Caribbean Money

Dr. Lorna Simmonds, CEO of Harmonisation Group Limited says that the organisation is currently focused on asset management. The company continues to make losses but expects Phase one of the Harmony Cove development to break ground in 2025. Harmonisation Limited is wholly owned by the Government of Jamaica, jointly through the Development Bank of Jamaica and the National Housing Trust. With Jeffery Hall as Chairman, the company’s mandate is the long-term capital development of the Harmony Cove property. The company is also the owner of its subsidiary Silver Sands Estates Limited with properties at Silver Sands in Duncans, Trelawny. The main project under consideration, Harmony Cove Limited, is expected to be a high-end integrated resort development with multiple lodging and amenity options. Construction activity for the first phase of the project is slated to commence in 2025, and will comprise 1,000 hotel rooms, a wide range of amenities including sporting activities, restaurants, a...

   For the year ended September 30, 2024, net profit was flat for real estate company Student Living Jamaica limited (138 SL), in spite of rising revenue. Revenue for the 12 months was $1.37 billion, compared to $1.29 billion at year end 2023. Company income represents revenue from student accommodation, of which 91 per cent is long term for the company and 99 per cent for the group. 138 SL was established to construct and rent living facilities at the University of the West Indies under a 65-year Concession Agreement granted by the University of the West Indies (UWI).    Net profit was flat at $344.79 million, this compared to $343 million at year end September 2023. EPS for the year ended was $0.66, down from $0.83 in 2023. Earnings per stock unit for the real estate company is calculated by dividing the net profit attributable to stockholders by the weighted average number of ordinary stock units in issue at year end which amounted to 521,952,000 at September 2...

  Tropical Mobility, a majority owned subsidiary of Tropical Battery Company, has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Ellesco, led by hotelier, real estate developer and electric vehicle pioneer Lee Issa. The strategic partnership was formed between the two companies to drive the adoption of electric vehicles in key sectors across Jamaica. Under the terms of the partnership, Tropical Mobility will establish a flagship showroom at Tropical Plaza in Half-Way-Tree to promote Tesla passenger vehicles and electric motorbikes from the combined portfolio of both companies. The two parties indicate that they will join forces to commercialize electric kick scooters, bicycles, motorbikes and ATVs, as well as passenger vehicles for private motorists and corporate fleets, commercial vehicles and buses. “We are thrilled to join forces with Lee Issa, a pioneer in the electric vehicle market in Jamaica who saw the writing on the wall and ensured e-mobility is accessible ...

   GraceKennedy (GK) Limited has come to an agreement with Spike Industries Limited to acquire its remaining 30 per cent stake in Catherine's Peak Bottling Company Limited, giving GK 100 per cent ownership of the company. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, will see Catherine's Peak Bottling Company Limited, owner of the Catherine’s Peak Spring water brand, become a wholly owned subsidiary of GraceKennedy. Frank James, CEO of GK Foods – Domestic, commented, "In recent years, GK has been strengthening our position in Jamaica's growing spring water market. This has included our 2021 acquisition of 876 Spring Water, our 2023 acquisition of Unibev, and the steady increase of our stake in Catherine's Peak.” He explained, “Our acquisition of Catherine's Peak perfectly aligns with GK’s strategy to own leading Jamaican brands which deeply resonate with consumers and have significant global market potential, as we work towards achiev...

  Edison Galbraith, Acting General Manager of the Development Bank of Jamaica told Jamaica Money Daily on January 30, 2025, that a delay in the planned divestment of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank via the Jamaica Stock Exchange is due to the need to repeal old laws and other processes underway. Galbraith, in his update, outlined, “The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), on behalf of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), is in the process of privatising the Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB), having received the Cabinet's approval of the recommended transaction structure in 2024. “The approved strategy is currently being implemented, which includes the repeal of the relevant legislation to facilitate listing of the privatisation vehicle on the Jamaica Stock Exchange; tender and identification of a strategic investor, as well as the divestment of the mortgage insurance portfolio administered by JMB on behalf of the GOJ. “ In June 2018, the Cabinet approved an Accelerated Rationalisation Programme (AR...

