First Rock boosts rental income with new stake in the Crown Square Commercial complex in Cayman

 





FirstRock Real Estate Investments (FREI), through its subsidiary FirstRock Capital Cayman, has acquired a majority stake in the Crown Square Commercial complex and an adjacent commercial tower, for the equivalent of J$1.7 Billion.

Management said in a notice via the Jamaica Stock Exchange on December 20 that the acquisition “marks the single largest transaction for the Company to date and underscores its strategic focus on increasing investments in high-quality, income-producing properties throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.”

The transaction as was largely financed by Cayman National Bank

“It is a significant step in FirstRock’s ongoing efforts to diversify and expand its real estate portfolio in the Cayman Islands and other markets in the Caribbean and Latin America,” management stated.

They outline that the Crown Square Commercial complex, located in the heart of Georgetown, the capital city of the Cayman Islands, continues to see high demand for both retail and office spaces.

Tenants include agencies of Government as well as a communication tower, which is leased to Digicel, telecommunications provider.

For the three quarters ended September 30, 2024, total assets of the FREI Group stood at US$ 57.2 Million and shareholders’ Equity of US$ 33.6 Million. The FREI Group’s liabilities stood at US$ 23.9 Million as at September 30, 2024, yielding a debt-to-equity ratio of 72 per cent.

The company has two business strategies, Real Estate and Real Sector Investments, which are pursued via its five subsidiaries, one associate and two joint ventures

Subsidiaries are First Rock USA LLC, a limited liability company incorporated in and under the laws of the State of Florida, USA and holds real estate and investment assets; First Rock Capital LATAM, Sociedad Anónima, a corporation incorporated in and under the laws of Costa Rica and holds real estate assets and investment assets.; and First Rock Capital LATAM One, S.R.L, a corporation incorporated in and under the laws of Costa Rica and which holds real estate assets and investment assets.

For September quarter First Rock Real Estate Investments Limited registered a net loss attributable to Ordinary Shareholders totaling US$674,536, which yielded an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of negative US$0.002.

Net loss attributable to Ordinary Shareholders for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, total led US$1,453,640, which yielded an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of negative US$0.005. The results were driven primarily by unrealised foreign exchange losses on translation of foreign currency denominated liabilities, which amounted to US$72,034 for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and US$275,170 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Additionally, interest expense amounted to US$118,839 for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and US$524,340 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Management noted that the Group’s financial performance continues to reflect the impact of the ongoing high-interest rate environment in Jamaica, “which exerts downward pressure on property values, resulting in lower Property Income relative to prior year.”

Property Income totaled US$49,056 for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and US$1,916,074 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Photo credit: Arch-godfrey.com

Caribbean Money Daily

Caribbeanmoney.blogspot.com

Follow us for breaking news

Email austanny@yahoo.com

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kintyre makes US$300,000 investment in Sevens Ice

Image
  Tyrone Wilson Chairman, President and CEO Kintyre Holdings (JA) Limited (KHL) and Seven Kingston Limited, owners of the Seven Ultra Lounge and Restaurant, on January 14 announced a joint venture to launch Sevens Ice. Kintyre Holdings has made an investment in excess of US$300,000 in acquiring an associate stake in Seven and also establishing the start-up for the ice venture. "This initiative addresses Jamaica’s growing demand for high-quality ice, with operations set to begin in Q1 2025," Wilson stated. Additionally, the venture has acquired a cold storage facility to manage its start-up capacity and is exploring the importation of ice to bridge the gap between demand and supply, ensuring a consistent and reliable market presence. Distribution Expansion Wilson said that Sevens Ice has secured a distribution point in Kingston and is in the process of setting up another in St. Catherine to serve the western and central parts of the island. This expansion will ensure broade...
Read more

BCMG increases risk management oversight: Launches surveys-as-a -service

Image
Insurance brokers in Jamaica often send underwriters themselves to survey risks; however, they frequently do not have the technical knowledge required to produce the best results. BCMG Insurance Brokers Limited (BCMG) in response, introduced - in support of the wider brokerage industry - an updated surveys-as-a service product which has been embraced by the wider community as groundbreaking. Senior Risk Manager on the New Business Team of BCMG David Lazarus explains, “We saw where the technical details and in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of business operations were not always being taken into consideration. This was seen as an opportunity to expand into this space.” In 2020, Billy Craig Insurance Brokers and Maritime General Insurance Brokers, MGI, signed an agreement to merge their operations to form BCMG Insurance Brokers Limited. Following the union, the new company has been exploring options to expand the service capability of the brokerage and increase value for clients...
Read more

Wish List: University Hospital CEO seeks top-flight CFO for turnaround miracle

Image
  It's a puzzling end of year for the finance team at the University Hospital of the West Indies where, despite an ongoing plan to quadruple plant size and service centres for the teaching institution, its current state is one of insolvency, with CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell wishing for a new Chief Financial Officer with a touch of genius to help in turning things around. Medium term, the government is aiming to significantly update this, the Caribbean's premium medical hospital and teaching school. At last report, the price tag on the project was $4.9 billion. In the works are plans for a new 6-storey, 120,000 square feet medical facility, which will accommodate an additional 40 medical and surgical beds, improvements to outpatient or ambulatory surgery, lecture rooms, conference rooms, and upgrading of the cardiology hybrid interventional surgery room and the neonatal intensive care and administrative departments. However, the institution is currently struggling to become solvent ...
Read more