Heineken N.V. (“HEINEKEN”) is to make an offer to acquire all of the minority shareholders shares in Desnoes & Geddes at US$0.259 per shares or the equivalent of J$31, the company stated in a release today. Udiam shall offer US$ 0.259 (the “Offer Price”) for each D&G Share. The Offer Price is the same price per D&G Share as Heineken International paid to Diageo in respect to the Acquisition.the offer represents a huge premium on the last traded price of the stock of $8 in trading today. The bid on the stock is now at $10.50.
Heineken N.V. (“HEINEKEN”) today has announced that Heineken International B.V. (“Heineken International”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HEINEKEN, has acquired the entire issued share capital of Udiam Holdings AB (“Udiam”) from a subsidiary of Diageo plc (Diageo plc and its subsidiaries being “Diageo”) for the sum of US$420,992,826 (the “Acquisition”). Udiam owns 1,625,549,827 shares in D&G, which constitutes approximately 57.87% of the share capital of D&G. Heineken International has also acquired a small shareholding which Diageo 
held directly in D&G. The price paid by Heineken International to Diageo for Udiam, and the direct shareholding, equates to US$ 0.259 per D&G share. Prior to the Acquisition, another subsidiary of HEINEKEN already owned 434,033,141 D&G shares, which constitutes approximately 15.45% of the share capital of D&G. Following the Acquisition, HEINEKEN indirectly owns 2,059,610,670 shares, which constitutes approximately 73.32% of the share capital of D&G.
As a consequence of the Acquisition, and pursuant to Regulation 12(1) of the Jamaican Takeover Code, Udiam intends to make an offer (the “Offer”) to the shareholders of D&G for the acquisition of any and all of the shares which HEINEKEN does not, directly or indirectly, currently own (the “D&G Shares”). The Offer will be made through a formal tender offer pursuant to the Jamaican Takeover Code and applicable requirements.
Jamaica’s forex returns to normal on Tuesday
Jamaica’s forex market returned to normal on Tuesday, with volumes being low at this time of the year. Trading ended in the foreign exchange market with the equivalent of US$23,638,977 bought by dealers, compared with US$87,964,632 on Monday, while they sold the equivalent of US$26,888,583 versus US$82,948,742 previously.
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$21,150,981 compared to US$84,551,283 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar declined 51 cents to $118.42 and US$25,239,896 was sold versus US$81,821,341 on Monday, the selling rate was unchanged at $119.23. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 10 cents to end at $87.91, with dealers buying C$1,071,330 and selling C$926,454, at an average rate that rose 57 cents to $90.75. The rate for buying the British Pound climbed 93 cents to $178.05 for the purchase of £1,023,198, while £506,853 was sold, at an average rate that climbed $1.15 to $180.60. At the end of trading, it took J$133.68 to purchase the Euro, with a decline of 77 cents from Monday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$131.34, for a fall of 23 cents from Monday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$154,247 being bought, while US$175,823 was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar rose 35 cents on Tuesday to $119.80, the lowest buying rate put on 21 cents to end at $97.82, the highest selling rate gained 16 cents to end at $125.35 and lowest selling rate jumped $18.41 to $116.10. 
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar dropped 90 cents to $91.10, the lowest buying rate gained 58 cents to $72, the highest selling rate fell $1.04 to end at $93.16 and the lowest selling rate jumped $2.75 to $86.75. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose 65 cents to end at $181.20. The lowest buying rate leapt $4.42 to $145.62, the highest selling rate dived $2.20 to $185.10 and the lowest selling rate climbed $11.70 to close at $174.
Kremi’s big surge forward
Sharp reduction in cost of sales and a 7 percent increase in revenues that ended at $271 million swelled profit in the August quarter for Caribbean Cream by more than 4,000 percent to $45.5 million and for the six months by 375 percent to $84.7 million from an 11 percent increase in sales to $560 million.
Cost of sales dropped 18 percent from $195.4 million to $161 million for the August quarter due mainly to a fall in the price or raw material input and from $378 million incurred for the half year in 2014, cost dropped to $339.4 million, lifting gross profit by 88 percent for the quarter to $110 million and by 73 percent for the six months versus that of 2014, to $221 million.
Administrative expenses climbed 37.8 percent to $102 million due mainly to implementation of sanitation measures that had to be implemented while selling and distribution expenses grew from $23.5 million to $25 million for the six months period, compared to that of 2014 and for the quarter, administrative expenses climbed by a more sedate 13.6 percent to $46 million while selling and distribution expenses grew from $12 million to $14 million.
Earnings per share amounted to 22 cents for the half year and 12 cents for the quarter. IC Insider is now forecasting earnings of 65 cents per share for the full year ending February 2016, due to the lower increase in sales in the August quarter than the 15 percent increase in the first quarter. The stock ended at a record close of $2.55 on Tuesday and has gained 240 percent for the year to date. IC Insider expects it to make further gains, as it is priced well below other stocks on the junior market that are selling above 7.6 times this year’s earnings with an average of 8.4.
