropping $2.42 to $167.58, the lowest buying rate dropped $1.42 at $134.29 and the highest selling rate dived $6.26 to close at $174.74.
Where are the 1834 Investments results?
Gleaner & RJR execs signing merger agreement earlier in 2015
1834 Investments Limited (formerly The Gleaner Company Limited) did not release the usual December quarter report as such investors have been deprived of important information on the company. The stock exchange has fallen down badly on this one in not requesting it. No good reason has been given why it was not released.
Apparently the exchange regulatory arm expected that the 15 months report to March this would have been released to let the matter go away but it has not. First out of the block towards the end of May, 1834 Investments advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange that the Audited Annual Financial Accounts for March, 2016 will be late and unavailable for publication by May 30, 2016. 1834 anticipates that it should be available for publication on or before June 30, 2016. Bad news for investors and bad news for the capital market. The matter gets worse, the end of June has now gone and with July well advanced but there are no results released and no advisory on the JSE website or in the newspapers as to the new deadline. Nearly seven months have elapsed since the last report was released.
In the past several companies have changed their year end, as recently as late last year Desnoes & Geddes and Access changed their but provided investor with results for all relevant quarters, but the Gleaner Company who changed theirs to March from December did not do so.
It is well past the time for the Jamaica Stock Exchange act to protect the investing public.