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Inflation continues moderation

August 20, 2013 by IC Insider.com

The rate of inflation as computed by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica seems well under control especially in light of the impact of the movement of the Jamaican dollar which would have had impacted on prices as well as the increase in the price of oil on the world market. The calendar year–to-date inflation rate was 4.4 per cent up to July. The fiscal year-to-date since April 1st and point-to-point rates were 1.6 per cent and 9.7 per cent respectively.

The All Jamaica ‘All Divisions’ Consumer Price Index for July was 200.9. The rate of inflation was 0.5 per cent, an increase of 0.3 percentage point above the 0.2 per cent rate recorded for June 2013. The index for the heaviest weighted division ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ moved upward by 0.6 per cent mainly due to higher prices for ‘Fruit’ and Vegetables and Starchy Foods’. The index for the group ‘Fruit’ rose by 2.4 per cent, while ‘Vegetables and Starchy Foods’ went up by 1.2 per cent. There were also upward movements of 0.2 per cent in the index for ‘Transport’ and 0.8 per cent for ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’, which are the second and third heaviest weighted divisions respectively.

‘Communications’ was the only division with a decline in its index. The 3.7 per cent decline resulted from reduced call rates following the decision of the Offices of Utilities Regulation to lower termination rates for telephone calls.

The other divisions that recorded increases were ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ 0.3 per cent, ‘Clothing and Footwear’ 1.3 per cent, ‘Furnishings Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance’ 0.5 per cent, ‘Health’ 0.1 per cent, ‘Recreation and Culture’ 0.6 per cent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’ 0.3 per cent, and ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ 0.7 per cent. There was no movement recorded for ‘Education.

There were increases in all three regions Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area (GKMA) up by 0.8 per cent, Other Urban Centres (OUC) up by 0.5 per cent, and Rural areas increased by 0.3 per cent

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, GOJ

More employed in March but . . .

August 20, 2013 by IC Insider.com

More Jamaicans were employed in March this year than for the same period in 2012 as 8,700 persons found employment bringing the number of employed persons to 1,107,400 as against 1,098,700 recorded in March 2012 and 1,093,200 in December last year. For males, it increased by 6,300 (1.0 percent) to 630,300 and for females by 2,400 (0.5 percent) to 477,100 for the period. Unfortunately, the number of increased employed could not help in the reduction of the unemployed as those rose 30,200 raising the unemployed rate to 16.3 percent, the worse rate since 1997 when the rate was 16.5 percent.

The Employment Rate for March 2013 was 83.7 percent, which was a 1.9 percentage point decline from the 85.6 percent in March 2012. The Employment Rate declined for both males and females over the period. For males, it declined by 1.1 percentage points, moving from 89.1 percent to 88.0 percent and for females it declined by 2.7 percentage points, moving from 81.4 percent to 78.7 percent over the same period.

The Occupation group ‘Clerks’ had the largest increase (6.0 percent) in the number of persons employed moving from 95,200 in March 2012 to 100,900 in March 2013. The group ‘Plant and Machine Operators’ and ‘Assemblers’ had the largest decline (4,300 persons) moving from 62,000 to 57,700 during the same period.

The industry group ‘Wholesale & Retail, Repair of Motor Vehicle & Equipment’ increased by 17,000 (7.8 percent) moving from 217,100 in March 2012 to 234,100 in March 2013. During the same period employment in ‘Manufacturing’ declined by 7,200 persons (9.2 percent).

Labour force | In March 2013, the number of persons in the Labour Force was 1,322,500, which was 38,900 (3.0 percent) higher than the 1,283,600 recorded in March 2012. The male labour force increased by 15,600 (2.2 percent), from 700,500 in March 2012 to 716,100 in March 2013, and the female labour force increased by 23,300 (4.0 percent) moving from 583,100 to 606,400 in the same period.

The number of persons who were classified as ‘Outside the Labour Force’ in March 2013 declined by 33,300 a 4.2 percent decrease to reach 753,700, when compared to 787,000 in March 2012. The number of males ‘Outside the Labour Force’ declined by 12,900 (4.3 percent) from 315,600 and the females by 20,400 (4.5 percent) from 471,400 over the period.