A lot of the gains in profit came from the decline in raw material input, helping to push gross profit margin from 27 percent to 43 percent. Going forward increased input cost can place pressure on margins unless investment measures plan by Caribbean Cream to lower cost and create a more efficient operation are able to improve revenues and cut cost to compensate for any potential raw material cost increase that may arise. Cost increase in the medium term seems unlikely with downward pressure on input cost, the company has cash that it could be used to build up inventory at low prices if they sense the potential for prices to rise and thus mitigate against sharp price increases for the rest of the fiscal year.
JSE down as 14 stocks rise 11 fall on Tuesday
The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, gave up about a third of the gains of Monday, when the main market indices surged sharply, with the all Jamaica composite rising over 2,000 points with the others just slightly below. At the close, there were 14 stocks rising, 11 declining with 26 securities totalling 2,430,349 units, valued at $25,713,681 changing hands, in all market segments. Three junior market stocks closed at new 52 weeks’ high.
The main market indices suffered declines with the JSE Market Index declining 613.31 points to 97,802.49, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 685.42 points to 108,256.07 and the JSE combined index dropped 399.42 to end at 101,664.00 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading of 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with offers that were lower.
In trading, Berger Paints ended with 27,354 shares trading 1 cent higher at $2.30, Cable and Wireless lost 3 cents with 15,118 shares changing hands to close at 50 cents, Carreras traded 188,871 shares to close 99 cents lower at $49. Desnoes & Geddes traded 80,135 shares to close at $7, after gaining 18 cents, Grace Kennedy traded only 1,000 shares at $64 but had no shares on offer, at the close, for the third day running. 
Jamaica Broilers closed at $6.09 with 46,300 shares changing ownership while gaining 29 cents. Mayberry Investments had 132,117 shares trading to close at $2.25 for a loss of 10 cents. National Commercial Bank had 41,975 units trading at the close at $29.01 for a $1.49 cents fall, Pan Jamaican traded 30,050 shares to close with a fall of 50 cents to $61. Radio Jamaica traded 68,016 shares with a 50 cents rise to end at $4, Sagicor Group with 272,875 shares trading, closed at $13, Scotia Group added 15 cents in ending at $23.90 while 265,275 shares traded and Scotia Investments gained $2.45 with 5,000 units changing hands to close at $27.45.
Record close for juniors on Tuesday
Lasco Manufacturing New factory. The company’s stock closed at a new all-time high of $2.50 on Tuesday
At the close 4 securities ended with no bids to buy, while 8 had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and none closed with a lower offer.
In trading, Access Financial lost 50 cents and closed at $12.50, with 1,000 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream traded to close at a new all-time high of $2.55 with 50,329 shares changing hands, after gaining 50 cents. Consolidated Bakeries rose 2 cents in trading >962,162 shares at $1.10, after adding 8 cents,
General Accident Insurance ended with 1,000 units changing hands at $1.55, in the process the stock gained 5 cents. Honey Bun closed at a new high of $5 for a gain of 72 cents with 7,600 shares trading, Jamaican Teas traded 46,043 shares to end with a loss of 2 cents at $3.20, Lasco Distributors with 80,390 units trading, ended 1 cent down to $1.96. Lasco Financial had only 500 shares changing hands to end at $1.80 and added 5 cents and Lasco Manufacturing traded 91,609 shares to end at a new high of $2.50 after gaining 29 cents.
Moderate fall for TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday ended with 15 securities trading, none closed trading higher, 2 declined and 13 remained unchanged as a total of 110,711 units traded, valued at $1,069,356.
At the close the Composite Index ending with a modest loss of 0.6 at 1,146.26, the All T&T Index lost 0.12 to 1,948.30 and the Cross Listed Index was unchanged at 45.16.
Losses| ANSA McAL contributed 7,002 shares in trading, to close at $67.03 after losing 2 cents and Guardian Holdings with 500 shares changing hands closed 1 cents lower at $13.11.
Firm Trades|, Angostura Holdings with 9,925 shares changing hands, closed at $14, Clico Investment Fund with 4,000 shares changing hands to closed at $22.50, First Citizens Bank traded 2,500 shares to close at $35, FirstCaribbean International Bank traded 20 shares and closed at $5. Grace Kennedy had 26,983 units changing hands at $3.60, Guardian Media traded 375 shares with the price ending at $19.77, 
National Flour ended trading with 8,000 shares changing hands and closed at $1.90, Praetorian Property Mutual Fund contributed 4,000 shares at $3.06. Sagicor Financial contributed 1,500 shares to end at $5.99, Republic Bank with 400 shares changing hands, closed at $112, Scotia Investments traded 35,100 shares and ended at $1.60, Trinidad Cement closed with 10,366 shares changing hands at $3.15 and Unilever Caribbean ended with 30 shares trading at $67.26.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
JSE down in early Tuesday trading
Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning resulted in 17 securities trading changing hands at 11:15 am with a volume of 1,141,572 units, with 7 stocks declining and 10 rising.
