First Caribbean International Bank’s profit rose in the first quarter ending in February, but this was mainly due to reduction in loans loss provisioning than an improvement in revenues. Loans declined and so did interest earned on loans.
Loans fell to US$5.996 billion down from $6.28 billion in January 2014 and $6.14 billion at the end of October last year. The bank, operating across the Caribbean region, reported interest income of US$108.7 million for the latest quarter. In 2014, interest income was $116.6 million. Other operating income of $41.8 million was earned in 2015 versus $42.5 million in 2014. The bank enjoyed a better loan loss experience with a charge of $15.7 million, in the latest quarter compared to $30.6 million in 2014. Operating expenses declined to $85 million from $89 in 2014. The bank profit after tax amounted to $26.6 million versus $15.4 million for 2014.
The bank needs to increase quality loans if it is to have enjoy sustainable growth going forward, this is a difficult challenge for a bank operating across an economically distressed region. At a price of TT$5.03 the stocks trades around 10 times current year’s earnings and that is lower than the other banking stocks on the Trinidad Stock Exchange.
FCIB profit up but
JS gains against all on Monday
The Jamaican dollar made gains against all the major currencies on Monday. Purchases of all currencies by dealers ended at US$48,094,326 equivalent, compared with US$31,958,706, on Friday and selling of the equivalent of US$43,693,594 versus US$29,239,805 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$43,116,978 compared to US$27,386,186 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 6 cents to $115.02 and US$41,972,897 was sold versus US$26,162,679 on Friday, the selling rate fell 3 cents to end at $115.52 The Canadian dollar buying rate dropped 51 cents to $89.84 with dealers buying C$1,539,237 and selling C$773,159, at an average rate that declined 57 cents to $91.73. The rate for buying the British Pound dipped 20 cents to $173.83 for the purchase of £2,368,918, while £650,111 was sold, at an average rate of $174.14, for a decline of $1.28. At the end of trading it took J$125.51 to purchase the Euro, $1.97 less than on Friday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$123.12 for a decline of $1.91 from Friday. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$195,032 while the equivalent of US$126,841, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 5 cents to $115.85, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained at $94.36 and $120.91 respectively. The lowest selling rate dived $22.65 to $90.35. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar dropped $2.10 to $91.90, the lowest buying rate fell 29 cents to $73.04. The highest selling rate fell 47 cents to $94.53 and the lowest selling rate declined by 35 cents to $88. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dropped $1.33 to $176.97. The lowest buying rate dropped 75 cents to $140.27, the highest selling rate rose $1.51 to $180.83 and the lowest selling rate fell 90 cents to $169.
Low trading on JSE Monday
Monday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was moderate, resulting in the prices of 6 stocks rising, 4 declining as only 14 securities changed hands, ending in 2,002,875 units trading, valued at $10,729,312 in all market segments. Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 314.15 points to 82,702.20, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 351.23 points to close at 91,183.19 and the JSE combined index gained 329.13 points to close at 84,405.68.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator is indicating a sideward movement for the market, with 8 stocks having bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 309,275 ordinary shares changing hands, closing higher by 15 cents at $7.15. Radio Jamaica in conducting trading with 7,025 shares, gained 1 cent to $1.38, Sagicor Group while exchanging 519,047 shares ended gaining 10 cents to close at $10.41 and Scotia Group had dealing in 24,576 shares and added $1 in closing at $22.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Barita Investments in trading 2,159 shares closed at $2.25, Caribbean Cement trading 8,900 shares ended at $2.31 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund in dealing with 7,220 shares closed at $6.70.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless finishing with 701,220 units to close lower by 1 cent to 54 cents, Grace Kennedy closing with 2,400 units as the price slipped $1 $61, Jamaica Broilers ending trading with 288,969 shares and lost 5 cents to $4 and Mayberry Investments concluded trading with 1,470 shares and suffered a loss of 13 cents to $2.36.
3 junior market stocks trade Monday
On a slow trading day on the Jamaica Stock Exchange activity on the Junior Market closed with only 3 securities traded ending with 130,614 units changing hands valued at $841,521. The JSE Junior Market Index advanced 3.62 points to close at 710.54, with the price of 1 stock advancing and1 declining.
At the close of the market, there were 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with offers that were lower. The junior market ended with 3 securities closing with no bids to buy and 8 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Dolphin Cove closed at $9 after gaining 49 cents with 87,714 shares trading Lasco Distributors closed at $1.52 after losing 2 cents and trading 15,000 shares. The stock closed with no volume on offer and the bid at $1.52. Lasco Financial Services traded 27,900 units at $1.05.
Only 14 stocks trade on Monday
There not a great deal of activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on the first trading of the week. When the market closed a mere 2,002,875 valued at just $10,729,312 changed hands. Five securities account for the bulk of the stocks trading. The all Jamaica Composite index put on 351.23 to end at 91,183.19 and the JSE Index added 314.15 points to end at 82,702.20. Scotia Group closed at $22 after adding $1 and Grace Kennedy lost $1 to end at $61.
