In Friday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the prices of 5 stocks rose and 6 declined as 22 securities changed hands, resulting in 12,582,388 stock units trading, valued at $61,401,147. Jamaica Broilers with 7.85 million shares, valued at $36,523,983, accounted for the surge in the level of trading.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index declined 152.65 points to 71,401.25 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 170.69 points to close at 78,547.77.
Gains| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with gains, at the end of trading in the main market, are Gleaner with 221 shares to close up 2 cents at $1.12, National Commercial Bank with 1,310 shares closed with a gain of 9 cents at $18.25, Sagicor Group had 980,224 units changing hands to gain 10 cents to $9.10, Scotia Group with 280,350 shares closed with an increase of 4 cents to $18.75 and Scotia Investments with 900 shares closed with a gain of 70 cents to $22.
Firm| The stocks with volume and last traded prices in the main market to close without a change in price, are Cable & Wireless with 50,000 shares at 39 cents, Caribbean Cement 86,200 shares at $3, Jamaica Broilers 7,854,620 share to close at $4.65, Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 28,500 units changing hands at $6.95, Pan Jamaican Investment with 1,000 shares closed at $48.50, Proven Investments 11,000 US ordinary shares closed at 17.25 US cents and Supreme Ventures with 116,216 shares closed at $1.80.
Declines| The volume and last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market, are Carreras with 127,254 shares and lost 41 cents to end at $34.50, Mayberry Investments with 14,279 shares, closed at $1.55 for a 2 cents loss and Sagicor Real Estate Fund exchanged 22,430 units 5 cents lower at $6.85.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 1,064,100 units and closed at $3 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers down 7.50% preference share closed with 100 units changing hands at $2.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index rose by 1.63 points to close at 633.78 but only 5 stocks traded with 1 advancing and 3 declining.
Gains| There was only one stock enjoying a price gain at the end of trading on the junior market, as Lasco Distributors with 250,000 shares was up 1 cent to $1.11.
Firm Trades| General Accident with 192,164 shares at $1.35 was the only active stock in the junior market that closed with the price unchanged.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading, are Caribbean Flavours with 10,000 shares and closed with a 10 cents fall to $2.65, Lasco Financial lost 2 cents to end at 95 cents while trading 131,000 shares and Lasco Manufacturing with 1,360,520 units shed a cent to 90 cents.
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 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Jamaica Broilers dominates JSE trading
Stocks trading climb, price changes moderate
The number of securities trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange shot up to 17 on Friday, of which 5 advanced, 4 declined and 8 traded firm, with 506,074 units changing hands, with a value of $2,032,984.
The Composite Index lost 0.39 points to close at 1,150.09, the All T&T Index fell by 0.77 points to close at 1,985.54 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 41.19.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are ANSA McAL with a 1 cent gain to $66.30 with 1,070 shares trading, Clico Investment Fund with 28,600 shares, valued at $629,516, advanced by a cent to end at $22.01, Massy Group traded 4,000 shares to close with a cent gain of end at $68.51, National Flour with 2,001 shares closed up a cent at $1.11 and Trinidad Cement with 287,305 shares changing hands for a value of $581,481, increased 5 cents to $2.05, as investors regain confidence in the stock, now that the company reported improved results, in the second quarter.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are Agostini’s with just 10 units to close with a loss of 2 cents at $17.37, First Citizens closed at $35.51 in exchanging 4,947 units with a 1 cents loss, National Enterprises lost 6 cents to close at $17.90 in trading 70 shares and Scotia Investments with 2,706 shares closed at $1.40 and lost a cent.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Angostura Holdings in contributing 13,130 shares with a value of $167,408, to close at $12.75, Flavorite Foods had just 20 shares trading at $5.75, Guardian Holdings with 3,280 shares, closed at $14.30, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 151,847 shares traded for $62,257, closed at 41 cents, while National Commercial Bank added 6,938 shares valued at $7,285 to close at $1.05, Prestige Holdings 35 units were traded at $9.40, Republic Bank with 40 shares closed at $121.90 and Scotiabank with 75 units struggles at $63.49.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and no stock with the offer lower.
