Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange saw 13 securities changing hands, of which 3 advanced, 1 declined and 9 traded firm as 309,605 units changed hands, with a value of $4,092,638.
The Composite Index lost 0.09 points to close at 1,147.09, the All T&T Index fell by 0.18 points to close at 1,981.74 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 40.90.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund with 104,000 shares valued at $2,287,870 close up a cent at $22, First Citizens with 3,847 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents, at $35.98 and Guardian Holdings with 11,281 units at $13.51, to gain a cent.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Republic Bank which lost 6 cents, to close at $121.74, while trading 9,267 shares valued at $1,128.257.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings with 392 shares trading, to close at $12.75, followed Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 45,169 units, to end at 45 cents, Massy Holdings had 70 units changing hands at $68.49, National Flour Mills contributed 44,057 shares at $1.30, while National Commercial Bank added 35,000 shares to close at $1, Point Lisas Industrial Port Development with 51,789 shares changing hands for a value of $217,449, closed at $4.20, Prestige Holdings with 4,183 shares closed at $9.40, Sagicor Financial traded 500 units at $6.25 and Scotiabank had just 50 units trading at $61.90.
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 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
3 stocks rose & 1 fell on TTSE
Woefully poor trading levels on JSE
Trading on Monday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, was slow, with very low volume and the number of active securities. The prices of 4 stocks rose and 5 declined as 19 securities changed hands, resulting in a mere 1,766,283 shares trading, valued at $$6,535,261.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell by 125.11 points to 71,626.41 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index dipped 139.90 points to close at 78,799.53.
Gains| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with gains, at the end of trading in the main market, are Jamaica Broilers in trading 46,360 units, closed at $4.52 by gaining 2 cents, Mayberry Investments with 2,040 shares to close with a gain of 3 cents at $1.70 and Scotia Group with 41,687 units to gain 5 cents to $19.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a price change, with volume and last traded prices, are Berger Paints with 3,799 shares closing at $1.60, Cable & Wireless with 4,348 units closed at 29 cents, Caribbean Cement 16,954 shares at $2.70, followed by Carreras with 6,120 units at $34.80, Ciboney put through only 2,000 shares at 7 cents, Grace Kennedy with 1,477 units, ended at $60.50, Jamaica Money Market Brokers had only 1,833 units trading at $6.95 and Sagicor Group with 21,140 shares closed at $9.30.
Declines| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with losses at the at the end of trading in the main market, are, Hardware & Lumber with 600 shares, lost 51 cents to end at $6.50, Kingston Wharves with 57,191 units closed 2 cents less at $5, Radio Jamaica had 10,292 units changing hands, for the loss of a cent at $1.04 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed with 1,200 changing hands by losing 4 cents to close at $6.91.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 1,399,467 units at $3 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 38,000 units at $5.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.08 points to close at 653.86 as only 2 stocks traded with 1 advancing and 1 declining.
Gains| Caribbean Producers traded 110,775 shares to close 1 cent higher at $2.36 to be the only stocks recording an increase at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| No active stock in the junior market, closed at the same price as the day before.
Declines| Blue Power is the sole stock to record a decline in price, as it traded 1,000 shares while losing 5 cents to $9.05.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 stocks with offers that were lower.
Jamaican$ gains against all
In Monday’s forex trading, authorized dealers purchased less foreign currency than they sold. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$42,854,290 versus US$39,277,073 on Friday, and sold the equivalent of US$44,672,575 compared with US$36,643,681 on Friday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$37,012,175 compared to US$34,634,771 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 10 cents to $112.28 and US$41,385,912 was sold versus US$33,089,971 on Friday, the selling rate fell 2 cent to $112.72.The Canadian dollar buying rate fell $1.25 to $100.87 with dealers buying C$1,046,096 and selling C$482,077 at an average selling rate that dropped $1.50 to $102.89.The rate for theBritish Pound dived 82 cents to $181.81, for the purchase of £2,339,820, while £1,104,450 was sold, as the rate declined by $1.58 to $182.27. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$1,113,672, while selling was for the equivalent of US$1,060,760.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, fell 16 cents to $112.94 and lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $91.85. The highest selling rate rose 70 cents to $114.70 and the lowest selling rate dropped $17.99 to $91.85. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 40 cents to $103.50, the lowest buying rate declined 29 cents to $82.09, the highest selling rate rose 36 cents to $106.09 and the lowest selling rate declined $17.08 to $82.17. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, climbed $1.31 to $186.31, the lowest buying rate declined $7.61 to $140.50. The highest selling rate fell 14 cents to $188.50 and the lowest selling rate inched up 35 cents to $178.80.
Dividends steady at Scotia companies
Scotia Group Jamaica (SGJ) and its subsidiary, Scotia Investments Jamaica (SIJL), approved a third interim dividend for the current financial year ending October, to be paid on October 16, 2014.
