• Over the past three weeks some $50 million has been allocated to redistributing excess crops and fresh produce held by farmers in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in Jamaica and the consequent fall out of demand from the tourism and other markets.
• The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture Fisheries through its agency, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority working with purveyors in the private sector have been executing the redistribution of fresh produce from areas of glut to consumers under the Government of Jamaica’s $240 million stimulus programme for the agricultural sector.
• In addition to the redistribution programme, the Ministry has established other channels to ensure continued production in the sector, with $100 million allocated to drought mitigation, and $300 million for the Production Incentive Programme.

(Source: JIS)

• For the year ended December 31, 2019, iCreate Ltd. reported a net loss of $45.95Mn (EPS: -$0.24), which is a 209.5% (or $31.10Mn) increase when compared to the $14.84Mn (EPS: -$0.08) loss that was made one year prior.
• This outturn was primarily driven by a 66.4% (or $21.98Mn) increase in total expense and a 518.8% (or $10.87Mn) increase in finance costs, which was outstripped the 44.9% (or $14.31Mn) increase in revenue.
• The company’s stock price has fallen 30.0% since the beginning of the year to end Thursday’s trading session at $0.49.

 (Source: iCreate Financials)

• Puerto Rico will fall into a significant recession in Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20; July 2019-June 2020), as the global Covid-19 pandemic, and measures to contain it locally, hit commerce, investment and exports.
• We forecast a contraction of 4.0% y-o-y in FY20, noting that fiscal stimulus from the local and federal governments will provide a floor to growth. We expect 2.9% growth in FY21.
• We maintain our downbeat long term outlook on economic activity in the territory, though we note that debt renegotiations, currently on hold, are a pivot point for Puerto Rico’s growth trajectory.

(Source: Fitch)

• Guatemala’s current account will flip from a surplus of 2.2% of GDP in 2019 to a deficit of 0.2% in 2020 as a large recession in the US undermines remittance inflows and demand for Guatemalan exports.
• As a result, we at Fitch Solutions have revised down our 2020 current account forecast from a 1.5% surplus to a 0.2% deficit.
• While steeper than expected recession in the US poses downside risks to our forecast, sizeable foreign reserves bolster Guatemala’s overall account stability.

(Source: Fitch)

• Oil rose on Thursday, spurred by rising tensions in the Middle East, output cuts by producing nations to tackle oversupply and the promise of more government stimulus to ease the economic pain of the new coronavirus pandemic.
• Brent crude was up $1.53, 7.5%, at $21.90 a barrel by 0822 GMT. U.S. crude rose $1.53, or 11.1%, at $15.31 a barrel.
• The rally on Thursday followed an announcement from President Donald Trump he had instructed the U.S. Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass it in the Gulf, although he added later he was not changing the military’s rules of engagement.

(Source: CNBC)

• A record 26 million Americans likely sought unemployment benefits over the last five weeks, confirming that all the jobs created during the longest employment boom in U.S. history were wiped out in about a month as the novel coronavirus savages the economy.
• Thursday’s weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department will add to a growing pile of increasingly bleak economic data.
• It will come amid rising protests against nationwide lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19, the potentially lethal respiratory illness caused by the virus.

(Source: CNBC)

• For the year ended December 31, 2019, Eppley Ltd. reported a 35.7% (or $43.04Mn) increase in net profit to $163.52Mn (EPS: $0.85) from $120.48Mn (EPS: $0.63) made in the prior year.
• This favourable movement was primarily driven by a 2.8% ($4.18Mn) increase in net interest income and a 72.1% (or $67.72Mn) increase in other operating income, outstripping the 18.9% (or $26.02Mn) increase in admin expenses.
• The company’s stock price has risen 20.6% since the beginning of the year to end Tuesday’s trading session at $17.00. The stock currently trades at a P/E of 20.0x earnings, which is above the Main Market Financial Sector Average of 14.6x earnings.

 (Source: Eppley Financials)

• Stanley Motta Limited (SML) reported audited net profits of $281.29Mn (EPS:37¢) for the year ended December 2019, representing a 85.9% (or $1.72Bn) decrease in its bottom line relative to the corresponding period in 2018.
• The main contributor to this performance was a 9.72% (or $1.85Bn) reduction in revaluation gains. This was due to a one-off gain being booked upon the revaluation of the company’s properties during the prior year.  Excluding this one-off gain net profit would have grown $131.76Mn (135.5%), courtesy of a $150.09Mn (or 55.5%) growth in revenue.
• The stock has declined 15.6% since the start of the year, and closed trading at $5.03 on Monday. At this price, SML currently trades at a P/E of 13.6x earnings, which is above the Main Market Real Estate Sector Average of 11.5x.

(Source: SML Financials)

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it approved a request from Panama for roughly $515 million in emergency financing to help address the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
• The IMF granted Panama the equivalent of 377 million special drawing rights (SDRs) through its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to cover rising healthcare costs and fill part of a gap in the balance of payments of around $3.7 billion
• The Panamanian government could relax spending limits in 2020 to increase healthcare spending and make cash transfers to the poor through the Panamá Solidario program. The spending limits would again come into effect in 2021, according to the IMF.

(Source: Latin Finance)

• Moody's downgraded its credit rating on Mexico to Baa1, and joined Fitch Ratings with a cut to the Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex's rating as well, with both companies on Friday citing weak economic growth prospects and sharp drops in the price of oil.
• Moody's cut Pemex to junk status, lowering the rating to Ba2 from an investment grade Baa3. Meanwhile, Fitch cut the company further into junk status, dropping the rating to BB- from BB.
• Moody's maintained negative outlooks on both the sovereign and Pemex. It said Mexico's medium term economic growth prospects have materially weakened and that the "continued deterioration in Pemex's financial and operational standing is eroding the sovereign's fiscal strength, which is already pressured by slower revenue growth due to a weaker economy."

(Source: Latin Finance)