Category: Market News

As the majority of persons would realise, especially as it relates to currency, the Jamaican dollar has been strengthening to the United States Dollar moving from JMD $130.00 to USD $1.00, to JMD $127.68 to USD $1.00 just last week. The appreciation of  Jamaica’s currency merely shows that there is growth in the economy and that investing on the market would prove better than a savings account.

Many factors contribute to the strengthening of the economy. Some of these include:

• Optimistic projected earnings
• Falling interest rates
• Increase in employment
• Tourist sector growth

With positive projected earnings and falling interest rates, a company’s stock price can surge, bringing an overall gain of over 40 percent. Additionally, unemployment has decreased from more than 16.3 percent  in 2013 to a little over 10 percent  in 2017.

Newly reopened bauxite company, Alpart has resumed operations which allows for both increased employment and increased export which can result in growth in the overall economy. The more persons are employed, the more spending there will be, and hence the more taxes will be paid over to the government.

The market did very well in 2017, some stocks grew & rose by over 100 percent and for others between 50 and 81 percent. Therefore, this means that this year’s winners and last years may not necessarily be the same. Those booming companies on the main market in 2017 may find their growth rate slowing down when compared to newly listed companies.

We are expecting an active 2018 for all things IPO and have called it the ‘Year for  IPOs’ in the Jamaican market based on record listings on the JSE last December. It is evident that Jamaicans love their IPOs and we expect the trend to continue as there are 10 new companies so far expected to list this year.

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Amazon continues to spread its brand offerings to as many consumers as possible; this time the multi- billion dollar company is investing in the smart home technology market. Amazon has acquired smart doorbell company, Ring, for an estimated US$1 billion. In what seems to have become tradition among company acquisitions, Ring will remain an independent company following companies like Zappos, Twitch and Audible to maintain the Ring brand without altering company operations.

Ring makes doorbells that use Wifi and are equipped with cameras to make homeowners aware of who is at the door. The smart technology is connected to the owner’s smart devices through an app that provides the audio and video in order for owners to communicate to who is at the door. Ring’s mission is to reduce crime by creating technology based neighbourhood watch systems.

This is not the first attempt at landing high profile investments for Ring. James Siminoff, CEO and inventor for Ring, was a participant on the show Shark Tank in 2013. He was not successful in securing a deal from investors when he requested US$700,000 for a 10 per cent stake in the business, which was then called Doorbot.

Despite that setback, the company has made US$209 million; US$109 million from investments from entities like Qualcomm, Goldman Sachs, Richard Branson and Amazon. In the past they invested in Ring through its Alexa Fund, which helps other companies like Ring build skills and products for Amazon through voice innovation. Ring customers are able to interact with the smart doorbell through their Amazon Echo devices executing voice commands.

It seems the company is racing to compete with other companies in the smart home market such as Google and Nest. In December, Amazon also acquired Blink, which is another start up in the industry. Amazon is taking over; have you purchased the stock as yet?

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The Jamaica Stock Exchange saw ten new companies listing on the Jamaican stock market in 2017, along with the doubling of stock prices for several listed companies. It appears that an increasing number of Jamaicans have been convinced of the potential gains from investing and have been flocking Initial Public Offerings. The JSE reported that 12,000 new accounts were opened on the Jamaica Central Securities Depository (JCSD) and pushed investor interest and demand for brokers to bring new issues to market in 2018.

What influenced this significant shift in local trading is the economy’s ability to provide a sustainable environment for businesses to improve efficiency and expand operations. Businesses are growing and the reduction in interest rates are encouraging investments since returns are now higher. Since the JSE was named the best performing stock exchange in the world in 2015, it has seen significant improvements in stock indices by 44 percent at the end of 2017 in overall stock appreciation.

Additionally, with the new positive projection of the 2017/2018 fiscal year, the economic conditions are set to improve further, making business environments even more conducive to growth. We can then anticipate more listings on the exchange and possible rise in stocks’ values. The Jamaica Stock Exchange, along with lead broker houses in the country, have made the process of transitioning from private to public company smoother for business owners.

Given the current track record that the JSE has for listing companies and aiding in the significant increase of stock value on the first day of trading, more and more companies are relying on the Exchange to assist in raising much needed capital for expanding their operations.

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Walmart Inc. [NYSE: WMT] categorised as the world’s largest retailer, forecasted not so great annual profit for this fiscal year.

This is attributable to decline in sales over that period.

According to Bloomberg, the company expects earnings per share of $4.75-$5.00 in comparison to Wall Street’s estimate of $5.13.