Trading activity resulted in the JSE Market Index dropping 763.94 points to 97,651.86. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 853.75 points to 108,087.74, the JSE combined index declined 709.64 points to be at 101,353.78 and the junior market is up 1.31 points to 1,025.34 and is not very far off from the all-time high of 1,040.59.
Consolidated Bakeries had 962,000 shares trading at $1.10, Lasco Distributors had 68,350 units trading at $2. Mayberry Investments had 29,617 units trading at $2.20 and lost 15 cents, National Commercial Bank fell $1.50 to $29 with 36,975 shares Radio Jamaica traded 68,016 shares with a 50 cents rise to $4 and Scotia Group traded 106,491shares at $23.51.
Jamaica’s remittance up sharply
Remittance inflows into Jamaica for June this year marked the fastest increase in any one month so far in 2015 with inflows jumping 11.9 percent for June to end at US$188.4 million, an increase of US$20 million above the inflows of June 2014, Bank of Jamaica remittance report shows.
Net remittances were US$173.3 million, an increase of US$19.7 million or 12.8 per cent over the similar period of 2014. The previous best monthly inflow was a 4.4 percent increase in January with $166 million came into the country. While June was the month with the highest percentage gain the best months for actual inflows are March with $194 million, April $187 and May $190 million.
For the six months to June a total of US$1,093 billion, were received into the system, an increase of US$40.8 million or 3.9 percent while inflows net of outflows amounted to US$985.7 million, a growth of US$38.4 million or 4.1 percent relative to the corresponding period of 2014.
Remittances make up a major part of Jamaica’s foreign exchange inflows with only gross inflows from tourism being better.
BOJ selling swells FX flows on Monday
BOJ sold US dollars into the system on Monday
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$84,551,283 compared to US$23,410,069 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 47 cent to $118.93 and US$81,821,341 was sold versus US$27,690,189 on Friday, the selling rate declined 1 cent to end at $119.23.
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 74 cents to end at $87.81, with dealers buying C$1,393,777 and selling C$636,212, at an average rate that fell 41 cents to $90.18. The rate for buying the British Pound declined $1.39 to $177.12 for the purchase of £1,392,812, while £320,644 was sold, at an average rate that remained at $179.45. At the end of trading, it took J$134.45 to purchase the Euro, with a rise of 94 cents on Friday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$131.57, for a gain of 85 cents on Friday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$309,978 being bought, while US$163,604 was sold.Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar eased 7 cents on Monday to $119.45, the lowest buying rate slipped 9 cents to end at $97.61, the highest and lowest selling rates were unchanged at $125.19 and $97.69 respectively.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar jumped $1.90 to $92, the lowest buying rate gained 37 cents to $71.42, the highest selling rate climbed $1.60 to end at $94.20 and the lowest selling rate fell $1 to $84. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, declined 65 cents to end at $180.55. The lowest buying rate leapt $13 to $141.20, the highest selling rate gained $1.65 to $187.30 and the lowest selling rate plummeted $12.50 to close at $162.30.
JSE main indices up sharply on Monday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange saw continued low trading activity on Monday, while the main market indices surged sharply with the all Jamaica composite rising over 2,000 points. At the close, there were 12 stocks rising, 9 declining with 25 securities totalling 1,997,084 units, valued at $8,313,166 changing hands, in all market segments.
The main market indices suffered declines with the JSE Market Index leapt 1,796.05 points to 98,415.80, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index surged 2,007.19 points to 108,941.49 and the JSE combined index jumped 1,755.12 to end at 102,063.42 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading of 15 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
In trading, Berger Paints ended with 45,500 shares trading 1 cent down at $2.29, Cable and Wireless added 2 cents with 808,014 shares changing hands to close at 53 cents, Caribbean Cement traded 25,840 shares to close 1 cent higher at $8.01. Desnoes & Geddes traded 42,650 shares at to close at $6.82, after gaining 20 cents, Grace Kennedy did not trade but had no shares on offer, at the close, for the second day running. Jamaica Broilers traded at $5.80 with 13,951 shares changing ownership and dropping 1 cent. Jamaica Producers dropped $1 to end at $17 with only 10,000 units trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 27,000 
shares in ending at $7.11, for a 19 cents fall, Mayberry Investments had 32,000 shares trading to close at $2.35, for a loss of 25 cents, at the close the stock was on offer at $2.20. National Commercial Bank had 30,500 units trading at the close at $30.50 for a 50 cents fall, Pan Jamaican traded 5,000 shares to close with a rise of 48 cents to $61.50. Sagicor Group with 32,000 shares trading, closed with a loss of 3 cents to end at $13, Scotia Group added 25 cents in ending at $23.75 while 149,247 shares traded and Proven Investments ordinary share close at 22 US cents after gaining 2.25 cents with 173,100 units changing hands.