SGJ dividend will pay 40 cents and SIJL 45 cents per stock unit, to stockholders on record at September 25, 2014. The stocks of both companies will trade ex-dividend, effective September 23, 2014. The payments are consistent with amounts previously paid, from 2013 on a quarterly basis.
NIR slips with IMF pay back
Bank of Jamaica paid back US$83.75 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during August, helping to reduce the Net International Reserves (NIR) from US$2.18 billion down to US$2.12 billion at the end of August.
Estimated Official Gross Reserves represent 26.68 weeks of Goods Imports at the end of August down from 28.12 weeks in July and 19.17 weeks of Goods and Servics Imports, a decline form 20.21 weeks in July.
The reserves place the central bank in a good position to intervene in the Foreign exchange market, during the rest of the year if they so desire. Importantly, it gives them the physiological advantage, to keep speculators guessing as to their next move, now that the rate of the Jamaican dollar has been holding steady, against the US dollar, since they made a major intervention into the market, on July 10.
The months of high demand and low supply is here, with the commencement of September, and should end by Mid December. Whatever, the level of intervention is, it should be relatively small, ahead of the winters months, when supply tends to be greater than demand.
Lending at Scotia Bank jumps
Loans at Scotia Group, grew 10 percent since July last year, to hit $144.6 billion at the end of July this year, from $131 billion. While loans grew by only $2 billion up to April, from October last year, it jumped $8 billion in the latest quarter, a 20 percent increase annualised, a strong increase for a banking group that commands a large 39 percent of the commercial banking loan market.
The robust growth in one quarter coming after two quarters of slow growth, raises the question, if there are lumpy new loans booked in the last quarter, that are not likely to be repeated soon, making the increase not reflective of what may be expected going forward. The question was put the Scotia’s CEO Jacqueline Sharp.
“We did have some lumpy commercial loans in Q3, but we also are seeing pick-up on the retail side. So we do expect loan growth to continue, but just not as fast as the growth that took place in Q3” Sharp said.
Cargo Handlers’ impressive June quarter
Cargo Handlers made profit of $31.6 million for the third quarter, ending June and $83 million for the nine months. The 2014 results are up 40 percent from $22.6 million and 31 percent over the $63.6 million earned last year, respectively.
Revenues excluding interest income, grew 32 percent for the Montego Bay based and junior listed company, over the June 2013 quarter, to hit $56 million, and reached $155 million for the nine months to June, an increase of 23.5 percent over the $126 million in the prior year. Some of the growth is driven by $3 million in management fees relating to management of the petroleum transport business, pending finalization of acquisition of the transport company. Movement in the value for the local dollar also played a role in the revenue growth, management confirmed with IC Insider.
Other operating expenses grew from $17.7 million to $22.6 million, an increase of 12.7 percent for the June quarter, and reached $65 million in the nine months, up by 17 percent. Administrative cost were flat for the quarter at $2 million and up from $6.4 million to $7.8 million for the year to date.
Earnings per share rose from 60 cents to 84 cents in the quarter and $2.22 for the nine months. Earnings for 2014 which ends in September, should be $3 per share. For the year to September 2013, the company earned $2.27 per share.
The company had earlier indicated that the acquisition of the transportation business should be concluded during February. At the time of reporting, this has not yet been concluded. From all indications, concerns regarding the transport company’s audited financial reports seem to be at the heart of the delay. Cargo Handlers had deposited $69 million against the purchase. Most of these funds seem have been used to acquire fixed assets which jumped by $48 million in June this year. Cash is down to $77 million and investments at $16 million at the end of June. The company remains debt free.
A dividend of 50 cents per share was just declared by the company and is payable in March 6 and another of $1.30 per stock unit will be paid on September 16. The dividend yield at the current stock price of $14.10 is 12.76 percent. The stocks is priced at a PE of just under 5 times 2014 earnings, but supply and liquidity are very low.
Scotia Investments reports down profits
Scotia Investments Reports profit of $1.34 billion for the nine months to July and net profit for the quarter, of $504 million. For the year to July, profit is down $82 million or 6 percent from the same period last year, but up $89 million or 21 percent above the $415 million earned in the April quarter and down from $563 million in the 2013 quarter.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the period, is $3.17 compared to $3.36 for the same period last year, and should end up in the $4.40 range, by this October year end. Return on Average Equity (ROE) is 13.87 percent, down from 16.10 percent last year.
Operating Income, comprising net interest revenue and other income of $3.19 billion for the nine months, is down $48 million from the same period last year. Total operating income for the quarter was $1.13 billion, up $58 million or 5 percent recorded last quarter, Net income for the quarter of $580 million was flat quarter over quarter, but is down $113 million or 16.3 percent from the July 2013 quarter, due to a big jump in interest cost. Net interest income after impairment losses for the nine months period is $1.8 billion, down $288 million or 14 percent below the same period last year.
