The Analysts of Taking Stock with Kalilah Reynolds say that the manufacturing and distribution industry may produce some of the best-performing stocks for 2022.

Assistant Manager of Trading and Treasury at JMMB, Greig Lindo, said that the industry has shown resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“As much as you may be going through a pandemic, people are still gonna need food, they’re still gonna need products to live on,” he explained. 

According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), the manufacturing industry grew more than 20 per cent from November 2020 to November 2021.

Lindo pointed to companies such as Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ) and Honey Bun, which have pivoted and diversified their businesses, as ones to watch in the new year. 

CPJ ended last year as the best performing stock on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, up some 405 per cent from the start of the year. 

“It’s definitely a company that’s on the rebound and I like that they’re moving in the right direction by diversifying their business and moving more into retail,” Lindo said. 

CPJ interim CEO, Mark Hart said that the company will be putting extra focus on its retail business in 2022 with the target of reaching US$50 million in five years. 

Business journalist with the Jamaica Observer, David Rose, said Spur Tree Spices is also a company to watch this year.

Spur Tree Spices has been generating a lot of buzz since listing on the Jamaican Stock Exchange recently. 

The company’s stock price climbed to $2.32 just three business days after listing. 

Rose said he believes that the buzz around the company is genuine and the company’s stock price will continue to do well. 

Meanwhile, the JSE announced that beginning February, Jamaican investors will have direct market access to stock exchanges in the United States and Canada. 

CEO of Profit Jumpstarter, Keisha Bailey, said this will open doors for many Jamaican investors. 

She said that the investing environment in the United States is likely to change as the Federal Reserve is looking to increase interest rates. 

“With higher interest rates, a lot of us have not seen this type of environment before, it’s not that easy anymore to make money, you can’t just close your eyes and buy the tech stocks, that won’t work this year,” she explained. 

She said that investors need to be on the lookout for quality companies. 

“Banks, for example, tend to do better in higher interest environments. Energy companies, so Canada will come into focus because Canada has most of the energy producers there,” she noted. 

“The JSE going into those markets is huge because it’s at the right time because we’re able to now tap into those markets and benefit from those returns,” Bailey added. 

Rose said that the energy sector will also be one to watch as the country begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The economy is really opening back up, so people are commuting. That means they’re burning more gas which means they have to stop at a gas station,” he explained. 

That was one of the main reasons Rose said that FESCO is among the companies to watch. He added that FESCO is also benefiting from the JSE’s junior market tax break, “so their tax line has basically vanished.”

“FESCO is competing on price, which is a very good strategy and they’re gonna have the Beechwood location contributing now to profit and loss, so you’re gonna see a big jump in their most recent reports,” he said. 

He added that the company also has other initiatives, such as its partnership with Mr. Breakfast and its lubricants and branded water, which makes the company more attractive. 

However, the analysts noted that the push towards clean energy and electric vehicles, while slow to take off in Jamaica, may play a role in the company’s future down the line.

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