Radio Jamaica (RJR) will be paying an interim dividend of 5 cents per share on October 15, 2014, to shareholders on record as at September 9.
The stock will traded ex-dividend on September 5, 2014. RJR last paid a dividend of 10 cents, in November 2011 and 12 cents in October 2010. The latest dividend comes against to back ground of a jump in the company’s first quarter results to June.
Shareholders of Caribbean Producers (CPJ) will be enjoying a dividend of 4 cents per share payable on October 1, 2014 to shareholders on record as at September 10, 2014. The stock trades ex-dividend on September 8. CPJ paid a dividend of 3 cents per share on January 31, this year and 4.5 cents March 2013.
Caribean Producers enjoyed increased profits for the Year to June 2014, but the last half was lower than for the similar period in 2013.
RJR & Caribbean Producers paying dividends
Scotiabank damages TTSE market
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Wednesday, was moderate, with 13 securities changing hands of which none advanced, 4 declined and 9 traded firm. A total of 159,429 units changed hands, with valued at $2,111,145. There were three new 52 weeks lows, at the close of the market, and no new highs, as Scotiabank declined further by $1.41.
The Composite Index lost 6.94 points to close at 1,142.99, the All T&T Index fell by 5.17 points to close at 1,981.89 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 1.16 points to end at 39.78.
Gains| There was no stocks increasing in price, at the close of trading, on Wednesday.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Firstcaribbean International trading 3.950 units and lost 25 cents, to end at $4.75, a new 52 weeks low, while Guardian Holdings with 25,355 shares traded for $342,592, closed at $13.51, after shedding 24 cents, Sagicor Financial lost a cent, in closing at $6.24, in trading 1,000 shares, for a new 52 weeks low, Scotiabank traded 9,008 shares valued at $558,486, falling $1.41 to close at $61.99, a new 52 weeks low. The stock has been under selling pressure, since it released April mid-year results, showing a sharp fall in profit.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Ansa Mcal 200 units to close at $66.25, Clico Investment Fund with 30,013 shares valued at $660,286, to remain at $22, First Citizens Bank 8,846 shares to close at $35.95, Grace Kennedy with 1,466 shares, closed at $3.55, Jamaica Money Market Brokers lost a cent in ending at 45 cents, while trading 300 units, National Commercial Bank with 49,390 shares changing hands for a value of $49,390, closed at $1, National Enterprises with 5,106 shares, to close at $17.75, Prestige Holdings 1,667 shares traded to close at $9.40 and Scotia Investments contributed 23,128 shares with a value of $32,479, closed unchanged at $1.40.
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 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Kingston Properties sells & buys apartments
Kingston Properties has successfully concluded the sale of 4 of its 19 residential condominium units, for approximately US$980,000, realizing cumulative gains of 69.5 percent over the four year holding period.
The Company, re-invested the net proceeds in a 19 unit residential apartment building in the Miami area. The property was purchased for US$1.88 million, a release from the company said. Kingston Properties is listed on the Jamaica Stock exchange and reported rental income $50.4 million, an increase of 15 percent for the six months ended June this year. Total comprehensive income for the period was $28.3 million, an increase of 7.4 percent, over the $26.3 million reported for the six months to June 2013. Comprehensive income includes, results of operating activities and foreign currency translation differences for foreign operations. The latter was positive $27.8 million for the six months in 2014 versus $33 million for the similar period in 2013.
The company owns and rents properties in Jamaica and Miami, in the United States.
JS gains against all 3 major currencies
In Tuesday’s forex trading, authorized dealers traded much more foreign currency than they did on Monday. Monday was a poor day, based on historical trading patterns. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$49,952,055 versus US$26,489,205 on Monday, and sold the equivalent of US$54,895,404 compared with US$30,449,196 on Monday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$44,900,566 compared to US$21,045,823 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 32 cents to $112.36 and US$51,519,466 was sold versus US$27,061,841 on Monday, the selling rate fell 7 cents to $112.71.The Canadian dollar buying rate dropped $1.02 to $101.05 with dealers buying C$961,890 and selling C$1,244,613 at an average selling rate that declined 23 cents to $103.20.
The rate for theBritish Pound rose 45 cents to $184.63, for the purchase of £1,829,567, while £583,481 was sold, as the rate fell 32 cents to $186.85. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$1,180,174, while selling was the equivalent of US$1,269,053.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 20 cents to $113.10, the lowest buying, the highest and lowest selling rates remained unchanged at $91.85, $117.70 and $93.30 respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell $1.70 to $103.30, the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $82.17, the highest selling rate rose 13 cents to $106.17 and the lowest selling rate was unchanged at $99. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell 20 cents to $187.10, the lowest buying rate and lowest selling rate were unchanged at $149.57 and $180.60 respectively. The highest selling rate rose 43 cents to $193.24.
