Gleaner Company Limited (GLNR) has advised the Board of Directors declared the payment of an interim dividend of $0.04 per share, payable on October 28, 2015, to shareholders on record as at October 1, 2015. The ex-dividend date is September 29, 2015.

JMMB Group Limited (JMMBGL) has advised that the Extraordinary General Meeting held on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 had 100% of the members present in person or by proxy at the meeting. They also advised that voting at the meeting approved the resolution for the issuance of six (6) billion Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares.

Dolphin Cove Limited (DCOVE) has advised that at a meeting scheduled for Monday September 28, 2015 the Board of Directors will consider the payment of a dividend.

Gleaner Company Limited (GLNR) has advised that on Wednesday September 16, 2015 by round-robin resolution the Board of Directors will consider the payment of a dividend.

Cable & Wireless Jamaica Limited (CWJA) has advised that Mr. Ralph Perley McBride has been appointed as a Director of CWJA effective September 10, 2015.

In previous publications in May 2015, Trinidad Cement Limited (“TCL”/“the Company”) advised (inter alia):

• That it had secured bridge loan financing in the amount of US$245M, effective as of May 12, 2015, in order to repay loans and take advantage of the maximum amount of the prepayment discounts afforded under the debt restructuring arrangements agreed to in March 2015; and

• That the TCL Board of Directors had agreed to the engagement of arrangers for long-term financing to repay the bridge loan. TCL is pleased to advise that the process of acquiring long-term financing to repay the bridge loan has been successfully completed. On August 04, 2015, the Company took a decision to close the syndicated loan process, having received its targeted commitments of the equivalent of US$210M. On August 06, 2015, the TCL Board of Directors considered the various draft refinancing agreements in relation to the syndicated loan, and passed resolutions approving (inter alia) the terms and conditions outlined therein. The proceeds of the loan, together with internally generated cash of US$35M, were used to settle the bridge loan amount, effective August 11, 2015. The refinancing agreements were fully executed on and became effective from August 06, 2015. The key terms of the refinancing are as follows:

• The loan amount is the sum of US$210 million (comprising US$153.3M and TT$361.4M);
• The term of the loan is 5 years; 
• The interest rate is LIBOR + 5.50 %, on USD drawdowns and 3 Month TT Treasury Bill + 5.50% on TTD drawdowns, with a floor of 0.75% for LIBOR and the 3 Month TT Treasury Bill;
• The loan will be guaranteed by TCL’s subsidiaries;

The joint lead arrangers are Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.

Lasco Financial Services Limited (LASF) has advised that the Board of Directors declared the payment of an interim dividend of $0.0311 per share to shareholders on record as at September 17, 2015 payable on September 22, 2015. The ex-dividend date is September 15, 2015.

Lasco Distributors Limited (LASD) has advised that the Board of Directors declared the payment of a dividend of $0.0275 per share to shareholders on record as at September 17, 2015 payable on November 18, 2015. The ex-dividend date is September 15, 2015.

On Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 10:00 am, Jamaica Broilers Group Limited (JBG) will be hosting their 57^th Annual General Meeting at Jamaica Conference Centre, Ocean Boulevard, Kingston Mall in Kingston.

The Local Economy Expands by 0.8% in Q2

According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), the Jamaican economy expanded by 0.8% in the April to June 2015 quarter compared with the corresponding quarter of 2014.  The outturn for the period reflected the positive impact that the continued strengthening of the global economy has had on some of the major industries such Hotels & Restaurants, Transport, and Mining & Quarrying. Improvements in both business and consumer confidence also contributed to domestic demand. The Goods-Producing Industry grew by 0.7% relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous year with the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing, Mining & Quarrying and the Construction industries registering growth in real value added during the review quarter.  Expansion in the construction industry was driven by road rehabilitation and repair works and highway construction (Phase 1 and Phase 3 of the North-South link of Highway 2000) and hotel construction and expansion works. However residential construction declined, with housing starts down by 56.1% and the volume of mortgages down by 3.1%. The Manufacture industry is estimated to have contracted by 0.5% largely due to the fall-off in petroleum production. This decline was largely attributed to an unscheduled one month closure of the Petroleum Refinery for maintenance resulting in a 23 percentage points decline in its average capacity utilization.

The services industry grew by 0.7% relative to the corresponding period last year reflecting higher real value added in all Industries except Producers of Government Services.

For the first half of the calendar year, real GDP is estimated to have increased by 0.6% relative to the corresponding period of the previous year due to growth of 0.1% in the Goods Producing Industry and 0.7% in the Services Industry. The PIOJ projects that growth for the July to September quarter will be within the range of 1% to 2%, driven by favourable performance from most industries. Ongoing road rehabilitation work and hotel expansion should continue to impact the construction industry favourably. Heightened confidence levels following successive passing of IMF tests, stable consumer prices and the recent lowering of BOJ benchmark rates should provide the right condition for growth. That said, there is the risk that drought conditions will not only weigh on activity in the Agricultural sector but will affect other business activity as well. In recent times, a number of businesses have lost valuable production hours as a result of the drought and the effect of this could be seen in subsequent reports.