Top 5 Stocks Of 2017 (So Far). Do You Own Any?

Here is the latest weekly digest (May 15th – May 21st, 2017). A quick easy read of this week’s top and most relevant business news. No fluff, just the highlights.

This week I realized, that if I held my ISP Finance shares, bought in the IPO, the J$50k I invested almost a year ago would have now been worth… drumroll… over J$850k today! That’s mind blowing – to see that growth in a year. But that’s just the start, they’re quite a few companies that have also seen phenomenal growth since the start of this year and this week I’m going to highlight the top 5.

These are the top 5 performing stocks for 2017 (so far, based on the growth in their share prices). All 5 have seen gains of over 200% since the start of the year and show no signs of stopping. With these stocks seeing such remarkable gains you definitely need to know about them.

Here’s a brief on each of the companies, just enough to get you interested. But you will have to do the hard part and do more research on each afterwards.

• PULS  – Pulse Investments – Primarily focused on its model agency, media and some real estate
  • Reported improved results last week, for the 9 months ending March 2017 ($221m vs $189m). Stock price up 79% this month alone.  
  • Not a very liquid stock (majority owned by founder Kingsley Cooper). Expecting a stock split soon. Recent change of leadership and embarking on real estate projects
• MEEG – Main Event Entertainment Group – Leader in the events business, from concept and planning to execution. Just had its IPO an expected to do well.
• BRG – Berger Paints – Mainly in the business of manufacturing and distributing industrial and decorative paints or paint related materials
  • Exceptional results just released (profit for the year moved from $122m to $316m on improved sales), but the stock price increase started way before, from as early as January. Lots of speculations about a takeover
• KEX – Knutsford Express – Stock split soon. Expected to continue to grow and dominate the transportation space. Majority owned by founder, but NCB has a chunk. Continues to do well. Stock price up 61% in this month alone.
• ISP – ISP Finance Ltd – Junior market loans company, targeting small businesses, security guards etc. Came on the market little over a year ago and expected to do well. Just release profitable results

Congrats to those who invested in these 5 from very early and still continue to hold them. For those interested in purchasing, ensure you do proper research and get advice before buying.

This week EPLY (a hard stock to get, but another example) jumped 106%, in its only trade for 2017 (first since August 2016). CBNY also advanced by 22.2%, SVL by 17.6%, and PULS, ISP, BPOW and JBG led the top advancing stocks.

The top decliners were KEY, down 26%, MDS, JP and MIL.

As always, you can see the full list of companies and their stock price performance since the start of the year here.

In other news…

• Executive changes at Jamaica Broilers Group Limited. VP Conley Salmon appointed to President – JB Jamaica and Mr. Dave Fairman to President – JB Haiti  
• Regional directory publisher Yello Media Group has given Ian Neita a new job and named Collin Francis as the new CEO, as the company prepares to expand into three new markets. Yello provides digital and print advertising solutions across 17 markets
• Also, On the heels of unveiling a major company rebranding earlier this year, Yello Media Jamaica last week announced a significant partnership agreement with Business Access TV (BATV) as the exclusive dealer for BATV’s suite of products.
• President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), Kelly Tomblin will become the new chief executive officer of United States-based utility contractor INTREN, effective July 10.
• President of the National Water Commission (NWC), Mark Barnett, says that while the company produces more than 90 per cent of Jamaica’s total potable water, it is seriously challenged to improve and expand service delivery.
• Jamaica Stock Exchange Limited (JSE) reported declining income for its first quarter, but it expects upcoming stock market listings to increase its fee income in the periods ahead.
• Sweet River Abattoir & Supplies Company made a modest turnaround, its fourth-quarter results show, and the company aims to shore up its operations by formalising contracts with its business partners
• KPREIT benefited from the addition to its portfolio of new properties in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, with rentals climbing 63 per cent during the quarter ending March 31. The company posted rental income of $50.1 million compared to $30.7 million for the same period in 2016.
• Kingston Wharves Ltd (KWL) indicates that it plans to open its new logistics complex later this year and is also planning the construction of a near-port domestic automotive centre for the benefit of both terminal operations and integrated logistics efforts. The centre will facilitate domestic motor vehicle imports which have increased by approximately 36 per cent since 2015.
• Trade Winds Citrus Limited (TWC) will show off a new production line at the end of the month, a new investment that marks the company’s entry into the manufacture of dairy products
• Offshore investment firm Sterling Investments Limited (SIL) says a 15.6 per cent increase in investment securities has pushed the company’s assets past the $1-billion mark as at the financial year ending March 2017.

And over in Trinidad & Tobago

• The unemployment rate for T&T declined to four per cent in the third quarter of 2016 from 4.4 per cent in the second quarter, according to the Central Statistical Office’s (CSO) Labour Force Survey. The CSO said the decrease is not “uncommon” for this period as the decrease is due to “seasonality” changes.
• Point Lisas-based ammonia producer Trinidad Nitrogen Company Ltd (Tringen) on Thursday reported a 58 per cent decline in its profit after tax for the year ended December 31, 2016, with its profit after tax of TT$114.6 million in 2016 compared with TT$273.7 million in 2015.
  • Tringen reported net sales of TT$1.38 billion in 2016, which was 29 per cent less than in 2015, when the company had net sales of TT$1.95 billion.
  • Contributing to the reduction in net revenue was the lower international ammonia market prices, which decreased by 40 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015. Natural gas curtailments also contributed to the company’s reduced revenues and profits.
• Tighten Tax Collection in Trinidad, KPMG – KPMG, is calling for legislation to be brought to the Parliament for the establishment of an Integrated Revenue Authority (IRA) so that the “weakness in tax administration in Customs and Excise as well as BIR can be addressed.”
  • KPMG noted that no mention was made concerning the number of people retrenched as a result of the recession, or T&T’s current debt level, or initiatives for diversification of the economy, as well as fiscal measures to generate new sources of revenue. Transfer pricing legislation was also absent from the mid-year review presentation
• And it seems, not only Jamaica but now Trinidad is having its own property tax valuation uproar. It seems the government wants to implement new property taxes based on long overdue 2010 valuations.

Here are some key market and economic figures

• Stock Market Movement (Combined Index):
  • Week to date: -0.32% | 1.14% Last week
  • Month to date:  2.29% May | 4.08% Apr | -3.09% Mar | 9.26% Feb | 10.09% Jan
  • Year to date: 23.81% (27.6% YTD 2016)
• Inflation:
  • Year to date (Dec 16 – Apr 17) 1.3%
• Unemployment: 12.7% – Jan 2017 (12.9% as at Oct 2016)
• GDP: 1.1% Oct – Dec 2016  (2.0% – Jul – Sep 2016) – Rate of Growth of Value Added at Constant (2007) Prices Seasonally Unadjusted

Thanks for reading Vol. 2017 Issue No. 20 of our weekly digest. (May 15th – May 21st 2017). All weekly reviews can be viewed here.