What were these directors hiding?
Cable & Wireless (CWJ) nearly 5 months to report insider trades by it senior directors. What were they trying to hide must be the question? Most companies report trades by insiders, a few days after the event.
There can be little excuse for this to have happened, in the case of the CWJ trades. Are there more trades that have not been reported, is an obvious question? The situation in the case of Cable & Wireless is most important, in light of the increased interest in the stock since the start of 2014, with what appears to be a trend of improving revenues and gain in market share, in a number of its business segments.
On Thursday the Jamaica Stock Exchange was informed by Cable & Wireless that that Senior Directors purchased a total of 5,290,069 shares, during the period March 17, 2014 to April 3, 2014.
The trades involved more than one person and at a senior directors’ level. As directors they have a duty to ensure information as critical as this is reported promptly, within a reasonable time to the exchange. Five months after the trades, is not reasonable.
Mayberry Investments advised that related parties conducted trading activity of 122,500 of the company’s shares on August 11 and 12, 2014.
Jamaican $ gains against all
In Thursday’s forex trading, the selling rate for all three main currencies declined against the Jamaican dollar and only the buying rate for the Canadian dollar increased.
Authorized dealers bought the equivalent of US$29,089,690 versus US$34,069,194 on Wednesday, and sold the equivalent of US$34,347,093 compared to US$36,968,896 on Wednesday. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$25,479,719 compared to US$29,576,893 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 3 cents to $112.30 and US$30,449,315 was sold versus US$33,827,227 on Wednesday, the selling rate fell a cent to $112.82. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 70 cents to $101.81 with dealers buying C$1,621,784 and selling C$1,311,348, the selling rate declined by 80 cents to $102.81.The Pound closed at $186.07, for the purchase of £1,178,617 as the rate dropped 86 cents while £1,158,481 was sold, as the rate declined by 32 cents to $188.32. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$186,838 while selling was the equivalent of US$769,051.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar, fell 10 cents to $113.10, the lowest buying, the highest and the lowest selling rates remained unchanged, at $91.85, $117.70 and $91.85, respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar, declined by 30 cents to $103.35 and the lowest buying rate was up 42 cents to $81.76. The highest selling rate declined 46 cents to $106.04 and the lowest selling rate was down 60 cents to $98.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound declined 60 cents to $188.80, the lowest buying rate fell 54 cents to $150.81. The highest selling rate rose $3.41, to $195.11 and lowest selling rate eased back by $27.31 to $155.04.
Another director jumps KLE
Craig Powell one of the directors and shareholder of KLE Group when the company had its IPO in 2012 finally gave up trying to turn the struggling entity around and resigned as a Director with effect from August 11, 2014, the Jamaica Stock Exchange was informed today. The signs were on the table for all to see when Powell in July, sold 7,181,043 units out of the 10,693,750 share he owned, at a huge discount to the IPO price.
Moderate trading on JSE 6 stocks rose 8 fell
In a very moderate trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Thursday, the prices of 6 stocks rose and 8 declined as 25 securities changed hands, resulting in 3,031,357 shares trading, valued at $10,079,460.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell by 251.08 points to 71,553.90 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index lost 280.74 points to close at 78,718.46.
Gains| Stocks with gains, volume and last traded prices at the end of trading in the main market, are Carreras with 17,000 shares to close with a gain of 1 cent at $34.91, Jamaica Broilers 1,247,500 units to close at $4.65, up 7 cents, Proven Investments US ordinary share had 2,800 units changing hands, as the price was up by 0.0025 US cents, to 17.25 US cents, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 10,000 shares to gain 30 cents, at $6.90 and Scotia Investments with 5,105 units was up 12 cents to $21.30.
Firm| The stocks with volume and last traded prices in the main market closing without a change in price, are Cable & Wireless with 1,079,264 units at 39 cents, after the company released results ahead of trading showing slightly reduced loss in the quarter compared with 2013, Caribbean Cement with 25,501 shares closed at $3, Hardware & Lumber saw only 140 units changing hands at $9, Margaritaville traded only 5,000 US dollar ordinary shares at 11US cents, National Commercial Bank 25,695 shares closed at $18.16, Pan Jamaican Investment with 2,902 shares at $48.50 and Supreme Ventures with 179,365 shares at $1.80.
