Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited (RFMBT) recently released its performance report card for companies listed on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) for the first half of the year, indicating that Colina Holdings Bahamas Limited (CHBL), Fidelity Bank (FBB), and J.S. Johnson (JSJ) are the best performing stocks across four grading metrics.
The survey features four "top 10" lists which use four separate metrics: Best performance (as measured by the increase in stock price); best value (as measured by the price-earnings ratio); best liquidity (as measured by the dividend yields), and strongest overall (as measured by the best return on equity).
CHBL, FBB and JSJ are the only companies featured on all four top 10 lists. RFMBT Securities Analyst Stefano Pral said he wasn't surprised by the results.
"It was not surprising to see some of the same companies appearing on each list. The top performers share a common attribute: the ability to respond quickly and effectively to changes in the business environment. They are more nimble and flexible and keep a tighter handle on costs than other institutions," stated Pral.
In his report, Pral noted that CHBL, FAM (FamGuard) and FBB stock appears to be priced attractively, based on price-earnings ratios and the fact that both CHBL and FBB also appear on the best performance list for price appreciation. CHBL took the top spot in the "best performance" metric, with an appreciation of 50 percent, nearly twice that of FBB (28 percent).
Pral additionally speculated on the impact of value-added tax (VAT) on BISX-listed companies, stating that, "The impact that VAT will have on individual companies will become increasingly important to performance over time.
"Companies that import heavily or operate with small margins will likely be more affected by the new tax, because they will have to pass the cost onto the consumer and will inevitably lose customers as prices increase."
Pral stressed that liquidity in BISX is generally low and investors might hedge this illiquidity by purchasing stocks that offer a high dividend yield, while adding that his analysis was just a snapshot for the six months ending June 30, 2014.

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