Profit after tax surged 155 percent at Jamaica National Building Society, for the year to March 2014 to reach $2.3 billion from only $908 million in the previous year. The improvement came from revenues of $15.7 billion compared with $14.7 billion in 2013.
The 2013 result was negatively affected by a $830 million hit the group got from the government of Jamaica debt swap, where higher yielding bonds were exchanged for lower yielding ones, leading to a write down of market value of the bonds they held, at the time of the debt swap. But even without such one off charge, profit in 2014 would still have been up by a respectable 25.5 percent. To achieve the results, operating expenses were held to an increase of only 5.8 percent.
At the end of the March, assets climbed by 12.3 percent to $162.46 billion, from $144.6 billion at March 2013. Of the total assets, loans made up just $60 billion or 37 percent. There were mortgages approved but not yet disbursed amounting to $2.685 billion at the end of the year versus $2.344 billion at March 2013. Investment securities made up the bulk of the other assets. Equity capital stood at $26.8 billion and savers deposits at $86.6 billion.
155% profit surge at JNBS
Inflows don’t meet outflows
In Forex trading on Wednesday, the total inflows of funds was less than outflows, with the equivalent of US$30,976,689 being purchased to US$32,934,235 sold and compares to the equivalent of US$27,377,149 bought and US$29,447,519 sold on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$27,065,797 compared to US$23,344,802 on Tuesday as the buying rate for the US dollar rose 21 cents to $112.14 and sold US$29,837,045 versus US$27,193,483 on Tuesday, with the rate rising 13 cents to $112.74.
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 6 cents to $103.12 with dealers buying C$1,001,201 and selling only C$1,469,073, the rate rose by $1.30 to $106.55.
The Pound closed at $189.39 for the purchase of £1,054,247, the rate decline $1.29, while £539,822 was sold, with the rate inching up by 3 cents to $192.97. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$1,209,746 while selling was the equivalent of just US$784,851.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar fell $3.83 to $113.25, the lowest buying rate climbed 17 cents to $92.02 and the highest selling rates increased by 21 cents to $117.91 and the lowest selling rate rose $1.62 to $93.47.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell $1.87 to $106.10 and the lowest buying rate declined by 29 cents to $83.83. The highest selling rate was unchanged at $108.39 and lowest selling rate, slipped by 35 cents to $101.
The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell 15 cents to $193.65, while the lowest buying rate rose 4 cents at $154.75 and the highest selling rate dropped by $3.11 to $196.34, the lowest selling rate was down $1.35 cents to $185.10.
More stocks up than down for 3rd day
In Wednesday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 9 stocks rose and 7 declined, the third consecutive day with more stocks rising than falling as 28 securities changed hands, resulting in 3,679,094 shares trading, valued at $40,219,824.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 396.20 points to close at 70,593.18 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up by 443.48 points to close at 77,644.19.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Carreras with 13,570 shares changing hands, with a gain of 20 cents, to close at $35.20, Kingston Wharves 4,000 shares while gaining of 80 cents to close at $6, Mayberry Investments with only 1,020 units and gained 2 cents, to close at $1.50, Sagicor Group 590,364 units with a gain of 19 cents, to close at $9.09, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 4,930 units as the price gained of 5 cents, to close at $6 and Scotia Investments 16,500 shares, gained 80 cents, to close at $21.90.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price are Berger Paints, with 5,025 shares closing at $1.65, Cable & Wireless 19,705 shares, closing at 29 cents, Ciboney with 5,000 shares to close at 8 cents, Grace Kennedy 8,194 shares, closing at $56, Jamaica Broilers with 9,318 shares, to close at $4.57, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 1,009,508 shares closing at $7 and Radio Jamaica with 9,292 units, closing at $1.28
Preference| Access Financial 9% Short Term Note traded 5,000 units at $100 each, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share 384,621 units, to close at $3.03 and Proven Investments 8% preference share, 100 units to close at $5.07.
