On Thursday, with more than one and a half hours of opening, only two stocks traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, reflecting some of the business interruptions that attended the USA President’s short visit to the Jamaica. 
Trading picked up somewhat after but never got to a robust levels, resulting in the prices of 8 stocks rising, 4 declining as 20 securities changed hands, ending in 790,398 units trading, valued at $4,636,761, in all market segments.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 262.35 points to 84,902.62, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 293.32 points to close at 93,643.37 and the JSE combined index dropped 231.14 points to close at 86,681.44 as trading closed with three stocks closing at 52 weeks’ high.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with offers that were lower.
National Commercial Bank traded up to $25.50 with a gain of 50 cents with 91,911 units changing hands, there were 673,941 shares on offer at $25.50 with buying for 32,402 units at $25.01. Jamaica Producers put on $1.50 to end at $18.50 but with just 2,000 shares trading.
IC Insider Buy Rated RJR closed at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2 with 190,399 shares as the price puts on 50 cents and Supreme Ventures is also at a new 52 weeks high of $2.80, up 50 cents but with 30,000 shares trading. Sagicor X Fund was down by 40 cents to $6.50 as increased selling is overwhelming demand, trading accounted for 50,000 units but still left 1.4 million units on offer for sale at $6.90 with bids in to buy only 111,053 units at $6.50. Scotia Group traded 26,721 between $21.56 and $22.50, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 134,000 shares to gain 10 cents and closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.20.
Obama’s visit affected trading Thursday
Investors selling less junior stocks
Activity on the Junior market closed with only 3 securities trading and ending with 69,733 units changing hands valued at $96,919 due to a combination of less and less stocks being offered for sale and investors trying to hold out at prevailing buy prices.
The JSE Junior Market Index advanced 1.69 points to close at 732.67, with the price of 2 stocks advancing and none declining.
At the close of the market, there were 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 5 securities closing with no bids to buy and 11 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, General Accident Insurance gained 5 cents to $1.70 with 15,000 shares Lasco Financial traded 110,00 shares at $1.10 while putting on 1 cent and Jamaican Teas had 7,733 shares changing hands at $2.55.
Republic’s big drop on TTSE
Republic Bank dropped sharply by $1.83 to close at $116 for a 52 weeks low having peaked at $122 last year June and is now down 8 percent. Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended on Thursday with 15 securities changing hands of which 4 advanced, 5 declined and 6 traded firm with a total of 326,310 units, valued at $7,639,063.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 2.77 points to close at 1,151.80, the All T&T Index dropped 6.01 points to 1,966.89 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.07 points to 44.15.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund trading 40,600 shares valued at $915,530, advanced 1 cent, to end at $22.55, First Citizens Bank trading 5,607 shares valued at $199,038 to close with a gain of 4 cents, at $35.50. Sagicor Financial Corporation trading 33,255 shares valued for $198,831, closing with a gain of 20 cents at $6 and Unilever Caribbean had just one stock trading to close with a gain of 1 cent, at a new 52 weeks’ high of $66.03.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Scotia Investments with 8,088 shares value lost 2 cents to end at $1.53, Guardian Holdings with a mere 12 shares to close down 2 cents at $14.48. National Commercial Bank with 5,000 shares, declined 1 cent to close at $1.50, Republic Bank lost ground but contributed 25,527 shares, with a value of $2,961,132 to trading and Trinidad Cement with only 43 shares changing hands, fell 1 cent to $2.55.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Agostini’s with 188,070 shares valued at $3,249,850 to end at $17.28, Flavorite Foods added 14,072 shares and closed at $4.80. Guardian Media with 805 shares changing hands, ended at $19.76, National Flour Mills trading 5,000 shares at $1.55, National Enterprises had only 130 shares trading to end at $17.35 while Prestige Holdings in trading 100 shares finished at $10.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and just 1 with a lower offer.
Trading picks up on JSE after 11am
Trading picked up on the Jamaica Stock Exchange after the very slow start up to 11am on Thursday with 18 securities trading resulting in 733,909 units changing hands. The junior market had only 2 securities trading while the US market had one.
