Blog Page — Page 1441

TTSE: TCL up 170% since May

August 29, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Thursday, 29th August 2013 | Trinidad Cement stock price is up 170 percent since hitting a low of 95 cents in May, propelling the stock to yet another 52 weeks high as only 7,615 shares traded at a $2.56, up 25 cents. The stock closed with the bid for 492,663 units at $2.56 with no stock on offer, a strong indicator of further price gains.

Market activity resulted in 11 securities trading of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 4 traded firm as 107,590 shares traded with a value of $935,680.

Angostura Holding traded a mere 26,775 units valued at $254,364 as the price closed at $9.50 for a gain of 33 cents. The bid closed at $9.51 for 10,000 units whist the offer was for 76,188 units at $10. Sagicor Financial Corporation had a small volume of 52 shares as the price closed down 30 cents at $6.55. National Flour gained 5 cents to 75 cents as 6,556 shares traded.

Neal & Massy Holdings contributed 8,970 shares with a value of $502,320 and closed firm at $56. Jamaica Money Market traded 50,500 shares at 50 cents down 5 cents; Point Lisa traded 1,974 units at $3.66 off by 8 cents; National Enterprises traded 3,142 units firm at $16; Clico Investment Fund suffered a 5 cents fall to close at $21.50 as 1,655 shares valued at $35,583.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows that bids for 2 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price.

Producers profits up, is it time to buy?

August 29, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Directors of Jamaica Producers have purchased quite a bit of their company’s shares in recent months as the fortunes of the company seem to be on the improve. However, we ask the question: Is Producers right for the average investor?

The answer: Not at this time. With the stock price at the $18 level and the net book value placed at $29 per share, the gap is significant and earnings have not reached the level for the wider investing public to accord the stock a higher value, regardless of what the Directors’ buying actions may suggest.

In the just released company results, Producers reported a jump in profits by 42 percent to $158.5 million for the six months to June 2013 relative to the same period last year, and was up 59 percent for the latest quarter to June, over the June 2012 quarter to $73 million. For the six months, revenues increased by 6 percent to $3.7 billion and 5 percent to $1.84 billion for the June quarter over the same periods in 2012.

JP Europe | Revenues increased by 8 percent to $1.34 billion for the European division resulting in a 20 percent increase in pre-tax profits of $56.5 million for the second quarter and $116.4 million for the first half of 2013, more than doubling the result for the comparative six months of 2012. The turnaround in this area resulted from moderate improvement in the economies within the region, exchange rate movements between the Jamaican dollar and the Euro as well as expansion of sales to new areas within the EEC.

JP Tropical | Pre-tax profits of $26.6 million for the second quarter increased by 105 percent from $12.9 million in the 2012 period, a turnaround relative to the first quarter 2013 loss of $54.8 million, which included one-off exceptional restructuring costs of $35.9 million. With very limited banana supply, total revenues for the JP Tropical Division for the second quarter were down by 3 percent relative to the 2012 second quarter and rose by 4 percent on the first quarter.

During the latter weeks of the six month period, production of bananas resumed on the farms in St. Mary, commencing the generating of income to help cover the cost of re-development and maintenance of the resuscitated banana farms, which had negatively affected JP Tropical Division’s previous results. With the return of banana production, the JP Tropical Division improved its pre-tax profits for the second quarter compared to both the first quarter of 2013 and the comparable period last year. The primary snack production facility in Jamaica has now returned to production having been closed since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The recent acquisitions and investments in our JP Tropical Division collectively made a positive contribution to the divisional performance and we expect them to be an increasingly important part of the division in the future. The primary focus for the Division going forward will be to grow revenues organically by taking advantage of our installed base of productive capacity.’

“Mavis Bank has had a strong first half with operational efficiency gains allowing the company to meet export targets” management stated. Tortuga had mixed results in the first half with improved performance in Jamaica and Barbados and weaker sales in the US and other Caribbean markets. Tortuga’s overall performance was also affected by the seasonality of the product which typically generates peak sales in the fourth quarter and the Caribbean winter tourist season.

