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FX: J$ record gains

February 10, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 10th February 2014 | The Jamaica dollar regained some value against the USA and Canadian dollars but had mixed fortunes against the British Pound in today’s trading in the Forex market.

There was slightly more buying than selling of the various foreign currencies. The total value of all currencies bought amounted to the equivalent of US$38,550,609 with the equivalent of US$35,464,282 sold.

Dealers bought US dollars at 4 cents less than on Friday’s close to end at $107.04 as US$33,410,739 was purchased with US$32,551,751, sold at $107.77, for a decline of a cent. C$1,254,062 was bought with the rate falling by $1.11 to $95.26 and the selling rate fell by 59 cents to $97.73 with C$791,412 being sold. Dealers bought £2,160,428 with the rate falling 57 cents to $173.90 and sold £1,084,975 at $176.93, an increase of 58 cents. Other currencies bought amounted to US$514,075 and US$413,423 was sold.

Highs & Lows | The highest buying rate for the US dollar increased by 10 cents to $108.40 and the lowest buying and highest selling rates were unchanged at $87.68 and $110.25 respectively. Meanwhile the lowest selling rate fell by $16.38 to $87.67.

The Canadian dollar went as high as $98.30, a decline of 20 cents. The low went up 79 cents to $78.19. The highest selling rate eased by 16 cents to $99.84 and the low fell by 25 cents to $93.

The highest buying rate for the Pound amounted to $177.30, the same rate as Friday and the lowest buying rate closed at $100 for a huge drop of $40.93. The highest selling rate increased by 71 cents to close at $179.92 and the low increased by 85 cents to $170.65.

JSE: Starts week down

February 10, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 10th February 2014 | JSE Market and the All Jamaican Indices were down on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as the prices of 10 stocks rose and 9 declined with a total of 31 securities trading, resulting in 2,016,956 shares changing hands for a value of $38,412,196.

The JSE All Jamaican Composite declined by 380.26 points to close at 83,572.85. The JSE Market Index fell by 250.68 points to 79,184.54.

Main Market gains | Caribbean Cement with 29,870 shares as it gained 10 cents to close at $4.12; Carreras closed up by 25 cents to $34.35 while trading 65,939 units; Jamaica Broilers had 51,214 shares trading and was up 6 cents to close at $4.86; Mayberry traded 2,000 shares to close at $2, up by 15 cents; National Commercial Bank with 302,200 units to close at $18.10 for a 10 cents gain; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund increased by 1 cent to close at $7.01, a new 52 weeks high with 8,700 units changing hands; Scotia Group with 59,150 units as the price rose by 9 cents to close at $21.10; Seprod rose 10 cents to close at $11 with 15,000 shares trading.

Firm trades | Six ordinary shares traded firm in the main market and two in the preference section. Berger Paints having 166,803 units at $1.75; Cable & Wireless with 403,970 shares to close at 30 cents; Grace Kennedy with 303,243 shares as the price slipped by 10 cents to $55; Jamaica Producers with 128,000 shares at $18.75; Kingston Wharves 22,753 shares to close at $6 and Radio Jamaica 6,245 shares at $1.60.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 10,000 units to close at $3 with and the 7.25% closed at $2.50 while trading 1,000 shares.

Losers | Counted amongst the losing stocks are Barita Investments with 3,000 units at $2.50, a 10 cents drop; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had just 1,150 units trading with the price easing 3 cents to close at $7.40; Sagicor Group 25,491 shares to close at $9.30, a decline of 20 cents; Scotia Investments traded just 1,693 units as the price closed at $24.50 for a fall of $2; Supreme Ventures exchanged 13,800 shares at 3 cents less than the opening price.

The JSE Junior Market Index closed down by 6.62 points to 749.04 as the price of only 2 stocks gained and 4 declined.

Junior Market winners | Access Financial with a gain of 10 cents in trading 9,028 units to close at $10.56 and Lasco Financial with 64,100 shares at $1.35, up 15 cents.

Firm trades | AMG Packaging trading only 1,054 shares to close at $3.60; General Accident 90,649 shares to close at $1.60 and Honey bun with 5,000 shares and closed at $3. Eppley 9.5% preference shares traded 21,600 units at $6.

Declines | Four stocks that suffered declines include Caribbean Producers while trading only 4,000 shares to close at $2.55 and down 15 cents; Dolphin Cove with 4,900 units, closing down 30 cents to end at $8.60; Lasco Manufacturing 55,962 units to close down a cent to $1.25 and Medical Disposables 10,000 units trading down 4 cents to $2.06.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower. The reading, which had climbed to 10 to 2 on Friday, is back to the levels seen last week Thursday with a 4 to 4.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company, Trading Activity

TTSE: First Citizens only stock with price change

February 10, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 10th February 2014 | First Citizens was the only stock trading with price change on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange. The stock’s price went up by 48 cents to close at $39 while trading 124,585 shares for a value of $4,858,713. Trading resulted in just 8 securities of which 1 advanced, none declined and 7 traded firm as the market seems to have gone a bit soft.