Edison Galbraith, Acting General Manager of the Development Bank of Jamaica told Jamaica Money Daily on January 30, 2025, that under the divestment project underway for the Jamaica mortgage bank, the privatisation unit will put to tender and identify a strategic investor for the mortgage insurance portfolio administered by the JMB on behalf of the GOJ. The Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB), which is a construction financier also insures mortgages, indicates that the state-run bank sees increasing participation from mortgage providers in its mortgage indemnity insurance fund, referred to as MII. The JMB as an entity is set for divestment by the Government of Jamaica via the Jamaica Stock Exchange. However, the insurance portfolio will apparently be stripped out for sale to interested investors. Major mortgage providers, currently comprising eight institutions, are covered by the fund, which was last reported at $2 billion in value, covering 1000 policies which the manager says likely rep...

  Guyanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, defending the 2025 budget in the nation’s National Assembly indicates that between 2020 and 2023, Guyana’s exports increased by 285 per cent, moving from US$2.8 billion to US$10.8 billion. This was due to a 106 per cent improvement in non-oil exports according to reporting by newsroom.gy on January 30, 2025. The Caribbean nation , meanwhile, is embattled as the governments plan to withdraw over US$2 billion from the Natural Resources Fund which is funded by oil revenues, for budgetary support. Jamil Changlee, writing in Stabroek News on January 30 pointed to a possible “illegal” level of withdrawal for the new budget period. Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) is projected to exceed $3 billion USD at the end of 2024. Government meanwhile reported in Guyana approximately $2.4 billion USD in earnings from the oil and gas sector during 2024. The current 2025 budget plans to withdraw an amount from ...

  Granada is following in the footsteps of some European nations in offering an invitation to high income investors who want to set up businesses in the Caribbean Island. Benefits include expedited citizenship processing and use of private planes, among others. This differs from the older Citizenship by investment programme. They will also have opportunity to meet with the island’s leadership to consult on investments and “driving innovation.” Grenada's Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell will host an annual two-day advisory session to include a board constituted of the elite investors. It’s a first of Grenada who will specify investment levels , looking for talent, entrepreneurial experience and money to invest. “The concept of ‘citizenship by invitation' is set to revolutionize the way that investment is channeled into communities," a statement read. "It will empower governments such as Grenada to tailor their citizenship programs and attract hand-picked investors with ...

  On January 30, Food company Everything Fresh Limited announced the resignation of its Financial Controller Bruno Loffler which will take effect on February 28, 2025. In its third quarter report which ended September 30, 2024, the company said it was looking forward to higher hotel orders especially from one large new hotel which had just started doing business with them. However, profit was significantly down, Everything Fresh is a Jamaican importer and distributor of fresh produce, dairy, pantry staples, baked goods, beverages and other food supplies. They aim to be a one stop shop of food supplies. Revenue for the nine months ended September were $2.6 billion, an 8.1 per cent increase over the similar period in 2023 when sales were $2.04 billion. In 2024 Bahamas sales accounted for $506.9 million in revenue, an increase of 34.2 per cent year over year. The company during the year saw higher expenses from new hires for warehousing, merchandising, transportation and also high...

  Cargo Handlers Limited (CHL) indicates that in 2024 the company faced an unprecedented, heightened security advisory issued by the US State Department which materially caused widespread cancellations starting early in the year. CHL, a St. James based company provides stevedoring, equipment leasing and management services. Stevedoring contributes about 84 per cent of the company’s revenue. The company has been operating in Montego Bay since 1981. Business overall is driven by the tourism industry. The company is also a cement importer. In 2020 CHL spent $100 million to acquire 30 per cent stake in Buying House Cement Limited, a cement importer that supplies western Jamaica. Domicem, a company based in Dominican Republic, owns 70 per cent of Buying House. Company Chairman Mark Hart, reviewing the year ended September 30, 2024, in the annual report published on January 28, 2025, stated that that the most concerning aspect of the raised level travel warning was a significant reduct...

