5 up 4 down on TTSE on Monday
June 8, 2015 by
Trinidad Cement traded 674,117 shares on Monday
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.99 points to close at 1,160.45, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.09 points to close at 1,970.44 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.27 points to end at 45.98.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAL trading 1,200 shares and closed with a gain of 1 cent to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $67.07 while Ansa Merchant Bank traded 18,307 shares valued at $713,058 and gained 3 cents to $38.95. First Citizens Bank traded 3,502 shares to close at $35.81, up 1 cent, National Commercial Bank contributing 163,161 shares with a value of $283,784, to end at $1.76 after gaining 6 cents and Scotiabank with 6,782 shares changing hands for a value of $424,214, closed with a gain of 1 cent at $62.55.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with 54,643 shares valued at $1,229,683 traded and declined by 5 cents to end at $22.50, Guardian Holdings suffered a loss of 9 cents to close at $14.05 while trading 4,000 shares. Massy Holdings traded 2,424 shares valued at $155,988 to close with a loss of 1 cent at $64.35 and National Enterprises with 3,842 shares traded and closed at a new 52 weeks’ low of $17.19 after losing a cent.Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, JMMB Group with 280,000 shares being traded for $131,600 and closed at 47 cents. Guardian Media with 200 shares closed at $19.76, Firstcaribbean International Bank contributed 11,000 shares as the price closed unchanged at $5, Sagicor Financial Corporation 6.5% preference shares traded 1,000 units at US$1.10, Trinidad Cement ended the day at $2.90, with 674,117 shares changing hands, for a value of $1,954,939.
and West Indian Tobacco traded 500 shares and closed at $125.33
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 1 stock with a lower offer.
Buying exceeds selling for second day
June 8, 2015 by
Purchase of all currencies by dealers exceeded the amounts sold by US$5 million on Friday and by $4 million on Monday. Changes in the rates were mixed on Monday with the Jamaican dollar easing slightly versus the US dollar and sliding a bit against the Canadian but the Jamaican gained ground on the Pound. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$42,299,523 compared with US$36,853,492, on Friday while they sold the equivalent of US$37,983,946 versus US$ $31,821,560 previously.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$39,031,074 compared to US$34,602,528 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 10 cents at $115.68 and US$36,387,817 was sold versus US$30,415,132 on Friday, the selling rate rose 1 cent to $116.23. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 1 cent to $90.46 with dealers buying C$1,087,438 and selling C$683,0624, at an average rate that rose 17 cents to $93.22. The rate for buying the British Pound fell 90 cents to $174.23 for the purchase of £1,413,526, while £597,187, was sold, at an average rate that eased by 79 cents to $177.45. At the end of trading it took J$129.12 to purchase the Euro, $1.93 less than on Friday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$126.69 for $1.78 less than Friday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$289,244, while the equivalent of US$136,644, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar was unchanged at $116.40, the lowest buying rate dropped $1.70 to $88.06, the highest selling rate remained unchanged at $121.98, but the lowest selling rate fell $1.88 to $95.19.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 90 cents to $94, the lowest buying rate slipped 25 cents to $73.62, the highest selling rate rose $1.94 at $96.50 and the lowest selling rate declined $1.30 to $88.70. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, slipped 50 cents to $178.50, the lowest buying rate closed down $8.18 to $135, with the highest selling rate rising $1.94 to $183.24 with the lowest selling rate declining $1.25 to $171.25.
5 stocks rise on junior market
June 8, 2015 by
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Consolidated Bakeries closed at a new 52 weeks’ high of $1.17
At the close of the market, there were 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 2 with lower offers. The junior market ended with 3 securities closing with no bids to buy and 10 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Blue Power Group closing with 979 shares trading unchanged at $9.50, Cargo Handlers finished with 833 units at $23, Caribbean Cream finished trading with 58,333 units to close at $1.35, Caribbean Producers with 13,489 shares trading unchanged at $3. Consolidated Bakeries ending with 53,433 shares with a gain of 2 cents to end at a new 52 weeks’ high of $1.17,
General Accident Insurance concluded trading with 4,880 shares changing hands to close at $2. Honey Bun traded 18,000 shares at $2.70 and gained 1 cent, Knutsford Express ended with 3,333 shares, to gain 5 cents at $6.05 for new a 52 weeks’ high, Lasco Financial Services finished trading with 391,527 units, to end at $1.91. There was dealing in 39,514 Lasco Manufacturing’s shares, the stock traded higher by 2 cents to $1.45, Medical Disposables contributed 39,514 shares with the price closing at $2, Paramount Trading ended trading with 16,782 shares to end with an increase of 29 cents at $4.26 for a new 52 weeks high and Derrimon Trading 11.75% preference share closed trading with 746,000 units at $2.50
JSE closes down on Monday
June 8, 2015 by
Carreras traded over 4 million shares on Monday
TheJSE Market Index lost 299.63 points to 97,788.91, theJSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 334.90 points to close at 108,240.66 and the JSE combined index declined 285.04 points to end at 100,463.91.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with offers that were lower.