Non-Interest Income|Non-interest income, amounts to $1.4 billion for the period, up $240 million or 21 percent over the year to July 2013 and $549 million for the quarter, up $55 million or 11 percent compared with the last quarter; due primarily to gains on financial assets. The 2014 outturn represent an increase over the earnings of $486 million generated in 2013 July quarter. Non-interest income, includes fee income, securities trading gains and net foreign exchange trading income.
Total operating expenses for the period were $1.26 billion, up $50 million or 4 percent compared with the same period last year; $396 million for the quarter, down $47 million or 11 percent from last quarter due mainly with increased asset tax but the cost is up from the $366 million incurred in the 2013 quarter.
“Overall, our fund management business has grown 9 percent year over year; and our flagship money market fund, The Scotia Premium Money Market Fund has experienced a 105 percent increase year over year, with a net asset value of over $9 billion,” Lissant Mitchell, CEO of Scotia Investments said.
“Total assets of $73 billion remained flat year over year and quarter over quarter; consistent with our strategic initiative to focus on growth of our off-balance sheet portfolios. Assets under management including the company’s custody book were $135 billion as at the end of the period, up $21 billion or 18 percent above last year and $6 billion or 5 percent over last quarter. The growth was driven by the improved net asset values on managed funds.” The Investment Bankers reported to shareholders.
The company’s stock traded at $21.40 on Friday with a PE ratio of 4.75 that is low but presently reflects overall market conditions. There is not much supply on sales at current prices. The forward PE is lower than the above. The company’s performance is not electric presently but lower interest rates on government paper that has be falling since May and continue growth in their asset portfolio should have improve profits for 2015. As such the Buy Rated accolade remains.
Scotia Group’s profit down, future much brighter
Scotia Group Jamaica made profit of $2.6 billion for the third quarter ending July, $337 million above the previous quarter ended April but $278 million below the quarter ended July 2013 and $7.4 billion for the nine months period, down from $8.2 billion last year.
The group increased bad loan provisions by $130 million to $497 million for the quarter over April this year and an Increase of $320 million over the July 2013 level. For the nine months to date provisions for loans is up $550 million to $1.376 billion.
Operating expenses have been under control with an increase of 7.3 percent for the quarter and 6.7 percent year to date but this is much higher than the 2.7 percent increase in income, net of interest cost for the quarter, and 1.4 percent increase for the nine months to July. “This is due primarily to higher staff related costs of $279 million and operating expenses of $579 million, reflecting an increase in the asset tax of $498 million, resulting from the recent increase in the rates,” management said in their report to investors.
The group would have enjoyed higher income from foreign exchange trading in 2013, as the value of the Jamaica dollar slipped more than it has done during the current period, leading to a $300 million decline for this line item. Importantly, while gross interest income was flat, at $15 billion up to April versus 2013, it has grown in the July quarter, due to the stronger loan growth.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the nine months is $2.36 compared to $2.64 for the same period last year and seems set to report $3.45 for the full year ending October and $4.50 for the next fiscal year.
The Return on Average Equity was 13.74 percent, down from 16.67 percent last year.
Scotia approved a third interim dividend of 40 cents per stock unit payable on October 16.
Total assets increased year over year by $12.5 billion or 3.2 percent to $401 billion, due primarily to growth in the loan portfolio of $13.6 billion. Loans grew by 10 percent since July 2013, to hit $144.6 billion. More importantly, while loans grew only by $2 billion up to April from October last year, it jumped $8 billion in the latest quarter, a 20 percent increase, annualised, putting it on track for a big surge in lending going forward if maintained, and strong growth in profits, as well. Deposit declined marginally to $197 billion at the same time. The stock remains Buy Rated.
Jamaican $ gains against pound & US$
In Friday’s forex trading, authorized dealers purchased more foreign currency than they sold. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$39,277,073 versus US$32,479,891 on Thursday, and sold the equivalent of US$36,643,681 compared with US$37,797,115 on Thursday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$34,634,771 compared to US$27,452,497 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 12 cents to $112.38 and US$33,089,971 was sold versus US$33,759,732 on Thursday, the selling rate fell 1 cent to $112.75.
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 52 cents to $102.12 with dealers buying C$1,153,204 and selling C$1,120,704 at an average selling rate that gained 82 cents to $104.39.
The rate for theBritish Pound dived $1.63 to $182.63, for the purchase of £1,662,228, while £802,746 was sold, as the rate declined by $1.44 to $183.85. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$893,093, while selling was for the equivalent of US$1,207,087.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, fell 10 cents to $113.10 and lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $91.85. The highest selling rate dropped $3.70 to $114 and the lowest selling rate fell 66 cents to $109.84. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 5 cents to $103.90, the lowest buying rate rose 71 cents to $82.38, the highest selling rate declined 29 cents to $105.73 and the lowest selling rate rose 85 cents t0 $99.25. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell 74 cents to $185, the lowest buying rate declined 38 cents $148.11. The highest selling rate fell $2.78 to $188.64 and the lowest selling rate declined by 45 cents to $178.45.