The continuous growth that Walmart has trended along is significant to the lifespan of the company and is important to maintaining its position in the industry.

Walmart Inc. has also gotten a push start from its acquisition of Jet.com in 2016, which allowed online access. However, one of its biggest competitors Amazon.com Inc. [NASDAQ: AMZN] has branched off into different sectors such as healthcare. Moving into a brand new sector for Amazon Inc. is a positive move that broadens their scope and diversification.

This poses a problem for Walmart. Market share of the grocery and apparel industry has been a source of worry following a decline in online sales, while Amazon’s sales grew by almost 40 percent.

Doug McMillon, CEO at Walmart is trying his hardest to switch consumers’ interest from shopping in the store to buying online where they tend spend more. Other benefits from increasing foot traffic inside stores could help to motivate staff members and have further ripple effects such as increased wages and enhanced parental-leave policies.

Despite the fact that the investments mentioned earlier are suitable for any company, it can also dampen profits, which has been shown in the projections of this fiscal year.

Following a number of federal tax changes that happened last year under the Trump Administration, an analysis is still being done by the company to assess the impact. However, they have estimated about a $207 million benefit for their last quarter and entire financial year.

Online sales grew at about 23 percent during the last period, in comparison to the 50 percent in the previous quarter, which is not particularly encouraging. However, it is believed that Jet.com and Walmart Inc. do well together.

With 2019 fiscal year approaching, the company sets positive outlooks and expect to expand their grocery business online. There also plans in the pipeline to upgrade their website which will focus more on fashion as well as home goods, and go into partnership with Lord & Taylor to sell some of their merchandise.

Walmart has already begun introducing new lines of apparel, which adds a brand new touch to their merchandising offerings.

Can Walmart maintain its position in the industry?

Will they keep up with Amazon?

We believe that the company has a strong brand and will continue to prove that to its stakeholders.

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Tech company Dropbox has filed an S-1 registration form with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), signally to the world its intentions to go public, with their ticker possibly being DBX.

According to NASDAQ, the company has the interest to raise funds of USD $500 million shortly. As a private company, it has made marginal strides having over 300,000 teams utilising the Dropbox Business, and also having over 500 million registered users around the world.

Unlike many other newly founded tech companies that went public having existing losses to their books, Dropbox focused heavily on growing its business and consumer market for cloud storage.

According NASDAQ this can be seen in Dropbox’s sharp increase in revenue of 31 percent to $1.1 billion. Gross margin also increased to 67 percent in 2017 from 54 percent in 2016. However, the company is still in a growth phase as their operating loss expanded 31 percent as well to $851.6 million and posted a net loss of $111.7 million in 2017.

Somewhere on your desktop, laptop, phone tablet or application store, you may have come across an app looking like an open rectangular box. Dropbox is a privately-owned company founded in June 2007 that provides a service that makes all its users’ files available from any computer, tablet or phone.

This is made possible through sync technology where a prospective user installs the Dropbox app and create an account, where any files or folder added to Dropbox will automatically save to the their website and sync to their devices. This allows users to share any folder in their Dropbox, making it perfect for team projects or sharing with family or friends.

If listed in the early half of this year Dropbox should be a stock to keep in your view, as the company displays the right management and attitude of growing a business being private and remaining profitable.

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Sagicor Group Jamaica recently closed a deal with Playa Hotels and Resorts which will see Sagicor giving up all their inclusive resorts and lands that can be developed to the company. This includes Hilton Rose Hall, Jewels Dunn’s River Resort, and Jewels Paradise Cove, Jewels Runaway Bay and the hotel tower and spa of Jewels Grande.

For this, The company would receive US$100 million in cash and a 15 per cent share in the company as they would have rights to 20 million Playa shares. Sagicor would now be the second largest shareholder in Playa Hotels. The company will also be represented on the Board of Directors in the group.

Sagicor is optimistic that this deal will bring about an expansion in the hotel industry whilst also creating employment for Jamaicans as it positively impacts Tourism. Additionally, they are looking to benefit from the resort markets in other countries where Playa owns hotels; such as Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Playa Hotels and Resorts trades on the NASDAQ, which is the second largest stock exchange market in the United States behind the New York Stock Exchange. The company currently owns and operates 15 all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Playa Hotels is the owner of Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva in Jamaica.

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After facing a $39.7 million loss in 2017 from its toilet paper business, AMG Packaging and Paper Limited has decided to discontinue tissue production and use 2018 to focus on its box business. This it says should help the business to grow by 2019.

