A.S. Bryden expands in Guyana, St, Lucia and Jamaica, to open major warehouse hub in Trinidad in 2026

 


A.S. Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited (ASBH) reported growth in topline by 32 per cent as it expanded business in Guyana, Jamaica and St Lucia in 2024.

One challenge for the company’s expansion is availability of the US dollar.

ASBH has significant operations in Trinidad where access to the US$ have been a challenge in the last year. This has led to increased borrowing of US$ and thus, higher interest costs, as  payables are dealt with.

Chairman Paul B. Scott, in the new annual report opined, “ As we grow our business outside of Trinidad, these US liabilities will be matched by earnings in US$ or convertible currencies. We are confident that we will be able to continue and support the growth of the company and our commitment to our principals in growing their business.”

ASBH in the first quarter of 2026 indicates that it will be moving to a  new “state of the art” distribution centre in central Trinidad. This will replace seven warehouses and bring significant synergies to the business, Scotta stated

The company formed ASB Guyana to focus on premium beverages and  food brands and also  formed FTF Guyana to launch the “Zoom Lion” brand of equipment.

 In October 2025, ASB  will be opening a  brand new distribution centre in Houston and Icons new service facilities, further outgrowth from  two strategic acquisitions.

In January 2024, ASB bought Stansfeld Scott in Barbados the owner of , “Wine World”. The  sellers of the business retained a 25 per cent stake in the business, the principals being Brian and Indra Cabral and Jayshree Kessaram.

Also, in July ASB  purchased the controlling shares in Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited (CPJ), a listed distribution company that operates in Jamaica and St. Lucia.

CPC has  two main verticals: Premium beverage and HORECA (Hotel, Restaurants, and Catering). With the purchase ASB company now operates in premium beverage in five markets in the region.

It also  entered a new area of the HORECA channel and plans to develop a similar business in each of its markets over the next few years.

 

Profit after tax for ASB in 2024  was materially lower than in 2023due to a  high effective tax rate which we expect to reduce over time as both acquisition debt is paid off and intangibles are fully amortized.

Caribbean Money Daily

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