Declines| The stocks with losses, volume and last traded prices at the end of trading in the main market, are Grace Kennedy with 2,625 shares, declining $1.40 at $57.60, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 25,082 shares closing 5 cents off at $6.95, Kingston Wharves with 640 units and closed a cent down at $5.01, Mayberry Investments fell 11 cents to $1.57 with 1,020 shares changing hands, Sagicor Group traded 28,552 shares for 40 cents less at $9 and Scotia Group shed 29 cents to $18.71 with 52,466 shares.
Preference| Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 15,000 units at $5.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.78 points to close at 632.15 as only 6 junior market stocks traded with 1 advancing and 3 declining.
Gains| General Accident with 140,600 shares gained 2 cents to close at $1.35 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 2,500 shares closing at $9.06, Derrimon Trading with 2,100 shares at $2.05 and Lasco Manufacturing 14,700 shares at 91 cents.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading, are Lasco Financial with 118,000 shares, declined 3 cents to end at 97 cents and Paramount Trading with 27,800 shares fell 19 cents to $2.50 for a 52 weeks low.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Trinidad Cement making strides but debt a bother
Trinidad Cement’s June quarter profit before tax bettered by a small amount the results of last year, coming in at $26.5 million versus $23.4 million, but after accounting for a non-recurring charge of nearly $26 million and lower finance cost.
Profit after tax due to shareholders of the company, amounted to $19 million for the quarter and in 2013 $46 million, helped by a tax credit of $33 million and for the year to June, the group reports profit after tax of $30 million versus $70 million in 2013. The non-recurring charge arose from a provision for retroactive pay increases and a charge of $16 million, mainly legal expenses incurred on the aborted debt refinancing exercise initiated earlier in the year. Had these charges not occurred, profit before tax would have been $52 million in the latest quarter. IC Insider is forecasting earnings of 45 cents per share for the full year.
“Key markets of Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname remain buoyant whilst the others have stabilized and accordingly, the Group expects better second half results from operations, as the annual plant stops at the two largest plants have already taken place in the first half,” management, in its comments of the outlook stated.
Revenue in the quarter grew 9 percent to $512 million and for the 6 months from $994 million to $1.07 billion or 8 percent. Operating profit came out at $132 million in the June quarter, versus $114 million in 2013 and for the half year $232 million for 2014 versus $233 million in 2013. Finance cost slipped from $58 million in the June 2013 quarter, to $47 million, due to minimal devaluation in Jamaica compared to 2013. For the six months finance cost fell to $97.5 million from $123 million in 2013.
For the half year, Trinidad Cement generated cash flow of $144 million before loan repayment, up from $90 million last year. After loan repayment and the funding of investment activities, the group was left with $77 million of cash funds, up from $52 million at the end of June 2013. According to the 2013 audited accounts, the group was committed to repay $179 million during 2014 but that would still leave them with total loans of $1.77 billion and equity at the end of June of $573 million, therefore remaining in a highly over leverage position.
Investment in the stock is not without risk, with the heavy debt, in addition, the shareholders’ squabble to change directors, can create negatives for the group as well as it could be positive when everything is resolved. No one really knows how that will pan out. Based on the profit out turn and the likelihood for increased profits to come, IC Insider still accords the stock a BUY RATED status.
Moderate price changes on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Thursday saw 12 securities changing hands of which 3 advanced, 2 declined and 7 traded firm with 745,726 stocks changing hands with a value of $5,950,491.
The Composite Index lost 0.53 points, to close at 1,150.48, the All T&T Index fell 1.07 points, to close at 1,986.31 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 41.19.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close, are National Flour Mills with 6,152 shares to gain 5 cents and ended at $1.10, Trinidad Cement with 77,000 shares valued at $154,352 enjoyed a 5 cents to end at $2 and Unilever Caribbean with 100 shares, closed with a gain of 1 cent to end at $$63.06 for a new 52 weeks high. Trinidad Cement released results for the June quarter, showing profit before tax bettering by a small amount, the results last year, coming in at $26.5 million versus $23.4 million, but after accounting for a non-recurring charge of nearly $26 million and lower finance cost.