The underperformance of the toilet paper segment significantly affected the bottom line of the company due to slow sales. Initially, AMG Packaging‘s hope was to capture at least 10 percent of the tissue market in Jamaica as the country has a high tissue import bill annually. However, several factors affected that plan and the company struggled to achieve their target share of the market. After investing in a tissue factory in Downtown, Kingston in 2015, a fire destroyed the distributor’s warehouse thus thwarting sales and pushing AMG Packaging a few steps back.

Even though AMG diversified their tissue product line, from manufacturing the brand Tishoo to adding specialty options plush and cottony, the company still struggled to achieve their financial goals with lower sales as consumers supported the competition both local and international.

Nevertheless, AMG is looking to improve its market performance with the expansion of its box business. When asked where capital would be sourced from as the company is currently working through financial challenges, AMG responded by stating their intention to seek funds from shareholders. They hope to reenter the market but currently did not state if they would be doing this using bonds or rights issue.

We do not recommend for investors to purchase shares in AMG Packaging at this moment. We expect to see improvements over the next few months as the company recovers from this challenging period.The stock currently trades at $2.05.

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National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Exchange (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is one of the leading providers of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company, services across all continents. Nasdaq is contending for the flotation of the international listing of the world’s biggest Initial Public Offering IPO from a Saudi Arabian oil producer, Saudi Aramco in the second half of 2018.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adena Friedman did not explicitly state, but alluded to their interest on Monday at the World Government Summit in Dubai when she stated “Companies want to be part of the future, they don’t necessarily want to be part of the past… We are extremely proud of all the companies that choose to come to Nasdaq, but we don’t comment on any specific issuer.”

Saudi Aramco is a state-owned oil company of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a fully integrated global petroleum and chemicals enterprise. Saudi Aramco’s oil and gas production infrastructure leads the industry in the scale of production, operational reliability and technical advances. Furthermore, the company is the world’s largest crude oil exporter, producing roughly one in every eight barrels of the world’s oil supply. The company aims to raise USD 100 billion from its planned IPO.

Aramco President and CEO, Amin Nasser, in an interview with Consumer News and Business Channel CNBC, said “It’s about evaluating all the information that is being passed to the government in terms of different markets that we have in terms of listed venues, whether it is in the U.K., or New York or Hong Kong or other markets,”.

According to Nasser, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is at the top list of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as it offers certain amenities such as international recognition, prestige and a much bigger pool of investors. Moreover, other options include listing the company on Saudi Arabian’s Tadawul Stock Exchange which has an affiliation with Nasdaq.

Possibly having the biggest IPO ever and being the largest oil/energy company, Saudi Aramco, if listed on NASDAQ, will turn heads around the world. With that being said, oil is a very volatile commodity, so despite very good credentials, this company should be watched very closely.

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Being listed on the market for just over a month, Wisynco has already impressed investors with their first release of financial results.

These results presented were not only better than the same period in 2016, and not generated from normal operations but were also generated through weather conditions that impacted direct consumers.

The company reported net profit of $1.22 billion for the six months ended December 2017 or $0.34 cents per share. This is not only commendable, providing this was before listing, and their consumers’ businesses were significantly impacted by the rains, but it shows the quality of the company itself, showing that nothing can stop the company from growing.

For the three months ended December 2017, Net Profit rose to $578 million from $470 million in December 31, 2016, a 23 percent increase and earnings per share rose from $0.13 cents to $0.16 cents. Revenue generated by the company slightly exceeded $12.2 billion, with the last quarter creating the majority, with little over $6 billion. This shows an increase of $1.66 million or 15.7 percent for the six months, quarter over quarter.

Two months before listing, Wisynco got approval from the tax authorities for the transfer of three non-core operations to its parent. These operations include Wisynco Foods limited, Seville Development Limited and Fusion Limited, valued at about $1 billion after tax, which now falls under the Wisynco Group (Caribbean) Limited.

According to Mr. Mahfood, capital is being spent on recovery from the fire in 2016, which should be finished by the end of its financial year in June 2018. As such, the company will focus on controlling their cash.

The 2 billion dollar project involving the construction of cold-storage facilities, which is a part of the recovery, was also delayed due to inclement weather during summer but hopes to be finalised in the upcoming fourth quarter.

The company’s fixed assets have grown by $1.37 million or 37 percent  to $5.09 billion from $3.72 billion even through the recovery process. They listed on the market at $7.87 and is currently trading at $10.70, with an all-time high of just short of $14.00, which shows positive investor relations.