Declines| The stocks that declined in the main market are Caribbean Cement with 15,358 units and closed 5 cents down, at $2.20, Desnoes & Geddes with 600 shares closed at $4.40 with a decline of 5 cents, Kingston Properties 10,000 units, closing at $3.85 after shedding 15 cents, National Commercial Bank with 38,330 units and closed at $18, for a 35 cents fall, Pan Jamaican Investment 3,500 shares to close at $48.02 with a decline of 8 cents and Scotia Group with 1,274,586 shares after losing 21 cents to end at $18.40.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 4.96 points to close at 711.65 as 6 stocks traded with 3 advancing and 1 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are, General Accident with 100,000 units, with a gain of 5 cents, to close at $1.45, Lasco Distributors 55,007 shares, gained 1 cent to close at $1.20 and Lasco Manufacturing had 26,566 shares changing hands with a gain of 8 cents, to close at $1.08.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded and closed at the same price as the previous trading day are, Blue Power with 1,000 shares, in closing at $9.01 and Lasco Financial 60,000 shares to close at $1.
Declines| Only one stocks declined in the junior market at the end of trading with Consolidated Bakeries having 13,000 units changing hands and closed 10 cents lower, at 70 cents.
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 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Scotiabank’s 200,069 shares rescue price
In Wednesday’s trading on the Trinidad stock market 200,069 units of Scotiabank shares changed hands thus recurring the price that was set to fall sharply but it closed today’s trading with only a small loss to close at a new 52 weeks low.
At the end of trading on Tuesday, the price of Scotiabank seemed set to suffer a major fall, with an offer to sell 14,308 shares at $67.95 compared with a last sale price of $69. The bid was $63.50 to buy only 137 shares, suggesting lack of demand for the bank’s stock. At the end of trading on Wednesday there was an offer to sell 13,970 shares at $68.75 which is below the day’s closing price and the bid is as it was on Tuesday.
Two bank stocks accounted for the bulk of trading, with over 400,000 units changing hands between. At the end of trading 10 securities changed hands of which 1 advanced and closed, 3 declined and 6 traded firm with 447,839 units changing hands for a value of $40,144,143. At the end of trading, the Composite Index remained unchanged at 1,165.15, the All T&T Index barely rose, moving up by a mere 0.01 points to close at 2,012.61 and the Cross Listed Index remained flat, at 41.59.
Gains| Republic Bank was the only stock to gain in trading as it traded 200,000 shares for $24,410,000 with 5 cents increase to end the day at $122.05, a new 52 weeks high.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are Agostini’s with 622 shares to close down 3 cent at $17.45, Massy Group in contributing 21,020 shares to today’s trades with a value of $1,463,450, closed 9 cents lower at $69.51 and Scotiabank with 200,069 shares changing hands for a value of $13,792,756.86 to close with a fall 6 cents at $68.94.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Angostura Holdings with 830 shares to close at $13.00, First Citizens Bank 3,601 units to close at $35.01, Clico Investment Fund posted a volume of 13,125 shares valued at $284,156.25 to close at $21.65, Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded a mere 1,904 to end at 41 cents and One Caribbean Media with 105 shares, to close at $25 and Sagicor Financial Corporation added 6,563 shares valued at $42,660 to close at $6.50.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 1 stock with the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
More outflows than inflows as J$ slips
In Forex trading on Tuesday, the total inflows of funds was less than outflows, with the equivalent of US$27,377,149 being purchased to US$29,447,519 sold and compares to the equivalent of US$42,845,590 bought and US$36,734,655 sold on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$23,344,802 compared to US$36,457,358 on Monday as the buying rate for the US dollar rose 4 cents to $111.93 and sold US$27,193,483 versus US$32,914,257 on Monday, with the rate rising 10 cents to $112.62.
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 6 cents to $103.06 with dealers buying C$1,131,413 and selling only C$571,616, the rate eased by 35 cents to $105.25.
The Pound closed at $190.68 for the purchase of £1,677,707, the rate decline 3 cents, while £934,936 was sold, with the rate inching up by 7 cents to $192.94. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$132,419 while selling was the equivalent of just US$118,011.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar rose $3.78 to $117.08, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $91.85 and $117.70 respectively, but the lowest selling rate rose 83 cents to $91.85.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar climbed $2.02 to $107.97 and the lowest buying rate was up 4 cents to $84.12. The highest selling rate was unchanged at $108.39 and lowest selling rate, grew by $18.51 to $101.35.
The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell 70 cents to $193.80, while the lowest buying rate and the highest selling rate were unchanged at $154.71 and $199.45 respectively, the lowest selling rate was up by 5 cents to $186.45.