    Administrative expenses saw significant movement in staff costs, general insurance and depreciation for Honey Bun (1982) Limited in 2024.  In the company’s newly released annual report, for financial year ended September 30, it was noted that as a result of the increase in minimum wages and an overall inflationary increase in prices, many of the labour driven expenses increases significantly, including security which went up by 72 per cent. Selling and distribution expenses increased by 22 per cent. Other notable increases were in the areas of repairs and maintenance and bad debt provision. However, for the financial year ended September 30, 2024, Honey Bun achieved what was described as a record-breaking sales of J$3.84 billion surpassing prior year’s sales of $3.4 billion. Overall revenue for the financial year grew by 13 per cent, relative to the same period last year, to close at $3.84 billion (2023: $3.41billion). Net profit after tax at year end was $23...

  British insurance intermediary PIB Group has completed the acquisition of Thoma Exploitatie BV, a Dutch commercial lines insurance broker and its subsidiaries, from Guardian Holdings. On January 28, 2025, NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) advised that its subsidiary, Guardian Holdings Limited had divested of 100 percent of the shares of Thoma Exploitatie B.V. to PIB Group Limited and that this was successfully concluded on January 24, 2025. Thoma Exploitatie B.V., was the insurance brokerage business of Guardian Group Fatum in the Netherlands. This transaction was executed through Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL), a subsidiary of NCBFG, BIP in November 2024 indicated that the acquisition forms part of PIB Group’s European expansion strategy, strengthening its Dutch portfolio, which includes light insurance and specialty insurer Risqwise, in the Benelux region. Established in 1959, Thoma offers services including risk management, insurance and pension advisory. Product portfol...

  Santiago de Chile – Changing patterns of climate variability and extreme weather events are negatively affecting all dimensions of food security and exacerbating other underlying causes of malnutrition in all its forms in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the 2024 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition . The report, published today, states that Latin America and the Caribbean is the second-most exposed region in the world to extreme weather events, following Asia. In this region, at least 20 countries (74 percent of analyzed countries) face a high frequency of such events, indicating significant exposure, and 14 (52 percent) are considered vulnerable, as they are more likely to experience increased undernourishment due to these phenomena. The impact of extreme weather events is further worsened by persistent structural challenges, including conflicts, economic slowdowns, crises, and underlying factors such as high levels of inequality, lack of access to affo...

    The island of Barbados wants to increase cotton output by about 1000 per cent and hopes both farmers and pickers will come on board. The local ginnery says it will increase price per pound paid to farmers by approximately 100 per cent and pay pickers 50 cents more. News source Barbados Today indicates that the island’s sole ginnery is expecting increased production for the 2026. Exclusive Cottons of the Caribbean (ECC) chief executive Adlai Stevenson said the company is targeting expansion of production from the current 22 acres to over 200 acres, responding to strong demand from Italian buyers for West Indian Sea Island Cotton. The company expects to add 100 workers as well. Cotton fields are situated on areas once covered by sugar cane. Barbados’ cotton grown is ranked among the worlds’ finest, belonging to the species of Gossypium Barbadense. Growing the product requires a warm climate, high humidity and high rainfall. Crops take roughly four to six months for wh...

  Jamaica, currently, is described as the Caribbean’s most experienced Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market. The Government of Jamaica aims to increase the sector’s employment to 70,000 jobs by 2025. In 2023 employment numbers were just over 60,000. The island today as over sixty companies in the global services or BPO sector, with most located in Montego Bay, Mandeville, Kingston and St. Catherine.   Patrick Casserly, outsourcing pioneer, died in January 2025 at age 58, passing after a bout with cancer. Casserly founded eServices Group International. On April 5, 2000, eServices  launched into business in Montego Bay with 35 workers who did back-office processing for the call centre's sole client. The company was headquartered in Montego Bay but later opened call centres across Kingston and St Catherine. Casserly expanded the company to a workforce of 4,500, before selling it to Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) for a reported US$85 million. The businessm...

