TTSE: First Citizens hits new high – $38.50

December 19, 2013 by

Thursday, 19th December 2013 | In trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange First Citizens Bank traded 9,218 units and closed at $38.50 for a gain of 50 cents to record a new high since listing in September this year.

Trading took place in 13 securities of which 6 advanced, 2 declined and 5 traded firm. The Composite Index advanced by 1.88 points to close at 1,179.15, the All T&T Index advanced by 5.25 points to close at 1,983.30 and the Cross Listed Index declined by 0.19 points to close at 49.24.a total of 626,815 shares traded at a value of $8,662,279.

Guardian Holdings exchanged 9,467 units at $14.00 up 25 cents; Grace Kennedy enjoyed strong volume of 231,780 shares changing hands for a value of $789,852 to close at $3.46 up 6 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had a volume of 147,185 shares being traded for $75,536 and the price closed at 52 cents; Neal & Massy gained 85 cents to end the day at $60.00 but only 500 units traded. Scotiabank traded 21,025 shares at $72.53; Scotia Investments contributed 78,166 shares with a value of $117,749 as the price declined by 24 cents to close at $1.51, while ANSA McAL added 68,867 shares valued at $4,579,656 to close up 20 cents at $66.50. Trinidad Cement traded 12,069 units and closed at $2.17 for a 3 cents fall.

TTSEDec19Clico Investment Fund had a volume of 47,080 shares valued at $1,021,637, the price remained at $21.70 at the end of trading.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator show bids for 4 stocks higher and 3 offers lower than their last selling prices.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , ,

Dividends galore coming

December 19, 2013 by

It should be a Merry Christmas for investors in the companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as several companies have either announced dividend payments or have announced plans to make one.

Sagicor Investments Jamaica Limited declared an interim dividend in the amount of 91 cents per stock unit payable on January 28, 2014 to stockholders on record as at January 7, the ex-dividend date of January 3. The company paid an interim dividend of 12 cents per stock unit on October 31, 2013 and 48 cents per stock unit on March 27, 2013. In 2012, Sagicor paid a dividend of 57 cents per stock unit on October 29, 2012 to stockholders and 74.3 cents per stock unit on April 27, 2012.

Jamaica Producers Group Limited has declared an interim dividend of $0.20 per share payable on January 28, 2014 to shareholders on record as at December 31. The ex-dividend date is December 27.

Supreme Ventures Limited has declared a dividend of $0.03 per share payable on January 8, 2014 to shareholders on record as at December 20. The ex-dividend date is December 18.

Jamaica Public Service Company Limited has declared quarterly preference share dividends payable on December 31, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 13, as follows:

  • JPS 5% “C” – $0.025 per share, JPS 5% “D” – $0.025 per share, JPS 6% “E” – $0.030 per share
  • JPS 7% “B” – $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date is December 11, 2013.

FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited declared a final dividend for the year ended October 31, 2013 of US$0.015 per share payable on January 30, 2014 to shareholders on record as at December 19. The ex-dividend date is December 17.

Kingston Wharves has declared an interim dividend of 8 cents per share payable on December 20, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 13. The ex-dividend date is December 11. This brings the payment for 2013 to 16 cents per share compared with 12 cents in 2012. The company paid a final dividend of 2 cents per share in respect of the financial year ended December 2012 and an interim dividend of 8 cents per share in respect of the current year, on Thursday, March 28.  On December 21st last year, a dividend of 10 cents per share was paid.

Hardware & Lumber declared an interim dividend for the year 2013 of 30 cents per stock unit payable on January 17, 2014 to stockholders on record as at December 20. The ex-dividend date is December 18, 2013. The company last paid a dividend of 12.5 cents per stock unit on January 31, 2013.

The Board of Directors of  Scotia Group Jamaica announced a final dividend of 40 cents per stock unit payable on January 13, 2014, to stockholders on record at December 18, 2013. Scotia Investments also declared a final dividend of 45 cents payable on January 13 next year. Both companies have been paying 40 and 45 cents per share from the last quarter of 2012.

Salada Foods Jamaica declared a dividend of 40 cents per share payable on December 19, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 3. The ex-dividend date is November 29, 2013. The company last paid a dividend of 40 cents per share on January 8, 2013.

Paramount Trading declared an interim dividend of 13.5 cents per share payable on December 10, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 29. The ex-dividend date is November.

