The Board of Directors of Jamaica Broilers Group Limited has declared an interim dividend of $0.10 per share payable on April 29, 2011 to shareholder on record as at April 6, 2011. The ex-dividend date is April 4, 2011.

Gleaner Company Limited reported net profit of $430.6Mn (EPS: $0.36), a considerable improvement over the $208Mn (EPS: $0.15) recorded in 2009. The performance during the year does not reflect that continued challenges that the company faces such as growing revenues. Revenues fell 3% during the year but were tempered by marked reduction in all expense categories. The company’s performance was driven primarily by pension income which is not core to its business. Excluding this from the financial statements would have shown net profit of $152.Mn. Going forward, we anticipate that the company will continue to face similar challenges especially given the fact that higher oil prices on the international market will make it more challenging to control costs.

Pan Caribbean Financial Services (PCFS) recorded a marginal 3% growth in earnings during the 2010 financial year. PCFS earned profit of $1.5Bn (EPS: $2.78) compared to $1.47Bn (EPS: $2.70) in 2009. The performance was driven by a 4.8% growth in net interest income as well as a 21% increase in net fee and commission income. Operating expenses grew by just 6.7%.

Capital and Credit Financial Group (CCFG) recorded net profit of $288Mn ($0.31) for the 2010 financial year ending December 2010. This was fairly in line with what the company reported in 2009. The performance was aided by the recognition of net gains on securities traded but thwarted by the reduction in fee and commission income. On the costs side, the group has seen a reduction in staff costs as well as a decline in loan loss expenses. CCFG will need to improve efficiencies as it has the second highest cost to income in the industry of 73%.

Mayberry Investments Limited (MIL) recorded a 25% decline in earnings to $174.5Mn (EPS: $0.15) for the financial year ended December 2010. The company was significantly impacted by foreign exchange losses during the year of $235Mn compared to gains of $268.2Mn in 2009. However, a significant increase in fee and commission income given that the company has been the lead broker for several junior market listings as well as higher trading gains on fixed income securities helped to temper some of the impact. MIL’s cost structure though is cause for concern with a cost to income ratio of 82% - the highest in the brokerage industry. Therefore, in an environment in which there are significant pressures on revenue, the company will need to improve on operational efficiencies to become more competitive within the industry.

Scotia DBG also reported lower earnings in the first quarter. The group recorded a 14% decline in net profit to $467Mn ($1.10). Of note, the comparative quarter reflected pre JDX earnings and as such, the significant decline in yields on the securities portfolio since then has weighed on the company’s performance. Net interest income fell 27% to $730Mn. SDBG however continues to reap the benefits of growth in non interest revenue through it’s off balance sheet products and the trend should continue over the subsequent quarters. Furthermore, the group saw a reduction in costs during the quarter reflecting lower staff costs along with a general decrease in other operating expenses.

Scotia Group Jamaica (SGJ) recorded a 4.2% decline in net profit for the first quarter. The group recorded Net profit of $2.6Bn (EPS: $0.83) compared to $2.8Bn (EPS: $0.86) in the same quarter last year. The decline in earnings was triggered by the decline in net interest margin as yields on the loan and securities portfolio were lower. The group’s Retail Banking arm was the star performer during the quarter reporting a 138% increase in operating profit. However, the Corporate Banking, Treasury and Investment Management segments recorded declines of 62%, 24% and 13% respectively.

The Board of Directors of Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited has declared in interim dividend of $0.34 per share payable on April 7, 2011 to shareholders on record as at March 23, 2011. The ex-dividend date is March 21, 2011.

The annual NCB Capital Markets Sporting Clays Open will this year be held over two days in an effort to observe international shooting tournament standards. Slated for Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13 at the Caymanas Golf Club; the afternoon tournament will attract over 100 shooters and promises to be yet another exciting staging.

The Board of Directors of GraceKennedy Limited (GK) has declared a dividend of $0.55 per share payable on May 27, 2011 to stockholders on record as at May 2, 2011. The ex-dividend date is April 28, 2011. GK has appointed Mr. Michael Ranglin to the Board of GK and as CEO of GK Foods Division effective March 1, 2011. The Annual General Meeting of GK will be held on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 4:00p.m. at 73 Harbour Street, Kingston, Jamaica.