Unemployed | The number of Unemployed persons in March 2013 was 215,100, an increase of 30,200 (16.3 percent) when compared with 184,900 in March 2012. The number of unemployed males increased by 9,500 (12.4 percent) and the number of females by 20,700 (19.1 percent) for the same period.

The Unemployment Rate for March 2013 was 16.3 percent compared to 14.4 percent in March 2012. For the same period, the unemployment rate for males was 12.0 percent compared to 21.3 percent for females.

Youth unemployment a big problem | Unemployment rates among youths aged 14-24 years was 38.5 percent for March 2013. This was an increase of 4.1 percentage points when compared with 34.4 percent in March 2012. The male unemployment rate for youths was 30.1 percent compared to 27 percent for females.

The March 2013 Labour Force Survey was conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The reference week for this survey was March 25-31, 2013. The 2011 Population Census distribution was used to derive all the estimates for the survey.

Related posts | Employment rate stabilised in 2012

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, GOJ, Statin

FX: More sales than buys

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 19th August 2013 | Trading in Monday’s forex market was characterised by heavy selling which exceeded the amount bought by nearly US$8 million. Selling of US$ was US$7 million more than bought with buying amounting to US$34.18 million at an average of $101.22, down 15 cents while selling totalled US$41.6 million at $101.93 down 2 cents. The Pound sterling also had more selling than the amounts bought with £3.18 million sold at an average price of $159.74 up 91 cents over Fridays price, versus £2.75 million purchased at an average price of $157.16, up 26 cents.

The Canadian dollar was purchased at 88 cents lower at $96.51 as C$1.29 million was bought and C$899,218 sold at 6 cents more than on Friday at an average of $98.62.

There was flux in the highest and lowest rates for the day with the US dollar being bought 5 cents more for the highest rate at $102.50 and sold at $13.83 more for the lowest selling rate which ended at $99.50. There was no change to the lowest buying and highest selling rates, which remains at $83.75 and $107.54 respectively.

The Canadian was bought at 30 cents less than on Friday at $98.70, while the lowest buying rate was 8 cents less than Friday’s rate as it closed at $79.43. Selling took place at the same rate as Friday of $102.51 at the high and $3.35 lower for the lowest rate of $92.45. The Pound was purchased as high as $160.70 up by $1.30 and 88 cents more at $129.07 for the lowest buying rate. Selling was $3.88 more at $166.38 for the highest selling rate and just 15 cents less for the lowest selling rate at $154.35.

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

Blue Power profit up 20%

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

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Blue Power reported profits for the quarter ending June 2013 of $30 million compared to $25 million in the same period last year, an increase of 20% and earnings per stock unit moved from 43 cents to 53 cents in the quarter, an improvement of 23%. While the growth is not bad, the operation was not firing on all cylinders as the increase came totally from the Lumber Depot division which contributed $18 million, improving by 34% over the same period in the previous year, while the Blue Power division added $12 million which was an improvement of 5% over the first quarter of 2012.

Combined sales were $246 million compared to $233 million for the same period last year, an increase of $13 million or just 6% much less than the increase in profit. The Lumber Depot division achieved sales of $175 million versus $154 million the previous year, an improvement of 14% while the Blue Power soap division moved down to $70 million from $79 million for a decrease of 11%. It was not only increased revenues which helped to grow profit for the quarter. Administrative cost was down from $33 million in 2012 to $27.9 million due to a write back of doubtful debt that was made in the last fiscal year to April and non-accrual of certain expense that was made in 2012 but not repeated in this latest quarter. Also, other income almost doubled from $2.2 million to $4.26 million.

The chairman Dhiru Tanna, in a release with the quarterly report stated that “we are pleased that despite the very challenging economic circumstances facing the country we were able to achieve an improvement in the overall performance. During the quarter, the Blue Power soap division faced serious competition in the market place with wholesalers and distributors shaving their prices significantly to reduce inventories. As a result, our ability to adjust prices in keeping with the exchange rate changes was seriously hampered and our sales actually declined. We have taken steps to offer more vendor-friendly packaging as well as significant promotions which we hope will reverse the trend.”