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Quantity producing is a strategy that Apple [NASDAQ: AAPL] is known for; they provide their client base with continuous updates year-over-year. But are these specific deadlines causing an uproar?

Quantity producing is not turning out so well for them.

There have been recent complaints about glitches and bugs in their software which, according to longtime customers, never used to happen when their customer base was smaller. They had feature-packed upgrades, some things rushed and some cut, causing delays in the release or inefficient updates. Apple is now putting in place a strategy to correct this, realising that they have been rushing and not meeting their deadlines.

These strategies that the company plans to implement will allow for engineers to have more time to work on features and refinements, than focusing on meeting annual requirements that seem to be rushed allowing for bug prone devices.

According to Bloomberg, the process is a huge cultural shock for engineers. They are used to quick turn-around with updates that keep loyal customers interested, which also shines the light on competitors to make them seem like they do not move as quickly.

What is coming next?

A single third-party app will be able to work on iPhones, Mac computers and iPods, the use of Apple’s iPhone apps on Mac and new characters for their popular Animojis, which will also be featured in the iPad. They also plan to integrate FaceTime and Animojis, allowing persons to use virtual faces, as well as potential FaceTime conferencing.

The first test will be their new software upgrade named ‘Peace’ which will most likely be called iOS 12.

In light of this, Apple has shifted its focus from quantity to quality produce. This is vital for customer satisfaction and company reputation. As such, despite loyalty to the company, some consumers have opted to switch from iPhone to Android, for ease of use and fewer issues, however, this will change their minds causing them to hold and see what Apple has in store for them.

Now that they are focusing on quality, are you excited to see what Apple Inc. has up their sleeves?

We shall see for the rest of 2018!

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In early February, the stock price of GrubHub increased by an impressive 29 percent to US$89.04 per share after the company announced a US$200 million partnership with Yum! Brands and better than expected fourth quarter results.Yum! Brands is the parent company for Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell and is the fourth- largest private employer in the United States.

Based on the agreement, GrubHub will be expanding its services to offer pickups and delivery services to customers at their doorsteps. GrubHub will also be working with Franchisees to implement ordering online and pickup services from Yum Brand subsidiaries. The multi million-dollar agreement also sees the appointment of Pizza Hut’s President, Arthur Starrs, to GrubHub’s Board of Directors for a period of three years .

You may be wondering what would make GrubHub stand out from other competing delivery business. GrubHub is expanding their coverage of delivery to include additional cities to the 900 it currently serves. GrubHub increased its restaurant count in two years; from 40,000 to 80,000 and is available in 1300 cities at the moment and looks to provide their service to a majority of all KFC and Taco Bell locations across the US in 2018.

GrubHub reported fourth quarter earnings of US$0.36 cents per share and a revenue of US$205.1 million. On the other hand, Yum! Brands stock price decreased by 4.7 percent following the announcement but their fourth quarter review was nonetheless better than expected.

Earnings per share for the quarter increased by 53 percent to US$1.26 and net income rose to US$436 million from US$303 million the previous quarter. Regrettably, total revenue for the year fell by 16.4 percent to US$1.58 billion.

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For the first time in Twitter’s history the company has reported a net profit which caused the stock price to rise more than 15 percent on Thursday, currently at US$30.18. With this improvement analysts are even suggesting that Twitter may well be targeted as an acquisition.

For the fourth quarter, Twitter reported a modest revenue increase to US$731.6 million. Compared to a loss of US$167 million it experienced for the same period in 2016, the company is improving. Twitter currently generates revenue through video ad sales.

Earnings were US$0.19 cents per share, an increase from the US$0.14 cents that analysts predicted. Daily active users (DAU) increased by 12 percent,  EBITDA margins improved significantly from US$215 million in the previous year, which accounted for nearly a third of revenue, compared to US$308 million for 2017, which represented 42 percent of revenue.

Twitter blamed its lack of ability to increase its users on the fact that it had to rid the social media page of fake accounts, seasonality and purging the social media site from conspiracy theorists and white supremacists.

Twitter still has a long way to go if it wants to compete with social media giants like Facebook and Instagram. However, with its improvement in revenue and net profit, the company has positioned itself for greater things in 2018. For us though, Twitter is not a screaming buy.

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After a strong fourth quarter earnings report on Tuesday, shares of Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) soared to US$20.61 from US$14.05 in two days, a 46.7 percent increase.