Lasco Distributors is to pay an interim dividend of 2.3 cents per share payable on December 10, 2013 to shareholders on record at November. The ex-dividend date is November 22. The last dividend paid was of $0.25 per share payable on July 31, 2012 based on the number of shares in existence then in June this year the company split the stock into 10 shares for each one already issued..

Jamaica Money Market Brokers declared a 16 cents per share dividend payable on December 18, 2013 to shareholders on record on November 27. The ex-dividend date is November 25. This is a 23% increase over the prior period. The last dividend paid was 10 cents per share on March 28, 2013. Last year December a dividend of 13 cents per ordinary share was paid.

Pan-Jamaican Investment Trust declared a third interim dividend of 50 cents per share payable on December 20, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 27. The ex-dividend date is November 25. PJAM paid 45 cents on September 20, $1.10 on March 25, and 55 cents on December 20 last year.

Carreras declared an interim dividend of $1.00 per share payable on December 11, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 20, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November18, 2013. The company last paid a dividend of a similar amount in August. The amounts represent a cut from $1.50 that investors had become accustomed to.  A slide in profits from a drop in sales have resulted in the cut.

Grace Kennedy declared an interim dividend of $0.70 per share payable on December 11, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 22, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 20, 2013.

Proven Investments declared a dividend of US$0.0022 per ordinary share payable on December 3, 2013 to shareholders on record at November 19, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 15, 2013. The also declared a preference share dividend of $0.10 per share payable on December 23, 2013 to shareholders on record as at December 9, 2013. The ex-dividend date is December 5, 2013.

Dolphin Cove declared an interim dividend of $0.10 per share payable on December 4, 2013 to shareholders on record as at November 15, 2013. The ex-dividend date is November 13, 2013.

Dividends for consideration | The Board of Directors of Barita Investments Limited will consider (and if thought fit), recommend the payment of an interim dividend for the financial year ended September 30, 2013 at a meeting to be held on Friday, December 20, 2013.

The Board of Directors of Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited will consider a dividend payment at a meeting to be held on Monday, December 23, 2013.

AMG Packaging & Paper Company will consider the payment of an interim dividend at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2014.

Filed Under: Company News, Dividends Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

JSE: Market up ticks

December 18, 2013 by

Wednesday, 18th December 2013 | Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange saw increased activity in the junior market with 12 of the stocks trading. There were three stocks that recorded new 52 weeks closing highs at the end of trading. The total volume of stocks traded amounted 10,512,394 units with a value of $19,909,321.

Indices | Trading activity resulted in the JSE Market Index advanced 286.12 closed at 77,978.21, the JSE All Jamaican Composite moved up 497.41 to close at 77,377.08 and the JSE Junior Market Index closed at 778.24 for an increase of 9.73.

Main Market | Cable and Wireless traded 8,141,059 units to close unperturbed at 16 cents; Grace Kennedy exchanged 66,565 units at $63 up by $2; Kingston Wharves exchanged 8,983 units firm at $6.06; National Commercial Bank continues to struggle in trading with only 7,800 units trading to close unchanged at $17.20; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund traded 10,000 to close up 5 cents at $6.05, a new record close; Scotia Group traded 523,684 units to close at $18.25, down by $1.75 while its subsidiary Scotia Investments traded 20500 units as the price lost 56 cents to end at $25.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share traded 50,000 units at $2.

Junior market | The Junior market saw trading in 12 companies, the most for some time with Access Financial Services reaching a new all time high of $11 by putting on $1 as it traded 12,000 units.

JSEIndicesDec18Blue Power Group exchanged 35,568 units as the price rose 12 cents to end at $9.50; Caribbean Cream produced 232,000 shares as the price slipped 2 cents to end at $1; Caribbean Producers traded 10,000 units to close unchanged at $2.55, newly listed Derrimon Trading exchanged 979,226 and put on 5 cents to end at $2.40 a new high; General Accident Insurance traded 30,000 shares to close firm at $1.62; Honey Bun exchanged 35,316 units at $3.41; Lasco Distributors traded 103,240 units and closed firm at $1.40; Lasco Financial Services put in 14,152 units but the price slipped 5 cents to $1.07 at the close; Lasco Manufacturing traded 201,710 units to close at $1.55 up 2 cents and Paramount Trading traded 16,273 shares firm at $3.51.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator show bids for 9 stocks higher and 4 offers lower than their last selling prices.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

TTSE: First Citizens hits another record

December 18, 2013 by
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Wednesday, 18th December 2013 | First Citizens Bank traded 66,219 shares changing hands for a value of $2,516,435, increasing 66 cents to end the day at a new record of $38.10 and has gained 73 percent since listing in September on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange.

