• Impacted by higher expenses, Knutsford Express Services Limited (KEX) reported a 36.8% decline in earnings to J$169.67Mn for the 9 months ending February 2025 (9M 2025).
• 9M 2025 revenues grew by 7.3%, moving from J$1.53Bn in 2024 to $1.64Bn in 2025, reflecting a slower but sustained growth in service demand.
• However, the company grappled with cost pressures, as administrative and general expenses rose sharply by 16.0% to $1.39Bn. With revenue growth outpacing higher expenses, KEX’s operating profit fell by 24.4% to $248.95Mn.
• The company’s weaker operating performance was compounded by higher net finance costs, which increased by 25.6% to $36.30Mn, reflecting lower finance income (-27.4%) and higher finance costs.
• As a result, profit before taxation dropped 29.3% over the nine months, from J$300.58Mn to J$212.65Mn.
• Amid the falloff in earnings, management pointed to continued macroeconomic softness, including muted passenger arrivals, as a key drag on revenue momentum. However, investments in operations continue, including the ongoing expansion of its coach fleet. The company is also looking to deepen its efforts to digitise its processes to improve operational efficiencies and enhance customer satisfaction.
• KEX’s stock price has depreciated by 15.1% year-to-date. The stock price closed Tuesday’s trading session at $12.02 and currently trades at a P/E of 28.62x, above the Junior Market Other Average of 16.30x.

(Sources: KEX & NCBCM Research)

• Express Catering Limited (ECL) delivered a 54.2% surge in net earnings for the 9 months ended February 2025 (9M 2025), rising from US$2.09Mn in 9M 2024 to US$3.22Mn. Improved cost management, which compensated for marginal revenue growth, drove the buoyancy in earnings.
• Total revenue grew by 1.1% to US$18.89Mn, on higher average spend per passenger, which rose from US$9.53 to US$10.49, and compensated for a decline in total passenger volumes from 1.96Mn to 1.80Mn.
• Notwithstanding the marginal revenue growth, gross profit improved by 8.6%, driven by lower cost of sales (-13.9%) to US$5.31Mn.
• Similarly, Administrative and Promotional expenses declined by US$0.67Mn or 10.7% to US$5.58Mn, which outweighed a US$0.61Mn (27.7%) increase in depreciation expenses to US$2.82Mn.
• The lower administrative and professional expense reflects tighter cost management, notably in salaries, wages, and lease obligations under IFRS 16, as well as supply chain efficiencies and improved menu pricing. With the improved cost containment, operating profit rose by 26.7% to US$5.10Mn.
• With improved earnings, ECL’s profit margins improved from 11.2% to 17.0%.
• ECL’s management remains optimistic for the rest of its 2025 financial year. The winter season (Dec–May) remains a peak period for passenger traffic and revenue generation. Moreover, with the summer season approaching, the company is actively reviewing cost categories to further drive future savings and margin expansion.
• ECL’s stock price has decreased by 4.1% year-to-date. The stock price closed Tuesday’s trading session at $2.89 and currently trades at a P/E of 11.4x, below the Junior Market Other Average of 16.3x.

(Sources: JSE and NCBCM Research)

• Newly appointed president of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA), Dale Parson, says non-energy exports are the way to go for long-term benefits for Trinidad and Tobago.
• “We feel we know what we have to do, and non-energy exports is the way to go for the long-term benefits of the country, and not only for manufacturers, but for the whole population,” he said.
• With the US government pulling the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licences to develop the Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina fields, he said there were still other opportunities in the pipeline.
• Speaking on the tariff announced for T&T goods by US President Donald Trump, he noted that with all the geopolitical tax impositions and the berthing fees and so on, there are other opportunities in the region that do not attract those tariffs, that the country can still export.
• He emphasised that the tariff on T&T was one of the lowest in the region, which puts the country in a competitive position with other countries exporting to the US.
• He further acknowledged that the tariffs were a big issue, especially the developing tariff war between the US and China, and could cause a trickle-down effect, causing a 10%-15% increase on all imported goods, which would affect the consumer.