The all Jamaica Composite Index had once more climbed back well above the 94,000 mark but a fall in Scotia fell by $1 to $21.56 and then back to $22.50 on small volume, but not even the $1.50 rise in Jamaica Producers to $18.50 could stave off 293.32 points to reach 93,643.37 while the main market index slipped 262.35 points to 84,902.62. The junior market index rose 0.33 points to 731.31.
IC Insider Buy Rated RJR closed at a new 52 weeks high of $2 with just over 190,000 shares as the price puts on 50 cents and Supreme Ventures is also at a new 52 weeks high of $2.80, up 50 cents but with 30,000 shares trading. Sagicor X Fund was down by 40 cents to $6.50 as increased selling is over whelming demand.
Obama’ JSE shut out
There were only 2 stocks trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday up to 11AM, with Scotia Group Jamaica posted only 845 units and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% traded 134,000 units on a day that seems disrupted by closures of businesses resulting from the visit of President of the United States head of state President Obama.
IS a PE of 13 right for Proven?
Proven Investments is accomplishing an unusual feat in the local stock market that not many person were attracted to last year when stocks were selling dirt-cheap.
With the average PE of the market, around 5 times 2015 earnings, and with many blue chip stocks selling at no more than 7 times earnings, it is remarkable that Proven is getting strong demand for their rights issue with the company’s PE around 13 times 2015 earnings. Not surprisingly the directors have agreed to the issue being increased over the initial level of 122,896,618 shares with option for an equivalent amount now sanctioned, in keeping with the term of the prospectus. If both amounts are fully taken up it would increase the ordinary shares from 368,689,855 units to 614.6 million units and would raise nearly US$40 million in fresh capital for the investment bankers.
Proven in a release to the stock exchange advised that the Lead Brokers to the Offer have received applications in excess of the allotted US$19.66 million for the Renounceable Rights Issue of 1 new ordinary share for every block of 3 ordinary shares held in Proven Investments, as offered in the Prospectus dated March 12, 2015. The Board of Directors of Proven have therefore approved the upsizing of the shares made available for subscription, via the Conditional Offer described in the said Prospectus, and the extension of the closing date to April 17, 2015 to allow shareholders the ability to apply for additional shares over their original allotment, as contemplated by the Conditional Offer.
Proven reported profit from continuous operations of US$3.16 million for the nine months to December last year or just under 9 cents per share, in 2013 for the same period profit of US$2.79 million was reported.
There may be a number of factors encouraging investors to go after the stock in such numbers, one is the diversification the issue offers especially for large investors with large amounts of existing listings. With interest rates well under 10 percent a PE of 13 would not be regarded as expensive looked on by itself. Then again investors snapped up Sagicor Real Estate Fund at high prices two years ago in a market that was nowhere as bullish as the current market.
It will be interesting how this one trades in the months ahead and more so against some of the other top performing companies.
Carreras up $2.54 close to pre-taxed price
Carreras gained $2.54 in reach of recent highs
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 195.37 points to 85,164.97, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 218.43 points to close at 93,936.69 and the JSE combined index gained 130.82 points to close at 86,912.58. IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
Cable & Wireless traded 623,636 shares to close at 52 cents, Carreras jumped $2.54 with only 2,365 shares trading to end at $44.05 almost recovering the losses suffered after investors dumped the stock in March, following hike taxes on cigarettes.
Jamaica Broilers traded 269,910 shares at $4.51 and had an offer, to sell 215,000 units at $4.69, Jamaica Producers gained $1 to close at $17 while 6,004 units traded.
National Commercial Bank had 231,819 shares changing hands, to close at $25.50, with a gain of 50 cents, but traded as low as $25 and ending with 679,541 units on the offer at $25.50, with bids for 62,175 units at $25.01.
Sagicor Group had 56,189 units trading to close 30 cents higher at $10.50 after trading as low as $10.25, at the close, 29,402 units were on offer at $10.50 and just above that, 1 million units for sale at $10.60. Scotia Investments traded 81,250 units at $23.80 with a gain of 22 cents but closed with a bid of $23.60 to buy 52,510 units while offers were at $23.80 to sell 199,850 units. Supreme Ventures closed trading with 153,850 at $2.30 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% traded 370,000 shares at $2.