Prices of 9 stocks rose & 4 declined
In Tuesday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 9 stocks rose and 4 declined, 25 securities changed hands resulting in 3,183,862 shares trading, valued at $36,706,402.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index rose by 449.66 points to 70,196.56 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up by 02.81 points to close at 77200.71.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are, Desnoes & Geddes with 30,000 units to close 15 cents higher at $4.45 followed by Mayberry Investments with 1,980 units as the price gained 2 cents to end at $1.48, National Commercial Bank 830,055 shares at a 85 cents hike to $18.35, Proven Investments with 10,450 ordinary shares as the price inched up by 0.0001 US cents to 18 US cents, Sagicor Group with 1,148,990 shares gained 10 cents and closed at $8.90, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 84,313 shares with the price rising 10 cents to $5.95, Scotia Group with 250,930 units changing hands, gained 11 cents to close at $18.61 and Seprod with 55,472 shares changing hands and closed 10 cents higher at $10.80.
Firm| Stocks trading in the main market to close without a change in price are Cable & Wireless with 11,981 shares to close at 29 cents, Caribbean Cement 6,244 shares at $2.25, Carreras 2,192 shares at $35, Grace Kennedy 420 shares and closed at $56, Radio Jamaica with 1,790 shares closing at $1.28.
Preference| in the fixed income market, Eppley 9.5% preference share traded 16,800 units to close at $6.10, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share, 10,000 units at $2, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share with 176,600 units at $3.03 and Jamaica Teas debenture dote with 3,000 units to trade at $100 each.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Gleaner with 120,000 shares, to close 8 cents lower at $1.10 and Pan Jamaican Investment with 84,470 shares at 40 cents lower to end at $48.10.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 8.11 points to close at 706.69 as 7 stocks traded with 1 advancing and 3 declining.
Gains| The only stock that gained at the end of trading in the junior market is Caribbean Producers with 8,845 shares, to close with a gain of 18 cents at $2.83.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are, AMG Packaging with 2,500 shares to close at $3.10, Lasco Distributors with 74,000 shares to close at $1.19 and Lasco Financial with 65,500 units to close at $1.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are Honey Bun traded 500 shares but fell 12 cents to $2.90 for a 52 weeks low and Lasco Manufacturing 189,830 shares, as it closed lower by 12 cents at $1.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with higher bids than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
One Caribbean jumps $1.87 to new high
IC Insider’s Buy Rated, One Caribbean Media closed at a new high of $25 and still seems poised to go higher based on the closing bid and offer.
Trading levels on the Trinidad stock market picked up somewhat with 16 securities changing hands, 4 advanced, 1 declined and 11 traded firm with 341,101 stocks changing hands, valued at $3,207,290.
The Composite Index rose 1.11 points to close at 1,165.15, the All T&T Index rose by just 2.92 points to close at 2,012.60 and the Cross Listed Index fell by a mere 0.09 points to end at 41.59, but the index could get a jolt when Scotiabank next trades with an offer of $67.95 compared with a last sale price of $69, the bid is at $63.50 for only 137 shares.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are Guardian Holdings that traded 2,764 units to close a cent up, at $14.31, Massy Group inched forward by 3 cents to close at a new 52 weeks high of $69.60, National Flour Mills closed with 1,900 units changing hands to close with a 5 cents gain at $1.05, One Caribbean Media gained $1.87 to end the day at $25 with 3,788 shares changing hands.
Declines| The only stocks declining at the end of trading is Sagicor Financial Corporation with 104,600 shares changing hands, for a value of $679,915 as the price shed 3 cents, to close at $6.50.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Ansa Mcal with 174 shares to close at $66.25, Clico Investment Fund with a volume of 77,141 shares valued at $1,670,203 as the price ended at $21.65. Firstcaribbean International Bank added 22,400 shares valued at $112,000 to close at $5, First Citizens Bank with 5,685 shares to close at $35.01, Grace Kennedy with a volume of 64,416 shares being traded for $222,235 to close at $3.45. Jamaica Money Market Brokers contributed 27,695 shares with a value of $11,355, and closed at 41 cents, National Commercial Bank with 3,000 shares to close at $1.09, National Enterprises with only 10 units traded at $18.25, Republic Bank with 375 units in closing at $122 while Scotia Investments traded 16,129 shares to end at $1.55 and Trinidad Cement 10,000 units to close at $1.95.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 2 stocks with the bids higher than the last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
Jamaica Broiler paid J$1.18 billion for US operation
Jamaica Broiler paid J$1.18 billion for England Packaging Company Inc, the group’s US acquisition last year and $111 million for the Hamilton Smoke House, a meat processing operation locally.