An impressive increase on paper but still a modest improvement as the stock has been trading below its IPO price of US$17.00 since July 2017.

Congratulations to Snap for increasing revenue and its user base for 2017 for the first time in history. The most positive news from the report is that the company is now making enough money to cover their necessary expenses.

Even though that is still not enough, Snap performed better than predicted. Analysts were predicting that the company’s revenue would amount to US$252.8 million but actual revenue for the fourth quarter is US$285.7 million. Additionally, the app now has 187 million active users.

Snap, however, had a net loss of US$350 million and an operating cash flow of a negative US$735 million for the entire year.  While boasting a gross margin of 33 percent is nothing spectacular when compared to other social media giants such as Facebook, which has an 88 percent gross margin for its fourth quarter and Twitter which had a 64 percent gross margin for their third-quarter reports, Snap is rather proud of its improvement and its prospects for 2018.

Snap’s costly expenses can be traced back to the company’s lack of ability in building its computer network to run its app. Instead, the company outsources the computer power from Google and Amazon Cloud. This outsourcing takes up 70 percent of Snaps expenses to run its app.

Snap generates revenue solely from ad sales. However, with competition from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Snap still struggles to increase its revenue to a point where its sustainable enough to compete. Moreover, it is somewhat tricky for Snap to expand its reach to many users as it is said that the app functions better with the more expensive and up to date smartphones in areas where the mobile internet speed is fast.

While we do not recommend investors to buy Snap Inc, it doesn’t hurt to be updated on the progress the company makes and hopefully that can continue as 2018 progresses.

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Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is launching a delivery service whereby products are more readily available for faster delivery directly from sellers to customers. Sellers are said to be more inclined to use this service compared to others as Amazon sweetened the deal with low delivery costs, better logistics software and regular warehouse inspections.

This poses a challenge for competitors such as United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS), and FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX), which provide similar service. However, Amazon still plans to use these delivery services as having different delivery options is better than relying on one, but Amazon will now get to decide how packages are sent rather than having the customer decide.

Initially, Amazon had announced that the delivery service was just a trial in October last year, but the company has realised that delivering packages on its own rather than depending on a third party is a more viable option and so far has seen the positive impacts it has had. Amazon will now be able to monitor deliveries right up until customers collect them. The company will also be able to save money through volume discounts, and since the delivery will be done directly from the seller’s warehouse to the customer, Amazon will no longer have to provide storage for the packages.

Amazon’s delivery service will also be beneficial to sellers as well. Amazon’s latest service, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), launched in 2006, allows sellers to ship their goods to Amazon warehouses for the company to process shipping when they come in. However, these sellers will be able to save money as they would not have to be paying Amazon the exorbitant storage and packing fees.

The company is finding innovative ways to increase and improve its service as they continue to expand their operation. Despite having a setback in its market price before releasing its earnings report, they are still one of the top tech stock on the market and we continue to recommend this stock to investors.

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MedicanJa Ltd has announced its intentions to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in a few weeks. At the helm of the company is Dr. Henry Lowe, a renowned Jamaican scientist who specialises in the development of edible products from Jamaican plants such as cannabis. He is optimistic that this listing will give Jamaicans at home and abroad the opportunity to earn money from their indirect involvement in medical marijuana through investments.

Lowe sees Jamaica as a future hub for medicinal plants as the island grows a majority of the world’s established medicinal plants that can be made into plant based medicinal products.

Marijuana is commercially unexploited in Jamaica. Despite extensive research conducted by the Biotech Research and Development Institute at the University of the West Indies, on its medicinal properties there seem to be very slow progress to changing the current situation. Lowe expressed that there are many possibilities for Jamaica in this area.

Lowe has been successful in making other medicinal plants into commercially accepted products. He has made quality products from bushes such as guinea hen weed, ball moss, moringa, bizzy and many other local products that have been around for many years.

The company has already received a license to operate from the Cannabis Licensing Authority and approval from the Ministry of Health to produce four topical and two oral products for sale.

MedicanJa Ltd was formed in 2013 and is a subsidiary of Eden Gardens Group. Other affiliates in the group include EG Wellness Brands, Bio Tech Research and Development Institute and FlavoCure Biotech LLC.

MedicanJa Ltd will now be a direct competitor to Lasvac, a new company formed by Lasco Manufacturing Ltd (JSE: LASM), which will also manufacture medicinal marijuana products in Jamaica.

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Despite the University of the West Indies looking to construct 826 additional residential units on its Mona Campus, 138 Student Living Jamaica Limited [JSE: 138SL] has requested for all plans to cease. This request was made based on the fact that there have been too many empty rooms on the new residential hall.