Scotia Group drives indices up sharply
The major indices of the Jamaica Stock Exchange jumped sharply In Tuesday’s trading, but this may not last as a jump in Scotia Group share price to $20.49 was the main reason for the big move, as Scotia Investments purchase the vast majority of the stock. For the overall market prices of 10 stocks rose, 5 declined as 26 securities changed hands, resulting in 13,528,222 shares trading, valued at $26,762,169.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index leapt by 1,732.90 points to 73,093.62 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index jumped 1,937.69 points to close at 80,440.13,
Gains| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with gains, at the end of trading in the main market, are Caribbean Cement with 24,297 units changing hands, gained 12 cents to $2.22, Grace Kennedy with 1,090 shares added $2 to price to end at $61, Jamaica Broilers had 600 units trading, as the price gained 13 cents to $4.70, National Commercial Bank with 5,125 shares put on 38 cents to close at $18, Radio Jamaica 2,554 units closed with 4 cents increase at $1.04, Sagicor Group had activity in 131,695 shares and gained 10 cents at $9.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 7,500 units traded with 5 cents gain at $6.90 and Scotia Group traded 957,902 shares to gain $1.68 to end at $20.47.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price with volume and last traded prices, are Cable & Wireless with 11,967,181 shares at 30 cents, with broker, Pan Caribbean doing the bulk of the sales, while JMMB bought all from Pan Caribbean, Carreras with only 200 shares closed at $34.80, Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 120,937 ordinary shares at $7 and Kingston Wharves with 10,000 units, ended at $5.02.
Declines| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with losses at the at the end of trading in the main market, are Berger Paints with 5,000 shares, declined by 2 cents, to close at $1.60, Hardware & Lumber with 5,000 shares lost $1.40 to $7.60 and Proven Investments with 4,813 ordinary shares, closed at 0.25 US cents lower at 17US cents.
Preference| Junior market listed Eppley 9.5% preference share, traded 54,433 units at $6.10, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.50% preference share had 2,729 units changing hands at $3.50 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 17,200 units at $3.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 7.13 points to close at 649.85 as 9 stocks traded with 2 advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are, AMG Packaging with 4,741 shares to close with a gain of 3 cents, at $2.43 and Lasco Manufacturing with 19,600 units, to close 9 cents higher at $1.04.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are, Blue Power with 2,500 shares at $9.06, Dolphin Cove with 2,000 shares at $7.75, Jamaican Teas 160,000 shares at $3.30 and Knutsford Express, with 4,303 units at $5.16.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading, are Access Financial with 2,322 shares, down 2 cents, to close at $10.18 and Lasco Financial with 14,500 units, lost 8 cents to 92 cents.
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 7 stocks with offers, that were lower.
Low trading on post-independence day
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange after the market was closed on Monday for Trinidad & Tobago’s independence day, 8 securities changed hands, none advanced, 1 declined and 7 traded firm with 252,655 units trading, with a value of $709,186.
The Composite Indexrose 0.15 points to close at 1,149.93, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.05 points to close at 1,987.06 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.04 points to end at 40.94.
Declines| Trinidad Cement traded 9,400 shares valued at $26,038 and declined by a cent to end the day at $2.77, and was the only stock declining at the end of trading.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with 16,137 units valued at $355,014 to remain at $22, First Citizens Bank with 3,330 shares closed at $35.95, followed by Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 100,000 shares for $45,704, to close at 45 cents, National Commercial Bank with 103,500 shares changing hands for a value of $103,500, closed at $1, National Flour Mills contributed 14,289 shares with a value of $18,576 to end at $1.30, while Prestige Holdings traded 999 units to close at $9.40 and Sagicor Financial traded 5,000 units at $6.25.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Market greets September with low volumes
In Monday’s forex trading, authorized dealers traded much less foreign currency than is the norm on the first business day of the week. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$26,489,205 versus US$59,234,779 on Friday, and sold the equivalent of US$30,449,196 compared with US$51,274,373 on Friday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$21,045,823 compared to US$52,907,403 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar declined 42 cents to $112.04. US$27,061,841 was sold versus US$46,929,455 on Friday, the selling rate increased 5 cents to $112.78. The Canadian dollar buying rate climbed 32 cents to $102.07 with dealers buying C$2,579,417 and selling C$1,663,274 at an average selling rate that declined 31 cents to $103.43.The rate for theBritish Pound fell by $1.46 to $184.18, for the purchase of £1,256,900, while £701,884 was sold, as the rate rose 60 cents to $187.17. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$1,027,381, while selling was the equivalent of US$697,139.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, the lowest buying, the highest selling and lowest selling rates remained unchanged at $112.90, $91.85, $117.70 and $91.85 respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar was unchanged at $105, the lowest buying rate gained 21 cents to $82.17, the highest selling rate rose 3 cents to $106.04 and the lowest selling rate was unchanged at $99. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose 10 cents to $187.30, the lowest buying rate and lowest selling rate were unchanged at $149.57 and $180.20 respectively. The highest selling rate rallied $2.07 to $192.81.