(Source: Trinidad Express)

• The Government of Guyana has welcomed the arrival of the ONE GUYANA Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel into Guyana’s waters. This marks a significant milestone in the advancement of offshore oil production and national development.
• Constructed by SBM Offshore, the ONE GUYANA FPSO will support ExxonMobil Guyana’s Yellowtail development in the prolific Stabroek Block. With an estimated minimum production capacity of 250,000 barrels of oil per day and a storage capacity of approximately two million barrels, the vessel will bring total daily production capacity in the Stabroek Block to around 900,000 barrels once operations commence later this year.
• The ONE GUYANA FPSO is the fourth production vessel to arrive in Guyana, joining the Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Prosperity FPSOs. It represents continued confidence in Guyana’s energy sector and the strength of the partnership between the Government and co-venturers ExxonMobil, Hess, and CNOOC.
• The Ministry of Natural Resource reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that the oil and gas sector continues to be developed transparently and sustainably for the benefit of all Guyanese.

(Source: Newsroom Guyana)

• U.S. import prices unexpectedly fell in March, pulled down by decreasing costs for energy products, the latest indication that inflation was subsiding before President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs came into effect.
• The report from the Labour Department on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, added to March's benign consumer and producer prices data. Economists expect tame readings in March in the key inflation measures tracked by the Federal Reserve for its 2% target.
• "There is likely to be a very painful and costly transition for the U.S. economy as Trump 2.0 tries to turn back the clock and go back to making things in America," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS. "Import prices are not adding much to inflation for now, but the future outlook remains very much in doubt and not in a good way."
• Import prices dipped 0.1% last month, the first decline since September, after a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in February, the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs and are measured close to the beginning of the month, would be unchanged following a previously reported 0.4% increase in February.
• The import price data cemented economists' expectations that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding food and energy, edged up 0.1% in March after shooting up 0.4% in February. That would slow the annual increase in so-called core PCE inflation to 2.6% from 2.8% in February.
• That said, the White House's import duties campaign has triggered a damaging trade war with China and plunged financial markets into turmoil. Investors are fearful of high inflation and tepid growth or even a recession. Furthermore, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March 18-19 meeting published last week showed policymakers were nearly unanimous that the economy faced risks of simultaneously higher inflation and slower growth, commonly referred to as stagflation.

(Source: Reuters)

• China is "tearing down walls" and expanding its circle of trading partners, "shaking hands" instead of "shaking fists", its foreign ministry said on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, as Beijing works on diversifying ties amid an escalating trade war with the U.S.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Monday, kicked off a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia, which covers Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia. In Vietnam, which is facing potential U.S. tariffs of 46%, Xi called for the two countries to oppose "unilateral bullying" and to strengthen cooperation in production and supply chains.
• President Donald Trump has added an eye-watering 145% of tariffs on Chinese goods this year as part of broader reciprocal duties on all U.S. trading partners. This prompted ridicule and criticism from Beijing, which retaliated by jacking up levies on U.S. goods by 125%.
• The World Trade Organisation has warned that the high-stakes China-U.S. trade row could cut the shipment of goods between the two economies by as much as 80% and severely hurt global growth.
• However, Beijing has called U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs strategy "a joke", irritating U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "These are not a joke. I mean, these are big numbers," Bessent said in a Bloomberg Television interview." I think no one thinks they're sustainable, wants them to remain here, but it's far from a joke." Any U.S.-China negotiations would have to come from "the top," involving Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Bessent also said.
• That said, a commentary published on Tuesday by China's state-run People's Daily underlined the need for unity amid the trade turbulence. "In the face of crisis, no one can keep only to oneself," the commentary said, referencing Dorothy's adventure in the American children's story The Wizard of Oz. "Only unity and cooperation can meet the challenge."