The rooms are said to be unoccupied because students are not able to afford them. Hall fee for single rooms is $51,350.00, and double rooms are for $29,770.00. On this hall, students enter the rooms using the elevators with entry cards. If hall fees are not paid, then the key cards are blocked, preventing students from entering.

Therefore, 138 Student Living is partnering with Sagicor Group Jamaica through an employment model, where students will be able to gain income to help pay the hall fees. 138 Student Living expects this employment opportunity to benefit about 5 percent of Jamaican students as they are hired to process excess work off-site for the companies involved. To assist students in this venture, Sagicor would upgrade internet speed for students for them to be more efficient.

Since the inception of 138 Student Living in 2014, the company has constructed 1800 rooms at UWI under two agreements, but because of the lack of occupancy, these ventures have been unprofitable. Therefore, the company aim to increase occupancy by 10% to improve profitability.

At the end of the September 2017 quarter, 138 Student Living reported a net profit of $51.7million, a 98 percent increase when compared to its previous quarter. While, the company experienced a 63 percent increase in expenses the overall financial performance was better than 2016, this stems from Gerald Lalor flats for which the company is building its brand.

Unfortunately, market sentiment need more convincing as no zero volumes were traded yesterday and the performance of the stock price has been lackluster.

Current price is JMD$6.15 with an extremely high P.E of 51.3x compared to the industry P.E of 31.0x.

While we would not recommend 138SL as a buy right now, we will be keeping an eye on it.

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The current economic climate in China is leaving many investors uncertain as to what market activities will take place next. At this point, there are very few who are not aware that the noticeable slowdown in their economy is a potential issue.

Analysts have suggested that the weakness in China’s economy is in part related to government policy.  The Chinese government has set itself the goal of implementing market returns, such as allowing its currency to be more responsive to market forces.

Unfortunately, we are discovering that the more reforms it tries to implement, the greater volatility there is in the market, at least for the moment. Perhaps in the long-term, their policies will prove to be beneficial in terms of redirecting economic forces in the right direction.

At present, however, it appears that moving in the direction of greater reform including attempts to move the economy from investment and export-led growth to consumption-led growth is only leading to increased volatility.

Additionally, Chinese government policy can change very quickly, and in a not particularly transparent manner. The government still has enormous resources at its disposal and could, should it so choose, implement a fiscal stimulus programme similar to that put in place in 2008. While I am not saying they will do this, it is important to remember that they could do it, should they so wish.

So, while it is reasonable to expect China to continue to be a source of market volatility, we must also bear in mind that there is a possibility, however small, that Chinese government policy may change. While the probability of this may seem slight, such a possibility existing at all suggests that on principle we should not be wholly pessimistic about China, even if the odds suggest that there will continue to be volatility associated with the Chinese economic situation.

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If you want to start investing with SSL but don’t have the time to monitor the market or to conduct the trades yourself then you can choose one of SSL’s managed Financial Planning products. We offer a variety of products for every type of investor and if you are interested in managing online trades yourself and having complete control over your investment portfolio then you can try SSL’s Brokerage account.

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Lasco Financials (JSE: LASF) has continued to exceed expectations this financial year. In the quarter ending September 30, 2017, LASF reported doubling its profits.

We also noted in December last year that the transaction to acquire CreditScotia was completed. The acquisition will extend LASF’s reach into 13 new locations across Jamaica.

Lasco Financials released its third-quarter financials, ending December 30, 2017, revealing a $1.8 billion loan book.  LASF’s results showed a 36 percent increase in revenues when compared to the corresponding period.

Lasco Financial’s assets also grew by 98.8 percent and can be credited to acquisitions and strategic alliances. As expected, the company’s liabilities increased due to acquisitions and short-term loans.

While LASF P/E (26.06x) is higher than the market(22.5x), I believe that out of the three leading microfinance companies that LASF has the most room to grow. CreditScotia, now called Lasco Microfinance Limited, along with the collaboration with Guardian Life I expect even more impressive results.

If you liked this article and want to read other great stories, try our Archives. Also if you are new to investing you can try our Investment Basics Blog.

If you want to start investing with SSL but don’t have the time to monitor the market or to conduct the trades yourself then you can choose one of SSL’s managed Financial Planning products. We offer a variety of products for every type of investor and if you are interested in managing online trades yourself and having complete control over your investment portfolio then you can try SSL’s Brokerage account.

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