Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited (CPJ), which provides food and beverage to the hotel trade, reported that its quarterly revenue were slashed in half due to travel disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa.
Fourth-quarter sales slumped to US$22.4 million to December versus US$46.1 million a year earlier. Hurricane Melissa made landfall last October and shuttered large swathes of hotel inventory during the start of the winter season. Chairman Richard Pandohie estimates that “45 per cent of the hotel rooms are out”, a direct hit to CPJ’s core hospitality channel. Yet the team had modelled a deeper fall-off than actually materialised, and believes the outturn “will be not as bad as been forecasted”.
In 2024, CPJ was majority acquired by A.S. Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Seprod Group. The move also triggered a change in the financial year, from June to December. Full-year revenue totalled US$152.06 million for the twelve months to December 2025, compared with US$80.15 million for the six-month transitional period to December 2024 – periods that are not directly comparable, given the difference in length.
Management expects the hotel sector to gradually reopen and spur growth; currently, some three-quarters of rooms are operational.
Despite the revenue hit, CPJ’s net profit for the year climbed to US$8.18 million from US$2.7 million in six months to December 2024, helped by a swing in “other operating income” to US$14.25 million from US$713,000, “related to insurance proceeds from Hurricane Melissa claims”. Operating profit rose to US$16.1 million, up from US$4.5 million over the review period, even as selling and administrative expenses expanded to US$32.3 million, reflecting the cost of growth initiatives and post-storm adjustments.
Pandohie cautions that part of the uplift came from non-recurring items “related to insurance proceeds from Hurricane Melissa claims”.
The company’s fourth-quarter performance recorded net profit of US$5.57 million, compared to US$2.58 million a year earlier.
Hotel shock, retail pivot
Notably, CPJ accelerated a planned retail pivot – broadening its spirits and grocery presence on shelves – precisely because the hotel pipeline shrank after the storm. “We’ve done a massive pivot into the retail space … their retail presence is going to expand tremendously,” the executives said, pointing to partnerships such as Angostura’s portfolio, including Str8Vybz, that will carry into 2026.
Those remarks line up with market reports earlier in 2025 that highlighted Angostura-driven brand additions and heavier marketing investment as CPJ chased volume outside the resort corridor.
Integration advances, Kingston warehousing
CPJ’s historic drawback – having its main warehousing concentrated in Montego Bay while serving customers islandwide – is being remedied. CPJ now has effective warehousing in Kingston, Pandohie said, noting that trucks are shuttling daily between Montego Bay and Kingston. The shift, which began in mid-January, is expected to “drive their costs down and increase their customer service level and increase their sales, ”as time in transit becomes time in front of accounts”.
That operational change is timely. Travel trade trackers describe a patchwork tourism recovery, with Ocho Rios and Negril back earlier and Montego Bay corridors taking longer. A Kingston hub both reduces empty miles and supports CPJ’s retail push in the capital and its environs while hotel occupancies rebuild.
Balance sheet
The year also brought heavier carrying costs. Accounts receivable swelled to support customers through the disruption, contributing to total assets of US$124.27 million versus US$106.20 million the prior year, while finance costs rose amid higher debt. Still, the company closed the December quarter with earnings per share at US0.50 cents versus US$0.23 a year earlier.
neville.graham@gleanerjm.com
