(left)Gary Peart, CEO, Mayberry
(middle)Michael Bernard, Managing Director, Carreras
(right)John Orr, CEO, FirstCaribbean
Judged by the value the firm delivers to shareholders, like how much of its profit it pays out as dividend, its price-to-book value, or the movement in its stock price, there was no better firm on the Kingston stock exchange during this survey than Carreras Limited.
But if you go for sheer size, measured by such variables as market capitalisation, asset base and revenue, First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB) - the institution created when Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Barclays Bank merged their Caribbean operations - is top of the pile of companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
But there is a third measure - performance - which assesses how efficiently companies turn revenues into profit, the return it gets on its equity or the how fast it grows its earnings. Here the standard-bearer is the Jamaican brokerage house, Mayberry Investments Limited.
Jamaica's stock market embodies more than $700 billion of value - down from $815 billion only three weeks ago.
This survey also assesses companies on the JSE, within their sectors. The companies on top in their categories are featured inside, while a series of tables in the centrespread provides a comprehensive look at how each of the 37 companies that StockTrack reviews, stacks up against others on the trading board in 19 categories.
In the three variables used to determine how well companies did overall in returning value for stockholders, Carreras was ahead in two Ñ dividend payout (174 per cent) and price to book value (9.44 times).
Its aggregate score of 135 - out of a possible 150 - from the three applicable variables was 11 higher than its closest competitor in this category, Scotia Group Jamaica, which itself was six points ahead of its investment banking subsidiary, Scotia DBG Investments Limited. The mean average score in this category was 96 .
If Carerras is generous to shareholders, Mayberry, during the review period scored broadly, on how efficiently it leveraged its equity, grew revenue and translated earnings into profit. It was not the top performer in any of the variables Ñ profit margin, earnings growth or return on equity Ñ but did sufficiently well in all, to give it a score of 137, four more than Kingsley Cooper's Pulse and six ahead of the manufacturer and distributor, Seprod Group.
Mayberry prides itself on being a dealmaker. Last year, it pulled together one of its best - the Angostura acquisition of Lasecelles deMercado - which boosted its bottomline.
First Caribbean International is one of the region's biggest bank, at its assets base of J$833.8 billion, was three times that of its closest competitor Bank of Nova Scotia ($286.5) billion and the financial services conglomerate Sagicor Financial Corporation ($284.8 billion).
In terms of market capitalisation First Caribbean, at J$205.9 billion) was way ahead of the pack, followed Bank of Nova Scotia (J$73.5 billion) and Guardian holding (J$64.9 billion). In revenue, though, first Caribbean J$65.9 billion) was second to Guardian ($79.7 billion), followed by another big regional group, Sagicor Financial Corporation (J$64.7 billion). Its profit of $17.1 billion, dwarfed Guardian Holding's ($9.6 billion and Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica $9.09).
It is significant to note, however, that Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica's numbers reflect performance primarily in Jamaica, rather than the broader regional market as is the case of the other mega firms.
These performances gave First Caribbean an aggregate of of 199 points out of a possible 200, against Guardian Holdings (193) and Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica (192).
Indeed, in the three categories of overall rankings measured in this survey, Bank of Nova Scotia ranked second in one (value for shareholders) third in another (size) and 10th in the other (performance).
business@gleanerjm.com