Inside buying at D&G and Mayberry
Hot on the heels of Desnoes and Geddes reporting strong full year results, with the promise of higher earnings in the new fiscal year, the company reports the purchase of it’s shares by a Director, who acquired 250,000 shares on August 29. 2014.
Mayberry Investments reported a small transaction, by a related party, who purchased a total of 16,690 of the company’s shares, between August 22 – 26, this year.
Jamaican Teas reported that a related party sold 1,592,907 of the company’s shares, on Friday August 27.
Cable & Wireless & Lasco Manufacturing dominate JSE
In Monday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 4 securities rose, 6 declined as 22 stocks changed hands, resulting in 21,507,157 units trading, valued at $22,167,614.
Cable & Wireless accounted for 11.56 million units and Lasco Manufacturing 5.7 million of the stocks trading. As was the case on Friday, Pan Caribbean Financial Services was the broker that was the main seller of Cable & Wireless’ shares on Monday. At the close they had an offer to sell another 11.96 million units at 30 cents, the amount was exactly equal to the amount on the bid at 28 cents.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell by 241.32 points to 71,360.72 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declined by 269.85 points, to close at 78,502.44.
Gains| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with gains, at the close of the main market are, Caribbean Cement in trading 28,423 shares closed with a gain of 6 cents at $2.10, Desnoes & Geddes gained 5 cents to close at $4.65 with 100,249 units changing hands and Jamaica Producers with 3,650 units, ended up 1 cent higher at $15.61.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a price change, with volume and last traded prices, are Cable & Wireless with 11,561,063 shares changing hands to close at 30 cents, Grace Kennedy with 2,761 shares at $59, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 22,303 shares closed at $7, Radio Jamaica had 2,113,260 units closing at $1, Sagicor Group 21,000 shares at $9.40 and Seprod with 351 shares at $10.75.
Declines| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with losses at the at the end of trading in the main market, are Carreras with 6,200 shares trading, lost 9 cents at $34.80, Jamaica Broilers lost 13 cents to end at $4.57 with 13,997 shares, National Commercial Bank with 12,100 units lost 38 cents at $17.62 and Scotia Group with 175,260 shares lost 5 cents in ending at $18.79.
Preference| Jamaican Teas debenture note traded 9,000 units at $100 each, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 1,557,835 units at $3 and Proven Investments 8% preference share, traded only 100 units at $5.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.40 points to close at 642.72 as 6 stocks traded with 1 advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| Lasco Manufacturing traded 5,730,455 units to gain 3 cents at 95 cents and was the only stock to gain at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are, Blue Power with only 1,000 shares, ended at $9.06, Dolphin Cove with 75,000 shares changing hands, closed at $7.75 and Lasco Distributors had 19,000 units trading at $1.11.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading, are Caribbean Cream with 13,150 shares to close 10 cents down at 65 cents and General Accident with 50,000 shares, closed 6 cents lower at $1.34.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Caribbean Producers disappoints – Watch
Much has been expected of Caribbean Producers (CPJ), but it disappointed investors with lower profits in the second half of the fiscal year to June, with profit of $95 million in the June quarter, versus $140 million in 2013.
The March quarter numbers had sent the signal of a lousy second half, with virtually flat profits of $124 million, in contrast to a vibrant increase of 82 percent in the December quarter of J$118 million, up from $65 million in 2012. Revenues climbed by 34 percent in the quarter compared with 2013 to reach J$2.57 billion and 24 percent in the prior quarter. Revenues in US dollars, climbed 13.37 percent to hit US$78.64 million for the 12 months to June.
Administrative and selling cost rose by 17.7 percent year over year, faster than the growth in revenue. Part of the increase management states, is due to some reorganizational restructuring, which contributed to short term increased cost during the period.
Gross profit in US dollar climbed 14.67 percent but gross profit margin improved slightly to 40.9 percent for the full year, from 40.2 percent in 2013.
Management attributes the performance to competitive pricing pressures and changes to the product mix, they also speak to new products now being distributed and the startup of their St Lucian operation, during the September quarter.
The stock has pulled back, to sit at $2.35 which is about where it should be, based on valuation in the local market at this time. While new products should add to revenues, the performance of the company in the last half of the fiscal year, suggests some amount of caution. The next set of quarterly results will be important to glean clearly, if the recent set back is over. Accordingly the stock is being considered a watch for the time being.
CPJ has managed to reduce the poor debt to equity ratio, with borrowed funds now at US$24.7 million, versus $24.5 million in 2013, and equity now at US$16.2 million, up from US$13 million at the end of June last year. By the end of this current fiscal year, they should be close to a ratio 0f 1:1 with the likelihood of continuing profitability, close to that of the past year’s figures.