According to the company’s latest audited accounts, the two new operations contributed revenues of $1.78 billion and profits of $140 million to the group results for 2014. If they were owned from the start of the fiscal year, they would have accounted for revenues of $2.22 billion and profits of $202.6 million.
Segments| Best Dressed Foods contributed sales of $15.47 billion and segment profit of $1.25 billion, for 2014 fiscal year, Hipro-Ace, $8.85 billion in revenues, and segment profit of $798 million. Ethanol made a loss of $66 million from revenues of $578 million, the US operations reported a profit of $333 million from revenues of $4.7 billion and other revenues accounted for $1.25 billion and profit of $453 million.
In the prior year, Best Dressed Foods contributed sales of $13.2 billion and segment profit of $929 million, Hipro-Ace, $8.75 billion in revenues and higher segment profit of $910 million. Ethanol made a profit of $21 million from revenues of $1.73 million, the US operations reported a profit of only $21 million from revenues of $1.7 billion and other revenues contributed $920 million and profit of $335 million. Segment profit is arrived at before group charges and finance cost.
Full year|Jamaica Broiler reported lower profits for the year ended April 2014 from revenues of $30.85 billion, up from $26.5 billion in 2013, for a 16 percent revenue growth. Some of the growth in revenue came from the acquired companies but ethanol robbed the group of a larger revenue increase and better profit.
Gross profit| Gross profit increased from $5.5 billion, to $6.7 billion as gross profit margin climbed from 25.93 percent, to 27.88 percent in 2014. Gross profit grew by 23 percent but administrative cost jumped by nearly a third or $1 billion to negate the improved contribution in gross profit. In the end finance cost rose by $100 million and dragged profit down to $919 million versus $1 billion in 2013, resulting in earnings per share of 79.8 cents. The increase finance cost is due primarily to a shrinkage in cash funds of $1.14 billion and increased borrowings of $757 million.
The stock last traded at $4.57, giving it a PE of 5.7 based on the 2014 results, but IC Insider is forecasting $1.13 per shares earnings for the 2015 fiscal year, which would put the PE at just 4, based on these forecasted earnings.
More inflows than outflows but J$ still slips vs US
In Forex trading on Monday, the total inflows of funds was more than outflows, with the equivalent of US$42,845,590 being purchased to US$36,734,655 sold compared to the equivalent of US$24,376,857 bought and US$22,464,188 sold on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$36,457,358 compared to US$20,362,496 on Friday as the buying rate for the US dollar fell 1 cent to $111.89 and sold US$32,914,257 versus US$18,760,043 on Friday, with the rate rising 3 cents to $112.52.
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell $1.97 to $103 with dealers buying C$1,284,007 and selling only C$770,986, the rate eased by 51 cents to $105.60.
The Pound closed at $190.71 for the purchase of £2,508,638, the rate rose 91 cents, while £1,297,137 was sold, with the rate inching up by 29 cents to $192.88. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$930,317 while selling was the equivalent of just US$873,204.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar gained 40 cents to $113.30, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $91.85 
and $117.70 respectively, but the lowest selling rate declined by 83 cents to $91.02.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 35 cents to $105.95 and the lowest buying rate was up 25 cents to $84.08. The highest selling rate was up 32 cents, to $108.39 and lowest selling rate, dropped by $18.16 to $82.84.
The highest buying rate for the British Pound, increased by $1.20 to $194.50, while the lowest buying rate increased 8 cents to $154.71. The highest selling rate climbed $3.34 to $199.45 and the lowest selling rate was up by $3.44 to $186.40.
NIR jumps US$211M to US$1.376 Billion
The net International reserves (NIR) jumped US$211 million in June to reach US$1.376 billion. The NIR now represents 19.90 weeks of goods imports and 14.57 weeks of goods and services imports.
The Gross NIR amounts to US$2.016 billion at the end of June. During the month the central bank offered a series of US dollar based bonds and this would have helped to swell the numbers.