He went on to say, “We continue to take advantage of our cash position to acquire inventory for resale at advantageous prices which is the main reason for the increase experienced in this category on the balance sheet. Our analysis indicates that this approach is essential to remain competitive in a very stagnant market.”

Finances | Since the April year end, cash has increased to $153 million from $145 million but inventories are up to $198 million from $176.85 million. Accounts receivables has remained flat at $69 million. Amounts due to creditors amounted to $88 million the same level as in April. Equity capital amounted to $375 million and there is no longer any loan capital being used.

Insider call | Blue Power is an IC Insider Buy Rated stock.

Related Posts | Blue Power dividend | Blue Powered huge profit increase

Filed Under: Company News, Company Results Tagged With: Blue Power, JSE Company

JSE Insider trades

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica Producers Group Limited advised that a director purchased a total of 500,000 shares during the period August 14 – 15, 2013.

National Commercial Bank Jamaica advised that a related party sold 379,500 of the company’s shares on August 13, 2013.

Mayberry Investments advised that a related party bought 9,013 of the company’s shares on August 16, 2013, the company also advised that a related party purchased a total of 27,472 of the shares during the period August 7 – 9, 2013.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers advised that a related party sold 300,000 JMMB shares on August 19, 2013 and another related party sold a total of 9,513,500 JMMB shares on August 15, 2013.

Image courtesy of Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Company News, General Business News Tagged With: Insider Trades, JSE Company, Trading Activity

JSE: Heavy trades for JPG and JMMB

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 19th August 2013 | The market closed off today as stocks of 27 companies traded with a volume of 4.196 million units valued at $30.1 million. There were 11 stocks advancing and 8 declining as all the indices gained moderately except for a small fall in the US$ market. The cross listed index had no trades.

The all Jamaica Index gained 130.14 points and closed at 85,460.90 and the JSE market index increased by 73.96 to close at 85,373.85, the junior market gained 6.60 closing at 809.44.

Main Market trades of note | Cable & Wireless traded 530,000 units and slipped 2 cents to close at 15 cents. Other stocks with major changes on the day are Desnoes & Geddes with 52,837 units falling by 9 cents to close at $4.52, Grace Kennedy with 26,000 units valued at $1,481,300, gained 99 cents to $56.99, Jamaica Broilers Group, 66137 units to close at $5 up 2 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers having another heavy trade with 661,166 units valued at $5,324,306, closed at $8.10, Jamaica Producers Group 653,240 units at $18.25 up 73 cents with a value of $11,914,904, National Commercial Bank had only 9,000 at $18.55 up by 5 cents. Sagicor Life, 238,356 units valued at $2,118,414 to close at $9.50 up $1 and Scotia Group 16,428, closing at $21.10 up 2 cents. Carreras gained 60 cents as just 1,890 shares changed hands, the stock closed with a bid of $49.10 for 52,775 shares. Caribbean Cement Company traded at $2.10, a new 52 weeks high but with only 2,042 units trading and gaining 10 cents on the day.

Junior market | The junior market recovered from a lacklustre Friday when only 4 stocks traded, to a day in which 8 traded. Blue Power slipped by 42 cents to close at $9.18 with only 5,585 units trading. After the market closed, the company reported increased profit for the June quarter of $30 million compared to $25 million in the same period last year, an increase of 20%. Caribbean Producers traded 9,500 shares and dropped 7 cents, closing at $2.03. Consolidated Bakeries traded 69,160 shares and closed up 5 cents to $1.40. General Accident Insurance traded 35,000 shares firm at $1.85. Lasco Financial Services traded 146,909 shares, closed up 2 cents to $1.52. Lasco Manufacturing had trading in 401,924 shares and dropped 5 cents to $1.60.

Eppley shares have still not traded since listing and has one bid for 450 units at $350.