Overall Market activity was limited and restricted to just 8 securities of which 6 advanced, none declined and 2 traded firm. The Composite Index advanced by 2.11 points to close at 1,177.27, the All T&T Index advanced by 4.20 points to close at 1,978.05 and the Cross Listed Index advanced by 0.01 points to close at 49.43. Trading activity on the market saw 311,461 shares changing hands valued at $13,666,829.

Guardian Holdings traded 5,508 shares at $13.75, up by 20 cents; National Flour Mills added 15,000 shares valued at $14,250 to close firm at 95 cents; West Indian Tobacco had a big volume of 43,256 shares traded for $5,191,988 but the price remained unchanged at $120.03; Scotiabank contributed 37,748 shares with a value of $2,737,835 and closed at $72.52.

TTSEDec18Clico Investment Fund traded 143,405 shares valued at $3,111,889 and advanced by 2 cents to end at $21.70.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator show bids for 3 stocks higher and 4 offers lower than their last selling prices.

Image courtesy of Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE: Derrimon Trading starts

December 17, 2013 by

Tuesday 17th December, 2013 | Derrimon Trading Company started trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange today with 27,500 shares at $2.35. The IPO, which closed on December 2, was issued at $2.05 to the public. At the end of trading, there were 2 bids for 70,200 units at $2.30 and two offers at $2.35 to sell 26,052 units.

The total volume in the market for the day came to 5,628,340 with a value of only $38,602,410.

Indices | Trading activity resulted in the JSE Market Index closing at 77,624.11, a decline of 253.78, the JSE All Jamaican Composite at 76761.49, having declined by 441.19 and the JSE Junior Market Index at 752.77 for a decline of 0.62.

Main Market | Cable and Wireless traded 1,234,263 units to close at 16 cents; Caribbean Cement swapped 240,982 units at $2.30, as it gained 8 cents; Carreras 26,930 units were traded at $35.80, up 9 cents; Grace Kennedy exchanged 250,000 units at $61; Jamaica Broilers Group traded 46,315 units at the price closed up  cents at $4.31, up 8 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 100,000 units trading unchanged at $7.87; Kingston Wharves exchanged 32,899 units at $6.06; National Commercial Bank struggling to hold the $17 price range exchanged 32,465 units to close unchanged at $17.20; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund traded 10,000 to close up 5 cents at $6.05, a new record close; Scotia Group even after posting record numbers for 2013 is fighting to break out of the current range, traded 20,574 units to close at $18.25, down by $1.75 while its subsidiary Scotia Investments traded 4,213 units as the price lost $1.39 to end at $25.56. Seprod put in a large volume of 1,214,061 and the price recovered back to $11 by putting on $1. Supreme Ventures put in 51,900 units to close up 18 cents at $2.68.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share closed up 10 cents as 888,107 units traded at $3.

JSEIndicesDec17Junior market | The Junior market had one new listing bringing to 20 the number of ordinary shares listed in this segment of the market. In trading C2W Music exchanged 45,000 at 29 cents but there are still a large number of shares to sell; Caribbean Producers traded a s high as $2.74 but closed lower as 374,934 units traded and the price ended up 5 cents at $2.55; Dolphin Cove traded 20,187 units firma at $8.50; Lasco Distributors had a good volume of 465,000 as it closed firm at $1.40; Lasco Financial Services put in 128,000 units but only managed to hold onto $1.12 at the close and Lasco Manufacturing traded a nice volume of 368,706 units to close at $1.53 up 14 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator show bids for 10 stocks higher and 2 offers lower than their last selling prices.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

TTSE: New high for First Citizens

December 17, 2013 by

Tuesday, 17th December 2013 | First Citizens Bank gained 51 cents to hit a new high since listing in September to reach $37.51 at the close while trading 18,255 units.

Market activity resulted in 12 securities changing hands of which 4 advanced, 4 declined and 4 traded firm helping the Composite Index to advance by 0.59 points to close at 1,175.16, the All T&T Index to increase by 1.99 points to close at 1,973.85. The Cross Listed Index declined by 0.10 points to close at 49.42. Trading accounted for 336,865 shares with a value of $5,792,087.

Grace Kennedy lost 15 cents to close at $3.40 as 118,675 shares changed hands for a value of $403,495; National Commercial Bank had a volume of 101,000 shares being traded for $112,110 with the price closing unchanged at $1.11; Scotiabank contributed 53,000 shares with a value of $3,843,030 with the price remaining unchanged at $72.51; while Point Lisas Industrial Port Development added 20,000 units valued at $74,000 to close firm at $3.70; Sagicor Financial traded 18,255 units to close 5 cents up at $7.05 and West Indian Tobacco traded 3,040 units to close firm at $120.03.