Regarding the Mining Company Limited, a subsidiary in which they hold a 51 percent interest, the company stated, “It had a satisfactory performance in the first half driven by the quality of our output and reliability of our service. We are now taking steps to expand mining operations from our base in St. Mary by opening a facility in Clarendon to allow us to participate in the South Coast market.”

The group has borrowings of $1.2 billion, which was used in funding investment in some of the associated companies as it reduced the amount in cash funds and investments that the Group held prior to the major investments. Cash and short term now stands at $435 million and $558 million for longer term investment. Investment in associated and joint venture companies amounted to $2.75 billion with the bulk of it being in Kingston Wharves. Shareholders’ equity at the end of June amounts to $5.4 billion.

Related posts | Insider Trades | Profits up at Jamaica Producers

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Jamaica Producers, JSE Company

FX: Rates cooling as supply match demand

August 28, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday, 28 August 2013 | There was buying of US$22,999,147 by authorised dealers at an average rate $101.38,which is down 5c from the prior day. US$23,330,434 sold with the selling rate down 5c to $102.04, The buying rate for the Canadian dollar was up 59c to $96.10 as C$1,258,194 was purchased and the average selling rate was up 9c to $97.65 for C$1,075,380. The Pound sterling buying rate rose by $2.03 to $158.35 as £1,681,727 was purchased and £1,444,075 was sold at an average rate of $160.08 an increase of $1.89.

Overall the equivalents of US$27 million was purchased on Wednesday and selling amounted to $26.94 million.

The US dollar was purchased as high as $102.75 an increase of 15 cents and as low as $84.04 the same rate as on Tuesday, while selling took place as high as $107.70 with no change for the day and as low as $99.80 an increase of $15.76.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar was down by 70 cents to $98.80 and the lowest was the same as the previous day at $78.44. The highest selling rate was $1.32 less at $99.80 and the lowest was up 60 cents to $94.85. For the Pound, the highest buying rate climbed $1.50 to $161 and the lowest buying rate amounted to $128.65, a small decline of 8 cents as dealers sold the Pound as high as $161, a sharp $5.49 reduction but only cut the lowest rate by 15 cents to $154.

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

Pan Jam profit stable

August 28, 2013 by IC Insider.com

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Pan Jamaican Investment Trust released results for the half year to June and reported profit attributable to shareholders for the June quarter of $486 million, a slight 4 percent increase on the $468 million in the 2012 quarter. For the six months ended June, Pan Jam made $710 million, compared to $970 million for 2012, a decrease of 27 percent. The results equated with earnings per share amounted to $2.28 for the quarter and $3.34 for the six months to June.

The year to date results were negatively affected by the decision by both Pan Jam and the Sagicor group, an associate, to swap older debt with a higher book value for new government of Jamaica debt at a lower value (JDX2) which resulted in a large loss.

Helping to boost the results was the share of results of associated and joint venture companies which rose from $227 million to $532 million in the June quarter and up from $305 million in 2012. For the six months to June, these investments resulted in $769 million being booked and is largely due to an increased shareholding in Sagicor, which was partly offset by increases in finance costs of $119 million.

In their comments on the results, Management stated that “Investment income of $44 million in the second quarter was lower than last year’s comparable quarter by $36 million, as unrealised losses on securities trading of $26 million eroded foreign exchange gains, interest income and dividends. Year to date investment income of $145 million is 27 percent ahead of last year due principally to significantly higher foreign exchange gains. Property income was flat compared to last year for both the quarter and year to date, as stable occupancy levels and continuing modest growth in rental income were offset by reduced property revaluation loss.

“Group operating profit for the 2nd quarter decreased by $73 million or 32 percent, compared to last year’s 2nd quarter. For the year to date, group operating profit of $388 million is $23 million or 6 percent less than last year’s level. Total revenue was lower for the quarter compared to last year by $32 million, 7 percent, principally attributable to the decline in investment income, but ahead of last year for the 6 months.”

Occupancy | The group enjoyed overall rental occupancy exceeding 95 percent for the 2nd quarter, a slight decline from last year, while contribution to group operating profit of $158 million for the quarter ($342 million year-to-date) was $42 million ($16 million year-to-date) lower, attributable to reduced property revaluation gains.