Proven Investment Preference shares traded 1,073,900 units valued at $5,466,151, while the ordinary shares which are quoted in US dollar traded 89,000 at a value of US$10,591. Yhe stock lost a fraction of a cent to close at US.1190 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 5 stocks were higher with 1 stock having an offer lower than their last traded price.

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

TTSE: Trinidad Cement heads towards $2

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 19th August 2013 | TCL climbed 19 cents in Monday’s trading to close at $1.95m, a new 52 weeks high with 23,820 units trading for $46,029. At the end of trading 25,000 units were on the bid at $1.95 cents and 171,980 on offer at $1.95.

National Commercial Bank Jamaica had a volume of 29,956 shares changing hands for a value of $34,449. LJ Williams contributed 18,114 shares with a value of $11,774, while National Enterprises Limited added 16,905 shares valued at $270,480. One Caribbean Media traded just 52 units and declined by 2 cents to close at $18.00. ScotiaBank had 2,740 units changing hands at Friday’s closing price of $70, West Indian Tobacco traded 7,630 units at $117.05 with no price change, Unilever traded 4,819 units firm at $55.02. Clico Investment Fund traded 17,480 shares valued at $375,736 and closed firm at $21.50.

Market activity resulted from trading in 12 securities with a volume of 128,921 valued at $2,247,758 as 1 stock advanced, 2 declined and 9 traded firm.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer market sentiment indicator shows that bids for 3 stocks were higher with 2 stocks having offers lower than their last selling price.

One stock with the bid higher than the last sales price is Scotia Investments with a bid of $2.03 for 44,548 units and an offer of 20,000 units at $2.25. The stock last traded at $2.02. Jamaican Money market brokers did not trade but the bid at 50 cents for 474,940 units with 143,038 units on offer at 57 cents.

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

Buy Rated stock list grows

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Monday, 19th August 2013 | The reporting season is now in full swing with June quarterly results rolling in almost every day.

Stock Watch | New to the Watch list is RJR as the company reported a strong turnaround from cost cutting and increased revenues in the June quarter to record a small profit. Look out for our post on their last quarter later this week.

Buy Rated | We have added First Citizens to the Buy Rated list since the IPO has been fully subscribed. Unfortunately investors will have to wait until 16th September before they can trade in the stock on the Trinidad Stock Market.

Also new to the Buy Rated list is General Accident, a Junior Market company. The company’s continued good quarterly results have made the stock undervalued when compared to other companies. We will post our report on the latest quarterly results shortly.

Buy Rated JMMB traded heavy volumes in Jamaica this past week and all shares on offer in the Trinidad market were snapped up in two days as the company posted very strong growth in profit for the first quarter to June. The stocks seems poised to move up in the coming week.

Caribbean Cement rallied sharply in the past week and looks as if it will go further in the coming week. The same applies to its parent Trinidad Cement that has shown 85% increase in value since July 1st with lots of potential based on the TTSE PE Ratio chart.

Better than a broker’s ‘buy’ recommendation, IC Insider has no vested interest in any stock transaction or conflict of interest. Our research is backed by published reports of the company’s performance and insights of future earnings that can be found at ICInsider.com. The final decision to buy, or not, is your personal choice.

To find published reports for a Buy Rated stock on IC Insider, please use category ‘Buy Rated’ under Company News or enter the company name, in full or part at ‘Search IC Insider’.

Filed Under: FX Market, Initial Public Offers, JSE Main Market, Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: JSE Company, TTSE

Bolt won but he could still lose

August 19, 2013 by IC Insider.com

There is no doubt about it! Usain Bolt is a great sprinter and based on his feats at the just concluded World Championships in Moscow, there are none close to him. However, his winning form on the track is yet to be transferred to his investment portfolio.

Well, that may be a broad statement but if the performance of his investment in KLE Group is anything to go by, he may lose all or most of his investment in the venture that we estimate is close to quarter of a million US dollars.