The Composite Index declined by .29 points and closed at 1,194.98, the All T&T Index edged down .58 points to 2,003.28 and the Cross Listed Index was unchanged at 50.79. Trading activity produced 341,345 shares valued at $10,887,842.

Declines | There were no declines in the market at the end of trading.

Firm trades | Angostura Holdings that contributed 6,800 shares with a value of $73,100, the price ended at $10.75; Clico Investment Fund traded 119,320 shares valued at $2,631,541, with the price remaining at $22.05; Neal & Massy traded 11,256 shares valued at $745,710 to close at $66.25; Republic Bank traded 15,572 shares valued at $2,060,317 with the price ending the day at $117.25; Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 61,012 units for a value of $487,596 as the price closed at $8; Scotiabank traded 300 shares to close at $72.50.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 8 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: Daily Trading, Trading Activity, TTSE

Cargo Handlers’ solid quarter

February 7, 2014 by IC Insider.com

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For the December quarter 2013, revenues excluding interest income, grew by 23 percent for the Montego Bay based and junior listed Cargo Handlers and profit reached $27.99 million, up from $22 million in 2012. Total revenues amounted to $51 million, up from $41.6 million in the previous year’s quarter and operating revenues grew by 9 percent to $44.3 million. Operating expenses grew from $20 million to $23.4 million, an increase of 15 percent.

Earnings per share rose from 53 cents to 67 cents in the quarter, an increase of 26 percent. Earnings for 2014, which ends in September, should be close to $3 per share. For the year to September 2013, the company earned $2.27 per share.

The results do not yet reflect the proposed acquisition of the tanker operating company for transporting fuel. The company indicates that the acquisition should be concluded during February. A deposit of $69 million against the purchase was made and is included in receivables on the balance sheet in December at $95 million, an increase over $19 million as of September 2013. Cash is down from $131 million in September to $69 million at the end of December. The company is debt free.

The purchase will be fully in cash so there should be further depletion of cash when the deal is concluded. There should be some administrative cost savings as some of the functions now done by the transport company can be transferred to Cargo Handlers thus saving on cost.

A dividend of 50 cents per share was just declared by the company and is payable in March 6, 2014.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Cargo Handlers, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

New products for Medical Disposables

February 7, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Medical Disposables & Supplies has advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange that they have entered into a distribution agreement with Denk Pharma.

The company indicates that Denk Pharma is a premium Pharmaceutical manufacturer since 1948 with headquarters in Munchen, Germany. Denk has maintained a presence in Jamaica for 16 years and has appointed the company as a co-distributor for its entire product range islandwide.

Medical Disposables & Supplies was listed on the Junior Market in December last year after a successful IPO.

Related posts | Medical Disposables, OK not great

Image courtesy of DreamDesigns/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: Jamaican Stock, JSE Company, Medical Disposables

Derrimon Trading goes for $200m

February 6, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Recently listed Derrimon Trading Company goes the capital market to raise up to J$200,000,000 from an 18 months Secured Commercial Paper with a minimum denominations of J$1,000,000.00 and increments of $100,000 at a fixed rate of 12.25 percent per annum. Interest is payable monthly, which raises the effective rate beyond that stated. The net proceeds from the issue will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes the term sheet states.

The issue date is February 6, 2014 and Maturity is August 6, 2015. Withholding tax shall apply to Note holders in accordance with applicable laws. Mayberry Investments are the brokers for the issue.

Derrimon Trading went public last year December and raised $102.5 million in fresh capital in an IPO offering for working capital, expansion and cost of the IPO estimated not to exceed $9.5 million, the prospectus stated.

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The problem here is that if they succeed with the current issue which involves expensive money, borrowings will exceed equity capital. Borrowed debt should not be more than 50 percent of equity capital, the accepted norm.

The last balance sheet. disclosed at the time of the IPO, showed a company with adequate working capital, requiring more equity injection than the IPO brought in to align the current asset ratio in line with the accepted norm of $2 of current assets versus $1 of current liabilities. Instead, what existed then was $1.15 to $1 and even with the infusion of funds from the IPO, it would have gone to a still inadequate $1.33 to $1.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, Stock Market Tagged With: Derrimon Trading, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

CPJ’s new St Lucia venture

February 6, 2014 by IC Insider.com

The Board of Directors of Caribbean Producers Jamaica advises that the company signed a Shareholders’ Agreement on February 4th, 2014 to form a joint venture with the Du Boulay Bottling Company, the Coca Cola manufacturer operating in Castries, St. Lucia.

The new company will be called CPJ St Lucia Limited and commences operations as a foodservice distributor in Castries, St. Lucia in the near future. Caribbean Producers will retain controlling interest of this company.

Caribbean Producers Jamaica is an IC Insider’s Buy Rated Stock. Click here for the full list of recommended stocks to purchase.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: Caribbean Producers (CPJ), Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

First Caribbean may be delisted

February 6, 2014 by IC Insider.com

First Caribbean Bank has left it to the Jamaica Stock Exchange to determine if they will delist the shares, according to an advert put out by the Bank, which is listed on various exchanges within the region.