TTSE directionless
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended with 9 securities changing hands, 2 advanced, 2 declined and 5 traded firm with a total of 73,201 units, valued at $1,611,813. The market closed with 1 stock reaching a new 52 weeks’ high and 1 falling to a new 52 weeks’ low.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.14 points to close at 1,149.27, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.27 points to close at 1,974.36 and the Cross Listed Index remained unchanged at 42.47.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAL trading 440 shares t to close with a gain of 1 cent to end at $66.88 and West Indian Tobacco gained 2 cents to end at a new 52 weeks’ high of $125.04 with 4,500 shares.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Massy Holdings contributed 6,000 shares with a value of $380,340 and lost 4 cents to end at a new 52 weeks’ low of $63.39 and Trinidad Cement 5 cents to close at $2.45 with only 1,400 shares changing hands.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Agostini’s trading 1,079 shares at $17.60, Clico Investment Fund trading 23,200 shares valued at $522,020, remaining at $22.50. Grace Kennedy led with 23,216 shares changing hands at $3.60, followed by Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 8,366 shares trading at 43 cents, while National Flour Mills added 5,000 shares at $1.55.
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 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Slow trading continues on JSE
The Jamaica Stock Exchange continues to reflect slow trading with only 1 hour left to trade and resulted in moderate slippage of the main indices. All but one share that have traded so far are from the main market.
Only 3 securities traded at 10AM
Trading has been slow to start the week with only 3 securities trading after the firs half an hour in trading on Monday. Grace shed $1 to $61 to be the only major change so far.
Gains allround for the J$ on Friday
The Jamaican dollar made gains against all the major currencies on Friday. Purchases of all currencies by dealers ended at US$31,958,706 equivalent compared with US$30,479,664, on Thursday and selling of the equivalent of US$29,239,805 versus US$33,875,356 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$27,386,186 compared to US$26,732,122 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar was unchanged at $115.08 and US$26,162,679 was sold versus US$31,619,074 on Thursday, the selling rate fell 3 cents to end at $115.55 The Canadian dollar buying rate dropped 22 cents to $90.35 with dealers buying C$1,034,489 and selling C$453,721, at an average rate that declined 28 cents to $92.30. The rate for buying the British Pound dipped 50 cents to $174.03 for the purchase of £1,328,151, while £1,218,105 was sold, at an average rate of $175.42, for a decline of 24 cents. At the end of trading it took J$127.48 to purchase the Euro, 44 cent less than on Thursday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$125.03 for a decline of 40 cents from Thursday. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$1,751,867 while the equivalent of US$865,555, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 5 cents to $115.80, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained at $94.36 and $120.91 respectively. The lowest selling rate fell 50 cents to $113. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose $1.50 cents to $94, the lowest buying rate rose 29 cents to $73.33. The highest selling rate gained 9 cents to $95 and the lowest selling rate was up 35 cents to $88.35. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, climbed $1.55 to $178.30. The lowest buying rate dropped 99 cents to $141.02, the highest selling rate declined $3.76 to $179.32 and the lowest selling rate fell $1.20 to $169.90.
Market falls as PanJam trades 24m shares
Pan Jam traded 24.4m shares on Friday
Main Market| The JSE Market Index dropped 1,695.24 points to 82,388.05, the JSE All Jamaican composite index dived 1,895.35 points to close at 90,831.96 and the JSE combined index sank by 1,641.84 points to close at 84,076.55.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and stocks with offers that were lower.
Mayberry closed at a new 52 weeks’ high on Friday
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints while exchanged 7,899 shares close at $1.55, there was dealing in 247,770 Cable & Wireless shares at 55 cents, Grace Kennedy had 3,288 shares changing hands $62 and Jamaica Producers closed with 25,000 shares to close at $17.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement with 8,436 units to close lower by 1 cent at $2.31, Carreras finishing with 5,487 units as the price slipped 99 cents to $43.51, Desnoes & Geddes closed with 129,689 shares trading lower for 5 cents to $5.15. Jamaica Broilers concluding trading with 122,853 shares traded with a loss of 2 cents to $4.05, National Commercial Bank in trading 31,153 shares closed with a loss of $2 to $23.50, the stock closed on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange with a bid of $1.35 to buy 171,500 shares with no stock on offer.
In Jamaica there are only 4 offers totalling 109,000 units between $25.50 and $33 with only one offer of significance at 103,873 at $30. Pan Jamaican Investment finished trading with 24,401,900 units to fall 80 cents to $53.20, there was dealing in 94,545 units in Scotia Group with a decline of $1.39 to end at $21 after the banking group issued first quarter results that were down from the previous year’s results. Seprod contributed 48,719 and lost $1.10 to $11.90 and Supreme Ventures concluded trading with 1,065,614 shares traded with a loss of 4 cents to $2.27.Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 260,600 shares to end at $3.04, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 24,000 units to close at $2.