Stocks trading include, Cable & Wireless had 380,130 units trading and closed at 43 cents, Carreras with 4,067,804 shares at mostly $50, to shed $1 from Friday’s close. Desnoes & Geddes gained 5 cents while trading 37,000 units to close at $7.55, Hardware & Lumber traded 111,500 shares at $18, Jamaica Broilers with 218,900 shares at $5.50, JMMB Group 85,992 shares after slipping 30 cents to $7.50, the Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 16,000 shares to close at $5. The directors of the JSE met during the day and declared a dividend of 53 cents per shares to be paid in July. Mayberry Investments ended with 267,075 units at $3, 
National Commercial Bank closed with 113,100 units trading at $29. At the close NCB had 17 offers to sell 818,742 shares at $30 each and 4 bids amounting to 704,000 units to buy between $29.02 and $28, thereafter, meaningful bids are at $26.50. Pan Jamaican Investment had just 1,285 units trading at a new 52 weeks’ high of $62, after gaining $1.45, Scotia Group had 612,697 shares changing hands to close at $25.51 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 561,800 units and ended at $2.30.
4 stocks rose 2 fell in early trading
June 8, 2015 by
The Jamaica Stock Exchange started off the week on a slow note after half an hour 
of trading, with the prices of 4 stocks rising and 2 declining from 15 securities that traded. The junior market index is up marginally and the main market indices slipped moderately but just over 100 points as Scotia Group fell.
Access almost private again
June 6, 2015 by
Proven upped its stake in Access in May, leaving few shares in the public’s hands.
On May 18, Proven acquired an additional 1,249,608 shares in Access Investments, thereby increasing its interest to 49.72 percent. In December last year, Proven bought 135,339,271 units in the financial micro lender when it picked up most of the shares held by Mayberry at the time, at a price of $9. in the latest audited report for Proven, Access is listed as a subsidiary of Proven. Normally, owning less than 50 percent plus one share in a company would result in a company being a subsidiary and less down to 20 percent, would qualify as an associate.
The stock has been trading recently at $17 each, with Access having reported improved results for the March quarter increasing by 72 percent to $157.6 million, up from $79 million in 2014. Marcus James in March this year transferred his 112,421,260 units to a company representing 41.6 percent of the issued shares leaving just under 9 percent in the public’s hands.
More buying than selling on Friday
June 5, 2015 by
Purchase of all currencies by dealers exceeded the amounts sold by US$5 million, leading to mixed movement in the rates on Friday. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$36,853,492 compared with US$27,853,500, on Thursday while they sold the equivalent of US$31,821,560 versus US$27,599,875 previously, as the Jamaican dollar lost value slightly against the US dollar and gained against the Pound and the Canadian dollar at the end of trading.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$34,602,528 compared to US$24,983,582 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 17 cents to $115.78 and US$30,415,132 was sold versus US$26,239,211 on Thursday, the selling rate rose 6 cents to $116.22. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 35 cents to $90.47 with dealers buying C$751,914 and selling C$491,296, at an average rate that declined 43 cents to $93.05. The rate for buying the British Pound fell 23 cents to $175.13 for the purchase of £1,021,985, while £561,834 was sold, at an average rate that eased 4 cents to $178.24. At the end of trading it took J$131.05 to purchase the Euro, 23 cents more than on Thursday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$128.48 for 38 cents more Thursday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$117,543, while the equivalent of US$151,438, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar rose 5 cents to $116.40, the lowest buying rate dropped $5.42 to $89.77, the highest selling rate remained unchanged at $121.98, but the lowest selling rate climbed $2.09 to $97.07. 
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 5 cents to $93.10, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $73.87 and $95.23 respectively and the lowest selling rate climbed 70 cents to $90. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose 55 cents to $179, the lowest buying rate closed unchanged at $143.18, the highest selling rate declined 42 cents to $181.30 with the lowest selling rate rising 20 cents to $172.50.
Digicel capex US$650m for 2015
June 5, 2015 by
Digicel Group should spend US$650 million on capital expenditure this financial year ending June 2015, based on its build out of cell towers in Myanmar, according to Fitch rating agency.
As a consequence of the heavy capital expenditure, the rating agency expects negative free cash flow for the Digicel group into 2016. Its capital expenditure is forecast to increase 17 percent more than a year ago then attenuate in 2016.
“[Its] as a result of network expansion and upgrades, including cable networks as well as a tower project in Myanmar. Capex is likely to decline to US$500 million in FY2016 and towards US$400 million in FY2017 as expansionary projects are largely completed,” stated US based Fitch rating on Digicel’s performance.
The telecom’s earnings remain stable despite weak growth in Jamaica but financial projections were not disclosed for the privately held company. Digicel generated “stable operating results” in the first nine months of fiscal 2015 (FY2015), ending on March 31, 2015, and Fitch expects this trend to continue over the medium term.
“During the period, the company’s constant-currency-based revenue posted stable growth of 5 percent with a solid EBITDA margin of 41.4 percent, which was a modest decline from 42.8 percent a year ago. (Fitch’s EBITDA calculation includes staff costs related to share options.),” stated Fitch. “This was mainly driven by increasing data revenue supporting average revenue per user, and steady growth in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Trinidad & Tobago, and the Other Markets segment….PNG continues to grow strongly, offsetting weak growth in other major countries of operation, such as Jamaica and Haiti.”
Its total subscriber base hovers at 13.8 million as of December 2014 from 13.4 million a year ago.
“FY2014 dividend payment was high at US$690 million, mainly due to the special dividend payment of US$650 million,” stated Fitch. “In the absence of sizable dividends, Fitch expects free cashflow to turn positive from FY2017.”
