May 14, 2024

Jamaica Stock Exchange Limited (JSE) for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, reported a 17% increase in turnover totalling $633.81 million compared to $540.04 million in the corresponding three months last year.

Fee Income amounted to $485.68 million (2023: $408.32 million), this represents an increase of 19% year over year. Consequently, other operating income increased by 33% to $60.40 million compared to $45.46 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. Cess income closed the quarter at $73.92 million, up 2% year over year from the $72.31 million reported for the same quarter in 2023.

Staff costs increased by 17% from $190.87 million in 2023 to $223.78 million for the three months. As a result, Total Expenses for the first quarter amounted to $492.94 million, a 19% increase relative to $414.91 million reported in 2023. Other contributors to the overall increase in expenses were Property expenses (9%), Depreciation (13%), Professional Fees (35%) and Advertising and Promotion (19%).

Investment Income for the three months amounted to $12.33 million, a 9% increase relative to $11.27 million reported in 2023.

Profit before Taxation for the first quarter amounted to $153.20 million, a 12% increase relative to $136.41 million reported in 2023.

Taxation was $60.68 million (2023: $49.46 million). Net Profit for the three months amounted to $92.52 million, a 6% growtth from the $86.95 million reported in 2023.

Consequently, Earnings Per Share for the three months amounted to $0.13 (2023: EPS: $0.12). The twelve-month trailing EPS was $0.60, and the number of shares used in these calculations was 701,250,000.

Notably, JSE’s stock price closed the trading period on May 14, 2024, at a price of $9.96 with a corresponding P/E ratio of 16.57x.

Balance Sheet Highlights

The company’s assets totalled $3.48 billion (2023: $3.02 billion). This resulted from a 160% jump in ‘Government Securities Purchased Under Resales Agreements’ closing at $579.31 million.

Shareholder’s equity was $2.70 billion (2023: $2.31 billion), representing a book value per share of $3.85 (2023: $3.30).

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