(Source: Reuters)

• Although the announcement on April 9, 2025, by President Trump that higher tariff rates would be paused for 90 days led to a sharp rally in financial markets, including U.S. bank stocks, Fitch Connect still holds a cautious outlook for banks across the globe.
• Financial services have not been directly hit by the tariffs, but banks will continue to navigate a challenging environment as they are vulnerable to second-round effects from tariffs, including weaker economic growth, volatile exchange rates and changing interest rate expectations.
• Moreover, recession fears dim the loan growth outlook and increase the risk of higher non-performing loans in markets such as Canada and the U.S., while in Asia, lower bank profitability, notably in Mainland China, could be the key risk. The removal of several ‘reciprocal’ tariffs will, however, ease some of the stress on financial markets across Asia Pacific (APAC), but risks remain elevated.
• One of the main premises in Fitch’s view is that the tariffs could prompt central banks to cut interest rates more rapidly than previously anticipated to stimulate economic growth. This would weigh on banks’ net interest income (NII) and likely result in bank earnings falling to pre-tightening levels at a quicker rate than previously expected.
• Moreover, significant uncertainty persists despite the reprieve, and Fitch anticipates continued volatility as markets adjust. Q1 2025 earnings were released for some of the largest banks on April 11 and continued to show that the largest U.S. banks are in good financial health and have benefited from high trading activity owing to stock market volatility surrounding President Trump.
• However, Fitch believes that U.S. banks will continue to face headwinds in the coming months, through second-round macroeconomic effects from the tariff turmoil, weaker loan growth, possible deteriorations in loan quality and lower profits.

(Source: Fitch Connect)

• U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, April 13, 2025, said he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week, adding that there would be flexibility with some companies in the sector.
• The president's pledge means that the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs on China is likely to be short-lived as Trump looks to reset trade in the semiconductor sector.
• "We wanted to uncomplicate it from a lot of other companies, because we want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he travelled back to Washington from his estate in West Palm Beach. Trump declined to say whether some products, such as smartphones, might still end up being exempted, but added: "You have to show a certain flexibility. Nobody should be so rigid."
• The White House had announced the exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs on Friday, creating some hope that the tech industry might escape being ensnared in the escalating conflict between the two nations and that everyday consumer products such as phones and laptops would remain affordable.
• However, Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, earlier on Sunday made clear that critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) celebrated its first listing on the Junior Market since the beginning of the year with the listing of Atlantic Hardware and Plumbing Company (AHPC) Limited on April 4, 2025. From its Initial Public Offer (IPO) released in February 2025, the Company successfully raised capital of approximately J$500.0Mn and onboarded 3,218 new shareholders to their Company.
• The total capital raised by the companies listed on the Junior Market, including nearly JA$500 million raised by AHPC, amounts now to over J$22.6Bn. AHPC’s listing on the JSE has also increased the number of companies listed on the Junior Market to 48 and 104 companies overall and a total of 152 securities on the Stock Exchange.
• Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director of the Jamaica Stock Exchange stated, “This represents an offer of 20.0% of the shares of the company to new investors. At a market capitalisation of approximately J$2.5Bn, this places AHPC among the top 20 companies on the Junior Market by market capitalisation. Additionally, with its listing, “AHPC will increase the market capitalisation of the Junior Market to over J$144.5Bn and the overall market capitalisation of the combined markets to J$1.86Tn, as at April 4, 2025,” said Dr. Street Forrest.
• “Atlantic Hardware & Plumbing is now well-positioned to enjoy the many benefits of a listed company. High on the list are the raising of the company’s profile, the improvement in corporate governance standards, and the additional capital to build the brand. This is possible via an Exchange that is focused on keen regulatory oversight, encouraging good corporate governance and one that provides the infrastructure for new products and services,” said Dr. Street Forrest.”
• Since listing on the JSE at $1.00 per share, AHPC’s stock price has declined by 10.0% to $0.90 per share.

(Source: JSE and NCBCM Research)

• Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the US$13.0Mn Kingston Gateway Commercial and Warehouse Complex is poised to become a landmark development, impacting not only Kingston, but also strengthening Jamaica’s logistics and commercial ecosystem as a whole.
• This project is a collaborative effort between PROVEN REIT Limited (PREIT) and SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited (SAJE), marking PREIT's inaugural venture into the logistics sector and was slated for completion by December 2025.
• Situated at 221-223 Marcus Garvey Drive within Kingston’s bustling industrial corridor, the project will feature 21 warehouses offering 112,000 square feet of rentable space built to global standards.
• Welcoming the development of the mixed-use commercial offices and warehouse complex, Opposition Spokesperson on Industry, Investment and Global Logistics, Anthony Hylton, said it is likely to lift the operating standards of the multiple legacy projects and facilities currently occupying space in the surrounding area.

(Source: JIS)