TTSEDec17Clico Investment Fund posted a volume of 105 shares valued at $2,276.40 as the price declined by $0.02 to end at $21.68.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator show bids for 2 stocks higher with 3 offers lower than their last selling prices.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , ,

Business confidence drops 24%

December 17, 2013 by

Confidence level, which was at its highest for 2013 in September at 87.4 versus a low of 47.5 in April, dropped sharply in October to 66.5, a 24 percent fall.

Persons in the business sector were asked, “In general, do you think business conditions are better or worse than they were a year ago in Jamaica?” The survey was carried out on behalf of Bank of Jamaica.

Perceptions about future business conditions also fell but not as badly as for current conditions. The responses in September saw the highest reading for the year at 116.6 but it fell sharply to 98.6 in October a 15.5 percent fall. The findings are in response to the question “Do you think that in a year from now business conditions will get better or get worse than they are at present?” Although the survey did not give reasons for the decline, it seems to coincide with the falling rate of exchange of the local dollar and high inflation as well as the view that there is likely to be a 6 percent fall in the value of the Jamaican dollar a year from October this year.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) undertakes surveys of businesses on behalf of the Bank of Jamaica to ascertain the expectations of economic agents about variables which are likely to have an impact on inflation in the near-term. In this regard, the survey captures the perception of Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors and Financial Controllers about the future movement of prices, current and future business conditions and the expected rate of increase in wages/salaries. The most recent survey was conducted in October 2013 and had 300 respondents.

Related posts | Businesses see J$ at $110 late 2014 | Inflation high, lower than September

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , ,

FX: Heavy Forex trading

December 16, 2013 by

Monday, 16th December 2013 | Forex trading saw heavy trading on the first business day of the winter tourist season as dealers bought US$9 million more in all currencies than they sold. Overall a total of US$54,828,831 equivalent in all currencies was purchased by dealers and the equivalent of US$45,867,142 was sold.

The rate for buying the US dollar fell 3 cents as US$48,835,691 was bought at $105.71 and S$40,757,115 was sold at $106.12, unchanged from Friday’s closing rate. C$2,140,407 was purchased and the rate fell by 47 cents to end at $97.74 and C$1,173,720 was sold as the rate moved by 36 cents to $100.28. Authorised dealers bought £1,946,239 for $171.39 each, down 13 cents from Friday’s close and sold £1,811,434 at $173.98, an increase of 32 cents. Other currencies bought amounted to the equivalent of US$858,645 and US$1,031,134 sold.

FX_TRADE+Currency+Dec16Highs & Lows | The United States dollar was stable with unchanged rates of $107.00 for the highest and $86.01 for the lowest buying rate and $110.21 for the highest selling rate but the lowest selling rate fell to $85.84, a fall of $16.56.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar came out at $100.80, a fall of 70 cents and the lowest buying rate was 46 cents down at $79.22, while the highest selling rate moved up 28 cents to $103.00 but dropped sharply by $16.78 to hit $79.22.

FX_TRADE+HighLow+Dec16The highest buying rate for the Pound was $174.20, a reduction 65 cents and the lowest buying rate came out at $138.20, a fall of 83 cents while the high for selling stood at $178.16 as it gained 96 cents and the low fell $1 to $166.50.

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE: Down start to a new week

December 16, 2013 by

Monday, 16th December 2013 | Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was dominated by Grace Kennedy and Scotia Group having the largest volume and value of stocks changing hands along with Caribbean Producers in the junior market. However, that did not prevent all the indices from falling even as advancing stocks were slightly ahead of declining ones. At the end of trading, 6 stocks recorded price gains to 5 that fell and 3,798,248 shares changed hands with a value of $45,122,046.

Indices | The JSE Market Index closed at 77,624.11, to fall by 253.78, the JSE All Jamaican Composite closed at 76761.49, having declined by 441.19 and the JSE Junior Market Index closed at 752.77 for a decline of 0.62.