How did we get to this number? | When KLE went public last year, the prospectus indicated that 3,243,000 shares (“the Bolt Shares”) were reserved for Sherwood Holdings Limited, a company incorporated in Jamaica and owned by Bolt. Bolt’s company should have purchased the additional shares at a discounted price of $2.77 per share, which would have taken Sherwood’s shareholdings in the KLE Group to 10 million units. However, there is no indication that his company took up the shares nor if Bolt himself bought them. At the end of June, the top 10 shareholdings in KLE showed Sherwood Holdings holding 6,757,000 shares, the same as before the public issue. At $3.70 per share, the IPO price the public was asked to pay, his investment is valued at about US$250,000 dollars.

Poor performance | When KLE Group came to the market last year, its broker defended what many others considered to be a highly overpriced and extremely risky investment. Once again, the KLE Group has reported lousy results with a worsened loss position in the June quarter and a year-to-date loss of $36 million for the six months in 2013 when compared to a $9 million loss for the same period last year.

In the June quarter, the Group chalked up a loss of $18.5 million compared to just $2.8 million in 2012. Although revenues climbed to $84.7 million in the quarter, up from $72 million in 2012, a $24 million jump in administrative expenses killed any hope of a bottom-line improvement. Year to date, this line item is up $30 million over 2012, while revenues only increased by $15 million for the same period. Further aggravating the loss problem is interest cost, which remains relatively high despite raising fresh capital through the public issue.

It appears that most of the cash raised has been used to support the operating losses and to purchase fixed assets and property. Shareholders’ equity, which was $119 million at the end of December, is down to $83 million in June with interest bearing debt of $48 million. The group has burnt up a lot of cash with only $15 million left at the end of June. This not good news as losses seem set to continue. Also current liabilities are well in excess of current assets by almost 3 to 1 — an absolute no-no in business — even when income is mainly cash.

This one is not looking good at all. The stock price is down to $1.80 and is poised for more decline. Not good at all, for a stock that was issued at $3.70.

About the KLE Group | KLE‘s (Kingston Live Entertainment Group) first venture was the uber-chic Fiction Lounge launched in 2008 and located at the Marketplace in Kingston. In April 2011, Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records opened its doors adjacent to the Fiction Lounge as a new addition to the Kingston restaurant and entertainment scene. Late in 2012, the company placed 27 million shares on the market, all of which were snapped up with lightening speed by investors. With the needed capital raised through the IPO, the KLE Group is to expand into other related ventures including a theme park and villa community on the north coast.

Related Posts | KLE Group — to buy or not?

Photo credit | www.deependdining.com

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

FX: £ biggest mover, US$ most stable

August 16, 2013 by IC Insider.com

Friday, 16th August 2013 | The Pound sterling was the currency with the largest moves on Friday in the Jamaican forex market and the US dollar was the most stable. Authorised dealers purchased the Pound sterling at $1.15 more than they did on Thursday as the buying rate closed at $156.89 with £1.4 million being bought while they sold £761,827 at an average of $158.83 for 30 cents more at the end of the day than the starting rate.

The highest buying rate for the Pound was $159.40 some 10 cents more than the prior day’s close and bought it as low as $128.19 up by 70 cents. The Pound was sold at $2.76 less at $162.50 as the highest selling rate and $2.45 more for the lowest selling rate at $154.50.

The US dollar average rate was up 17 cents buying as dealers bought US$31.2 million at $101.37and sold US$30.3 million for 7 cents more at $101.95 for the average selling rate. But it cost 20 cents more to purchase the US dollar at the highest price of $102.45 and 22 cents more the sell at the highest rate of $107.54, the lowest buying and selling rates remained as the day before at $83.75 buying and $83.67 selling.

The Canadian was costing dealers 89 cents more to buy from the public at $97.39 for C$1.55 million and the sold C$1.37 million at 12 cents more at $98.56. The Canadian dollar was purchased as high as $99 for 10 cents more than the previous day’s closing rate. The lowest buying rate was 8 cents more at $79.51, on the other hand, selling took place as high as $102.51, which was 5 cents cheaper than before and the lowest rate was 30 cents less at $95.80 than on Thursday.

Overall purchases amounted to the equivalent of US$35.36 million US$2.4 million more than the US$32.9 million.