Operating expenses | Management said that operating expenses increased by $41 million for the quarter, and $69 million for the 6 months, driven by increased levels of direct property costs, professional fees associated with investment opportunities and general increases in staff costs. Finance costs increased compared to last year by $119 million to $137 million for the quarter, and by $298 million to $331 million for the 6 months, resulting from increased loans booked.

Associated Companies | The associated companies consist principally of a 32.8 percent investment in Sagicor; minority positions in New Castle Co. Limited, owners of the Walkerswood and Busha Browne lines of sauces and seasonings; Mavis Bank Coffee Factory Limited; Hardware & Lumber Limited; Caribe Hospitality Limited (developers of the planned New Kingston Marriott Courtyard Hotel) and Chukka Caribbean Adventures.

Pan Jam’s share of Sagicor’s comprehensive income for the quarter was a loss of $426 million consisting primarily of unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities, net of exchange gains. For the year-to-date, the share of the net unrealized loss is $275 million, compared to a share of net unrealized gains of $52 million for the comparable period last year.

According to management “New Castle’s results for their fiscal year ended April 30 2013 increased more than threefold on the back of a 44 percent jump in revenue, while Mavis Bank again posted good results. Chukka overcame Hurricane Sandy-related disruptions to cruise ship passenger arrivals and the temporary closure of the cruise ship port in Turks and Caicos to post returns in line with expectations.”

Balance Sheet | Total assets at June amounted to $22 billion, compared to $21.4 billion at the end 2012. Stockholders’ equity increased to $16.6 billion equating to a book value per stock unit of $77.85.

Related posts | Pan Jam’s profit dented too

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: JSE Company, Pan Jam

JSE: Trading levels remains low

August 28, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday 28th August 2013 | Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange remains low keyed with stocks of 32 companies trading as 11 stocks declined an 8 advanced. Volume amounted to 5,249,151 units valued at $15.5 million.

The Main Market Index closed at 84,480.16 down 169.90, the All Jamaica Composite ended at 84,336.24 off 298.93 and the Junior Market closed at 798.08, up 8.41.

Main market | Carreras dropped $3 to $45 but with only 1,090 shares trading the stock traded as low as $45 but had a bid at the end of the day at $47 for a small volume of 250 units. Jamaica Broilers Group closed firm at $5 with 37,050; Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 31,163 to close firm at $8; Mayberry Investments closed at $2.60 with 106,728; National Commercial Bank closed at $18.61 as 29,676 units traded as the price shed a cent; Pulse Investments closed at 85 cents down 15 cents as 114,600 changed hands and Sagicor Investments traded 86,904 units firm at $16.55. Kingston Wharves lost 40 cents to close at $7 as 4,562 units traded. Carib Cement lost 6 cents to close at $2.74 as demand dropped with a bid at the close at $2.11.

Junior market | 11 stocks in the Junior Market traded with Dolphin Cove 25,000 units to close at $8.30 after it had traded at $9 the stock lost 20 cents; General Accident Insurance saw 1,542,480 units crossing the exchange and closed at $1.90 up 5 cents; Access Financial Services traded 10,554 at $8.25 down 25 cents; Consolidated Bakeries traded 10,000 units firm to close at $1.50. KLE Group hit a new all-time low at $1.61 while trading 7,000 and lost 9 cents. Lasco Distributors traded 114,060 to close at $1.55 up 9 cents; Lasco Financial Services contributed 2,507,000 units to the total at the closing price of $1.42, up a cent.

Image courtesy of Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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

Is C2W doomed?

August 28, 2013 by IC Insider.com

After almost two years, C2W Music, which promised that they would be making profits by now is yet to show the income, much less profits.

In its prospectus for the IPO to raise $129 million on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the company made this statement about profitability, “As a start-up, the Company is expected to post a Pre-Tax Loss for 2012 of approximately US$241,849. The Directors expect earnings to stabilize from 2013 onwards, with a projected profit before tax of US$668,100 in that year, increasing threefold to a projected Profit before Tax of US$2.36 million in 2016.”