Declines| The stocks that declined at the end of trading, are First Citizens Bank, contributing 58,943 shares with a value of $2,093,908 as the price slipped by 28 cents to $35.52, while Point Lisas Industrial Port Development added 7,000 shares valued at $29,050 and lost 5 cents to end at $4.15.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading, are Ansa Merchant Bank in trading 3,357 units at $39.11, Berger Paints with 500 shares, closed at $3.61, Clico Investment Fund traded 137,798 shares valued at $3,031,556, but the price remained at $22, Guardian Holdings exchanged 715 units for $14.30 each, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 450,000 shares changing hands for a value of $184,502, ended at 41 cents, Sagicor Financial had 1,263 shares changing hands at $6.50 and West Indian Tobacco with 1,998 units closed at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Pan-Jamaican hikes dividend, Eppley holds at $9
Pan-Jamaican Investment announced a hike in the upcoming dividend, as the directors approved a third interim dividend for 2014, of 70 cents per stock unit, to be paid on September 26 to stockholders on record, at the close of business on August 27.
The X-Dividend date is September 24, 2014. Interim dividends of 60 cents per share were paid on June 20 and on March 31, this year.
Eppley Limited approved an ordinary dividend of $9 per share, payable on September 2, 2014, to shareholders on record as at August 26, 2014. The EX-Dividend date is August 22. Eppley paid an ordinary interim dividend of $9 per share on February 28, this year.
Supreme Ventures declared a dividend of 3 cents per share, to be paid to shareholders on record, at August 22 and to be paid on September 5, 2014. The stock trades EX-Dividend on August 20, 2014. Supreme Ventures declared a dividend of 3 cents per share payable on March 26, this year and paid a dividend of 3 cents per share, on January 8, 2014. In 2013, dividends per share were paid as follows: 3 cents on September 2, 8 cents on June 17 and 10 cents on March 28.
Cargo Handlers declared a dividend of $1.30 per stock unit, to be paid on September 16, to stockholders on record at August 26, 2014. The stock will trade EX dividend on September 12. The company paid a dividend of 50 cents per share on March 6, this year. In 2013, a dividend of $1 per share was paid on March 28, 2013.
J$ gains on Pound down on Can $ stable US
In Wednesday’s forex trading, the selling rate for the Jamaican dollar was up versus the Canadian dollar but it was fairly stable against the US dollar and fell against the Pound Sterling.
Authorized dealers bought the equivalent of US$34,069,194 versus US$31,547,793 on Tuesday, and sold the equivalent of US$36,968,896 compared to US$43,845,589 on Tuesday. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$29,576,893 compared to US$26,975,990 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 9 cents to $112.33 and US$33,827,227 was sold versus US$39,677,380 on Tuesday, the selling rate was up a cent to $112.83.
The Canadian dollar buying rate declined 70 cents to $101.11 with dealers buying C$933,419 and selling C$689,558, with the selling rate rising by 62 cents to $103.61.The Pound closed at $186.93, for the purchase of £1,690,394 as the rate rose 33 cents while £1,185,147 was sold, as the rate declined by 33 cents to $188.64. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$839,191 while selling was the equivalent of US$527,123.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar, rose 10 cents to $113.20, the lowest buying, the highest and the lowest selling rates remained unchanged, at $91.85, $117.70 and $91.85, respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar, climbed by 35 cents to $103.65 and the lowest buying rate remained at $81.34. The highest selling rate rose 82 cents to $106.50 and the lowest selling rate was up $1.10 to $99.10. The highest buying rate for the British Pound declined 10 cents to $189.40, the lowest buying rate fell 13 cents to $151.35. The highest selling rate fell $3.58, to $191.70 and lowest selling rate eased back by 15 cents to $182.35.