    In its newly published annual report for the financial year ended, Salada Foods Jamaica Limited indicates that it has ramped up producing for other companies and wants to do more. CEO Tamii Brown said, “Salada also leveraged its expertise in contract manufacturing to produce innovative beverage solutions for leading regional partners. The Company collaborated with Chas. E. Ramson Limited, to manufacture a line of drink crystals, featuring Caribbean favourites such as Pineapple Ginger, Mango, and Ginger Lemonade under the popular household brand Kisko.” The Company, she outlined, utilized its spray-drying expertise and capabilities to convert “Jamaican favourites – mango and pineapple – to instant powder.” The instant powders formed the base ingredients of beverages now available on supermarket shelves in Jamaica. Noting that the company wants to increase such partnerships, she stated, “Salada continues to position itself as a partner for innovation across the region, ...

 Palladium Hotel Group, the hotel company of the Matutes Group of Companies, says two new hotels are being planned for Jamaica as part of an ambitious global expansion plan. Investment for the group, Jamaica included is 650 million euros over the next three years. This will bring to four the number of Palladium properties in the island. The company has two hotels in Western Jamaica: the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa and the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort. The news source the Voice of Ibiza reported on January 26, 2025, that the disclosure was made during it FITUR 2025.  Fitur is a tourism trade fair for inbound and outbound international markets and was held from January 22 to 26 in Spain. Palladium said that 350 million euros of the investment amount will be earmarked for the construction of these two properties in Jamaica, while the rest will finance projects in other key destinations, such as Asia, the Mediterranean and the consolidation of The Unexpe...

  A EC$30 million loan was how the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines paid for the purchase of Buccament Bay Resort, which it later sold to Sandals Resorts in 2021. Buccament Bay Resort had not reopened since it was shuttered in December 2016, when its electricity connection was severed because of non-payment. Sandals Resorts International purchased Buccament after considering increasing the tempo of new hotel development , looking to finance sources such as Bank to secure financing for the projects. The chain is now betting on a better year in 2025, holding a five day marketing conference in 2025 for its sales agents to iron out strategy. According to Statistica.com, the Travel & Tourism market in the Caribbean is expected to generate a revenue of US$1,241.00m by 2025. The market is projected to grow annually at a rate of 5.29 per cent during 2025-2029, resulting in a market volume of US$1,525.00m by 2029. Tourism remains in the Caribbean, the largest source of for...

  Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Christopher Tufton indicates that the Government of Jamaica will be reducing the outsourcing of diagnostic services in the health sector, even as it seeks to increase diagnostic tools for the island's hospitals. Speaking with Caribbean Money Daily in January 2025, Dr. Tufton said that outsourcing has been reduced and will continue on this trajectory, as the aim is to equip health facilities with diagnostic tools. At the height of the public private partnership between the Ministry of Health and private diagnostic centres in November 2021, Dr. Tufton then reported that more than 40,615 diagnostic tests were in done in private facilities at a cost of $1.42 billion over two years, under the Government’s Enhancing Healthcare Services Delivery Project, which sought to improve access to services within the public healthcare system. The project, which got under way in September 2019, was designed to collaborate with private providers of diagnostic se...

    Mayberry Investments Limited is inviting for subscription a new series of secured bonds, seeking to raise $2.3 billion, offering quarterly interest payments at 10. 25 per cent per annum for 24 months. Mayberry, over time, has been expanding its portfolio of securities loans. Over this horizon it has secured participation from both high-income accredited investors and the general public, noting the benefits of quarterly interest payments. Subscribers can buy into the bond for minimum $20,000. The Company reserves the right to up-size the Invitation by issuing an additional J$1,150,000,000.00 in secured bonds. Mayberry intends to use the proceeds to repay in full its J$2.282 billion – 11.00 per cent secured bond January 2025 – Tranche Mayberry III aggregating to J$2,282,770,000.00. The Company intends to pay the expenses associated with the invitation out of the proceeds. Mayberry will make an application to list the Secured Bonds on the Bond Market Platform of the ...