The JSE advised them that the number of shares in the public hands is less than 20 percent as is the requirement. In addition, the level of trading is below the threshold desirable, being less than 2 percent average over 36 months, prior to the making notice to the Bank. As a result, the advert also indicated that the company was in breach of section 402b (1)(b) of the JSE rules.

After careful review of the matter, the bank has determined that it will not be feasible for either the proportion of the non-majority held shares or the average total traded volume to be raised to the minimum required in the foreseeable future.

The bank has decided that it will accept that it will be delisted by the JSE and has invited the JSE Board to exercise its discretion under rule 411a to delist the bank at its February meeting.

The bank is the largest holding by market share on the exchange and this will be the second large corporation taken off the exchange this year, if in fact, the JSE moves to delist to shares.

Trinidad Guardian Holdings opted not to remain listed on the JSE at the start of 2014 based on the low level of trading in its stock. The JSE went public last year against the background of lower income and profits than the year before and these moves will mean reduced income for the JSE and most likely worsen the loss position they suffered in the last three quarters of 2013.

Related posts | FCIB gets punched | JSE IPO oversubscribed by 41%

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: First Caribbean, Jamaican Stock, JSE Company

Ghana financials up 21%

February 5, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, Feb 5th 2014 | Many stock markets would be pleased to record a gain of 21 percent in a year, but this is what the financial index for the Ghana Stock Exchange has done in just over a month.

Two stocks are kicking up a storm as the GSE financial stock index climbed 20.97 percent since the start of the year. The index gained 4 percent today as it climbed by 80.42 to end at 2,161.30 from 2,080.88 on close on Tuesday.

The GSE Composite index rose by 58.58 points at the end of today’s trading to 2,416.52, up 2.5 percent on the day. On Tuesday, the index closed at 2,357.95. Overall, the GSE index is up a more moderate 12.65 percent for the year than that of the financials. On Tuesday, the main index was up by 40.20 points or 1.7 percent.

In today’s trading, 5 stocks recorded gains versus 5 on Tuesday and only one declined on Wednesday to two on Tuesday.

Standard Chartered Bank Ghana put in another strong performance with GH(¢)1.50 gain to close at GH(¢)20.50 an increase of 8.5 percent. On Tuesday the price moved up by GH(¢)1.06 to close at GH(¢)19.

On Wednesday, Ecobank Ghana put on GH(¢)0.30 to end at GH(¢)7.50 for a gain of 4.2 percent. On Tuesday, the bank closed at $7.20 after posting a GH(¢)0.30 gain. New Gold Issuer dropped GH(¢)3.13 to close at GH(¢)23 on Tuesday.

Related posts | GSE: Ghana continues bullish move

Filed Under: Global Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Ghana, Ghana Stock Exchange, Trading Activity

Trade deficit gains eroded

February 5, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica’s trade deficit which saw an improvement for the year to August of US$300 million, suffered a setback by October when the deficit fell by US$210 million, an erosion of $100 million.

The deterioration came as total expenditure on imports during January to October 2013 fell by US$309 million or 5.6 percent, to US$5.16 billion compared to the same period in 2012, while earnings from exports fell by US$99 million or 7 percent to US$1.31 billion resulting in a decline in the trade deficit to US$3.84 billion, down 5.2 percent from the US$4.05 billion recorded in the January to October 2012 period.

“Mineral Fuels etcetera”, “Food”, “Machinery and Transport Equipment”, “Chemicals”, and “Manufactured Goods” were the top five commodity groups imported. Increased spending was recorded for “Food” which rose by US$11.3 million or 1.4 percent to US$807 million, up from the US$795 million accounting for 15.6 percent of imports.

The country imported “Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods” amounting to US$3.22 billion during the 2013 period, compared to US$3.438 billion in the comparable period in 2012, a 6.4 percent decrease amounting to US$218 million. Imports of “Other Fuels and Lubricants” fell by 15.2 percent to US$1.06 billion compared to the US$1.25 billion expenditure for the 2012 period.

Traditional Domestic Exports for the first ten months of 2013 earned US$653 million. Receipts fell by 6.1 percent or US42.6 million largely due to the decline in “Manufacture”. The “Mining and Quarrying” and “Agriculture exports” increase was insufficient to offset the overall decline in total exports during the 2013 period.

Non-Traditional Domestic Exports fell by US$71 million or 10.7 percent to US$589 million during the ten-months of 2013. Earnings represented 47.4 percent of total domestic exports, compared to 48.7 percent in the 2012 period.

Total exports of Non-Traditional declined by 21.2 percent or US$15.0 million to US$56 million during the January to October 2013 period. Domestic exports moved from US$62 million to US$48 million because of decreases in “Chemicals”, “Misc. Manufactured Articles” and “Mineral Fuels, etcetera”. Earnings from these three commodity groups fell in the 2013 review period to US$5 million, US$3.4 million, and US$0.4 million respectively. “

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Deficit, Economy, Trade