The results to June indicates that those projections were just a pipe dream as the company not only reported a loss of US$345,855 for the six months to June 2013, but for the similar period in 2012 when the loss was US$131,284, and there was just US$1,803 income for the six months. While it is not impossible to win contracts for songs that could change the picture, one would need to see a steady, if even small, flow of income but that is not the case with a year and a half now gone.

Shareholder equity now stands at US$377,257 down from US$1.2 million at June last year. Cash is almost gone entirely with just US$14,335 left of the sum raised in the IPO. C2W has assets in the form of advances to song writers of more than US$300,000 but that is not income and only $24,000 are due within a year.

The company needs a knight in shining armour and FAST if it is to avoid the burial ground. Crunch time is nigh.

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: C2W, TTSE

TTSE: Low volume, low price changes

August 28, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Wednesday 28th August 2013 | With the exception of low priced Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) with 365,027 shares crossing the Trinidad Exchange and CIF with volume of 126,841 shares, trading was relatively low and so were the price changes as 11 securities traded of which 3 advanced, 4 declined and 4 traded firm with 524,976 units changing hands for a value of $3 million.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) 365,027 shares changed hands for a value of $200,765 as the stock traded firm at 55 cents. Grace Kennedy volume was 15,500 shares valued at $51,150 the stock closed at $3.30 down a cent. Sagicor Financial Corporation contributed 7,057 shares with a value of $48,340, the stock closed at $$6.95 losing 5 cents in the process, while National Flour Mills added 6,076 shares valued at $4,253 up a cent to 70 cents. Angostura Holding traded 1,000 units at $9.17 a gain of 4 cents. The trade of Clico Investment Fund units amounted to $2,720,466 and the stock price advanced by 18 cents to end at $21.45. Neal & Massy Holdings closed firm at $56.00 but only 729 units traded.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows that bids for 2 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers that were lower than their last selling price.

Trinidad Cement did not trade but it had 142,796 units on the bid at $2.56 compared to $2.31 for the last traded price. There are no stocks on offer at the close of trading.

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

First Citizens lousy investor’s relations

August 28, 2013 by IC Insider.com

It was once said that as a country, Trinidad wanted to be the financial capital of the Caribbean, but recent activity on the country’s capital market indicates that they have a far way to go in achieving such a goal — if that is possible.

First Citizens Bank launched the largest ever Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares in the history of the T&T Stock Exchange with a market value of approximately TT$1.1 billion on Monday 15th July at an offer price of TT$22 per share for 48,495,665 shares. The bank said the IPO will assist in widening its capital base in order to facilitate future strategic expansion plans. The offer was slated to close on August 9 and was extended to Monday, August 12th 2013 as the 9th was a public holiday.

First Citizens Brokerage & Advisory Services, a subsidiary of First Citizens Investment Services, is the Lead Broker for the Offer for Sale. The handling of the entire issue is a classic demonstration of poor investor relations and that is not a good sign for investors.

Listing on September 16 | The T&T Stock Exchange has advised that First Citizens has applied to have its shares listed on the TTSE on September 16th 2013 subject to the approval of its application to list by the Board of the TTSE.

This is madness and is reflective of lack of sensitivity in their financial market. First off, the opening time for the issue was unnecessarily long so those who applied early had their funds tied up without any compensation. Even worse is after nearly a month of closing of the issue, investors are yet to know what is their allocation of shares. First Citizens said on their website that investors will find out between August 30 and September 6.

A check with the T&T Stock Exchange as to why it will take such a long time for the shares to be listed indicates that the problem is not with the Exchange, who are ready to list as soon the information is available and is approved by the Stock Exchange Council. A Stock Exchange source suggests that the delays maybe due to the broking community not being fully conversant with how to execute a timely IPO.

Oversubscription | Information obtained suggests that the issue was about two times oversubscribed with institutional investors probably being the main subscribers resulting in the high level of oversubscription.

While the management has made major missteps in dealing with this issue, IC Insider still rates the stock as Buy Rated based on the issue price and potential earnings. We believe there should be a steep appreciation in the stock’s value when it is compared with others within the financial sector.

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News, Initial Public Offers, Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: First Citizens, Trading Activity, TTSE

FX: Buoyant market as US rate stable

August 27, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 27th August 2013 |The total foreign exchange purchased by authorised dealers amounted the equivalent of US32,639,090 with the equivalent of US35,446,396 sold. The average selling rate for the main currency traded, the US dollar, remained unchanged at the end of the day while the average buying rate just barely move by a cent.