J$ relatively stable on Wednesday
Dealers sold a net of US$8 million on Wednesday following net purchases on Tuesday. Purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to US$38,067,788 equivalent, compared with US$67,556,589, on Tuesday and selling of the equivalent of US$46,321,683 versus sale of US$54,844,191, on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$33,626,651 compared to US$63,349,319 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar slipped 7 cents to $114.40 and US$43,174,147 was sold versus US$52,595,395 on Tuesday, the selling rate rose 1 cent to end at $114.96. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 47 cents to $89.63 with dealers buying C$1,357,789, and selling C$1,110,035, at an average rate that gained just 2 cents to $91.36. The rate for buying the British Pound jumped $1.59 to $169.24 for the purchase of £2,047,476, while £1,200,375 was sold, at an average rate of $170.89, for a 66 cents rise. At the end of trading it took J$124.84 to purchase the Euro, $2.07 less than on Tuesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$122.45 for a fall of $1.87 on Tuesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$348,399 while the equivalent of US$480,936, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, declined 10 cents to $115.10. The lowest buying, the highest and lowest selling rates remained at $93.77, $120.16 and $97.77, respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 20 cents to $91.70, the lowest buying rate rose by 34 cents to $72.63, but the highest selling rate was up $1.33 to $95.50 with the lowest selling rate rising $1 to $87.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell $1 to $171.30, the lowest buying rate climbed 66 cents to $136.95 but the highest selling rate climbed 86 cents to $176.55 and the lowest selling rate rose by 80 cents to $165.
Big TTSE day – 21 stocks trade
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Wednesday was one of the days with the largest number securities being active with 21 securities changing hands. 5 stocks advanced, 4 declined and 12 traded firm, with a total of 1,239,809 units, valued at $3,303,501.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.87 points to close at 1,154.57, the All T&T Index rose by just 0.33 points to close at 1,972.90 and the Cross Listed Index fell by a mere 0.28 points to end at 44.08.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund trading 1,800 shares and advanced by 2 cents to end at $22.54, First Citizens Bank gained 8 cents to end the day at $35.46, National Flour Mills with a volume of 139,713 shares being traded for $216,325 closing 5 cents up at $1.55. Massy Holdings traded 266 shares to close with a gain of 4 cents at $63.05, Point Lisas Industrial Port traded 1,500 shares and closed with a gain of 6 cents to end at $3.59.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Agostini’s trading 500 shares to end 1 cent down, at $17.28, National Commercial Bank with 1,042,473 shares changing hands, for a value of $1,570,205, lost 5 cents in closing at $1.50. Republic Bank suffered a 4 cents loss to close at a new 52 weeks’ low of $117.79, after trading 6,000 shares with a value of $706,740 and Trinidad Cement with 4,928 shares traded to close with a 4 cents loss at $2.55.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, ANSA McAL traded 200 shares to close at $66.91, Flavorite Foods contributed 100 shares at $4.80, Firstcaribbean International Bank ended with 2,270 units changing hands at $5. National Enterprises ended with 3,000 to close at $17.35. One Caribbean Media ended with 3,269 shares changing hands to close at $22.30, Sagicor Financial Corporation contributed 11,080 shares to end at $5.80, Scotiabank closed at $62.02 while trading 1,500 units, Scotia Investments added 10,550 shares at $1.55, Unilever Caribbean with 2,120 shares changing hands closed at $66.02 and West Indian Tobacco traded 43 units to close at $125.10
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had just 1 stock with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
JN General doubles 2014 profit
JN General Insurance more than doubled profit for the year to December 2014 with after tax profit hitting $566 million, a 95 percent increase over the $291 million reported for 2013.
The impressive increase came from a mere 8.6 percent increase in premium income amounting to $3.59 billion which helped in leading to an underwriting profit of $160 million compared to a loss of $149 million in 2013. Investment income contributed $471 million to the bottom-line and foreign exchange gains $83 million. The company donated $10.4 million to the JNBS Foundation during the year up from $9.7 million in 2013.
The company which is a subsidiary of Jamaica National Building Society boast assets of $8.5 billion and equity of $3.97 billion at the end of 2014.