Stocks trading include Cable & Wireless with 294,583 units as it closed firm at 16 cents; Carreras 6,435 shares at $35.71 down 29 cents; Grace Kennedy 385,355 units closing at $60.99, down a cent; Jamaica Broilers 9,516 shares as the price fell by 7 cents at $4.23; Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 95,723 units to close firm at $.7.87; National Commercial Bank swapped 34,375 shares to close at $17.20 up 20 cents; Sagicor Life 58,500 shares to close firm at $8.45; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 21,050 units closing unchanged at $6; Scotia Group 764,201 units as the price closed up $1 at $20; Seprod lost 70 cents when trading 22,550 units to close at $10.

JSEIndicesDec16Junior Market | Stocks of 4 companies traded in the junior market on Monday with only Caribbean Producers with 2,075,098 recorded any worthwhile volume. The price closed at $2.50 unchanged from Friday’s close. Lasco Financial traded 7,000 units at $1.12.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator show bids for 8 stocks higher with no offers that were lower than their last selling prices.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

Neal & Massy profits up

December 16, 2013 by

Neal & Massy one of IC Insider’s Buy Rated companies, delivered slightly better results at the end of the fiscal year to September 2013 than our forecast, due primarily to reduction in corporate taxes in the final quarter.

The Trinidad based group reported profit after tax of $142 million in the 2012 September quarter and recorded an increase of 19 percent $168 million profit in the September quarter of 2013. However, taxation in the quarter fell from $98 million in 2012 to only $58 million in 2013 and was the only reason for the improved bottom-line in the quarter as profit before tax of $243 million in 2013 was virtually flat with $241 million earned in 2012.

Full year Profit | For the twelve months to September, profit before tax moved from $544 million to $611 million, an increase of 12 percent from continuing operations. Profit after tax for the same period moved from $496 million to $556 million from all operations and excluding losses in a discontinued business which was sold. Earnings per share is $5.73, making the stock more attractive than IC Insider’s forecast of $5.40. Profits were generated on sales of $2.34 billion versus $2.17 billion in the last quarter of 2012 and $9.4 billion for the year compared with $9.15 billion in 2012. This is not much change at all, leading to nearly flat pretax profit and suggests challenges in moving profit forward in 2014.

Image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tough environment | The reality is that the group operates in economies that are undergoing no growth or slow growth except for Guyana where GDP growth was 4 percent during the period. Neal & Massy was able to eke out a 7 percent growth in revenues in Trinidad but suffered declines of 4 percent in Barbados and Jamaica while Guyana rose by 4 percent. Profit from the region shows mixed performances with Barbados showing increase of 6.5 percent in spite of a fall in revenue, Trinidad recorded an increase of 4 percent but less than that of revenues while Jamaica’s profit fell worse than the decline in revenues at 24 percent, due partially to devaluation of the local currency. Guyana grew by 13 percent.

Plans | “Throughout 2013, the group made major strides in implementing its strategy. Its business unit successfully executed acquisitions, such as Caribbean Insulation Services, implemented innovative retail concepts, initiated projects to expand into new sectors such as petrochemicals, and launched new products and services, Furthermore the group made good progress in diversifying into new territories in Central and Latin America with specific acquisition currently underway,” management stated in their report to investors.

Neal & Massy declared a dividend based on the results, bringing the total dividend for the year to $1.75 up from $1.50 paid in 2012.

Outlook | “In light of the improved results and the strong outlook for the group” is how management described the group’s performance when declaring the dividend. Regardless, based on its dominance in their main market of Trinidad and with Barbados being put through greater austerity in 2014 than in 2013, growth is likely to be slow even as the Jamaican market is expected to emerge from recession with no new major taxes expected during the coming year. Earnings could grow 30 percent for the 2014 year thus putting profit at around $710 million or $7.33 per share. The forecast is in line with growth in profit after tax in 2012 and 2010. In 2011, profits got hit with a $300 million one-off charge, which resulted in a fall in after tax profit. The forecast is also consistent with growth level between 2004 and 2008, the year when the world-wide economic crisis commenced.

Finances | The group is financially strong with shareholders’ equity at $3.85 billion at the end of the financial year against borrowed funds of $1.3 billion and cash and equivalents of $1.1 billion. Current assets of $4.4 billion was adequate to fund current liabilities of $3.1 billion.

TheGroup’s stock, which last sold on the Trinidad market at $60, is undervalued based on its peers, the overall market valuation and its prospects for increased profit in 2014. One caution for investors is the tendency for conglomerates to be hit with surprises that can affect the profit markedly. The group got rid of the loss-making hotel operation in 2012 and so far, there is no mention of any major areas of concern.

Neal & Massy is an IC Insider’s Buy Rated stock.

Related posts | Buy Rated stocks coming in | TTSE PE: Neal & Massy makes strides

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With:
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