The buying rate for the US dollar ended at $101.4299 up 1c as US$28,592,452 was bought by authorised dealers and the selling rate remained unchanged at $102.092 as US$32,461,468 was sold.

Buying of the Canadian dollar took place at $95.5065 up 66c, with C$890,410 being purchased and the selling rate was up by 27c to $97.5648 as C$639,956 was sold.

The buying rate for the British Pound was down by $1.39 to $156.3239 as £1,311,301, selling amounted to £670,839 as the rate went down 58c to $158.189.

The highest buying rate for the US dollar fell by 5 cents 102.60, lowest buying rate remain unchanged at $84.04. The highest selling rate remained unchanged at $107.70 while the lowest selling rate settled at 84.04 down by 12 cents.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar increased by $1.81 to $99.50, the lowest buying rate increased by 42 cents to $78.44. The highest selling rate ended at $101.12, a decline of 5 cents and the lowest fell by 25 cents to $94.25.

The highest buying rate for the British pound declined by 25 cents to $159.50, while the lowest buying rate ended unchanged at $128.73. The highest selling rate ended at $166.49 down 6 cents and the lowest moved up $1.20 to $154.15.

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

JSE: Carreras tumbles

August 27, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday, 27th August 2013 | Carreras lost ground as the closed at $47, a 52 weeks low, with just 7,868 shares trading between $47 and $48.52, losing $2 in the process as demand for the stock evaporates following the smoking ban in public spaces and the sharp drop in profits in the June quarter. The stock seems destined to decline further as there are 343,835 units on the offer at $49 but only 6 bids for about 12,000 shares at the close with 10,000 of them at $42.01.

The market lost some ground in trading with the advance decline ratio being evenly matched with 9 stocks advancing in price to 10 that fell, the closeness is reflected in the small movement of the all Jamaican Composite Index that closed at 84,635.17, a fall of just 56.52 as the stocks of 31 companies traded, one of the highest numbers for some time. Thanks to a $1 fall in the heavily weighted First Caribbean International Bank, the Main Market Index dropped to 84,650.06, down 286.62. Trading resulted in 2.42 million units at value of $20,314,792.

Caribbean Cement lost ground after a relentless run, which took it from under a $1 prior to the release of the six months results, in trading 20,100 units to close at $2.75 a decline of 25 cents. On Friday last, the stock traded as high as $3.30. Grace Kennedy closed at $56.70 with 11,825 units changing hands as the stock lost 30 cents. Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 69,034 to close at $8, down 3 cents; Jamaica Producers Group was the big trader on the day with 552,027 units valued at$10,045,787 at a closing price of $18.20 which is up 70 cents on the last traded price on Monday; National Commercial Bank had one of the better trading days for some time with 133,650 units at a closing price of $18.62, a 2 cents increase as trading accounted for $2,488,524.

Sagicor Life Jamaica contributed 35,895 units to trading at a closing price of $8.15, up 5 cents; Scotia Group chipped in with 27,963 units at a closing price of $21.05 up a cent and Supreme Ventures had 30,000 units trading at $2.65 up 10 cents. Salada lost 50 cents to close at $8.50 with 1.170 units.

Junior market | Ten junior market stocks traded, resulting in prices rising for 5 and falling for 2, helping to move the index up by 4.48 to 789.67. Stocks trading in worthwhile volume are Access Financial Services, 97,481 closed at $8.50 up 25 cents; Blue Power Grou, 166,271 closing at $10 for an increase of 50 cents; Caribbean Producers, 49,000, at a closing price of $2.03, down 7 cents; Dolphin Cove, 24,978 at $8.50 up 30 cents; Lasco Distributors contributed 63,652 units and closed at $1.46 off 9 cents on the day; Lasco Financial Services 956,518 units at $1.41 down 9 cents; Lasco Manufacturing 43,154 traded firm at $1.60 up 2 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows that bids for 5 stocks were higher with 4 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price. This ratio continues to reflect a weakened position for the market at least for the time being.

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