Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica in late October 2025, flattening homes and severing telephone lines.
For Liberty Latin America, the Category 5 storm left a combined cost of US$76 million — US$56 million in impairment charges and US$20 million in lost revenue. The total equates to roughly $12 billion in local currency.
The storm wiped out 136,000 revenue-generating units (RGUs) tied to fixed and Internet plans, with no clear timeline for recovery.
“During October 2025, our operations in Jamaica were significantly impacted by Hurricane Melissa, resulting in extensive damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure,” Liberty said in SEC-filed financials. “Based on estimates of the impacts on our Jamaica operations, we recorded impairment charges of US$56 million to reduce the carrying values of our property and equipment.”
CEO Balan Nair added in a press release: “For the fourth quarter, we estimate that Hurricane Melissa negatively impacted revenue by US$20 million.” The US-based telecoms group runs cable, broadband and mobile services across Latin America and the Caribbean. Its Jamaica operations fall under the Flow brand, a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless Communications, which is owned by Liberty Latin America. The group posted record-adjusted free cash flow even as its Jamaican franchise absorbed damage of a scale that may take years to repair. Jamaica generated US$409 million in revenue for 2025, down slightly from US$415.2 million in 2024. In 2023, a year unaffected by storm, the island generated US$406 million.
Mobile customers grew
Mobile proved resilient, as “traffic levels were quick to recover, now running back to pre-hurricane levels across the vast majority of the island”. Mobile subscribers grew by 42,200 to 1.18 million.
Fixed-line customers fell
The fixed-line and Internet services were however impacted, with roughly one-quarter still affected.
“Over 75 per cent of residential customers are online, with metro areas much closer to full recovery.” Residential fixed revenue fell some 10 per cent. Jamaica’s RGUs dipped by 136,000 to 636,200. The lost units included 65,000 fixed-line telephony connections, 57,000 broadband subscribers and 14,000 video customers.
“These adjustments relate to RGUs where we currently do not expect to restore fixed services in the near term,” Liberty said, noting that final assessments depend on reconstruction progress.
Insurance cushion
The company had prepared a parametric insurance structure — a weather derivative triggered when storm thresholds are breached. Liberty said in the previous quarter that Hurricane Melissa activated the derivative, yielding US$81 million in “anticipate(d) proceeds”. Funds are earmarked for rebuilding and offsetting lost revenue. Liberty also partnered with Elon Musk’s Starlink to deliver direct-to-cell satellite connectivity as a stopgap.
Financial picture
Melissa dwarfed Liberty’s prior hurricane hit. In 2024, Hurricane Beryl cost about US$3.0 million in fixed residential revenue.
Fourth-quarter group revenue rose to US$1.16 billion from US$1.15 billion a year earlier. Full-year revenue held flat at US$4.4 billion. Net losses narrowed to US$611 million in 2025 from US$689.4 million in 2024, though still deeper than the US$74-million loss in 2023. Operating income grew 9.0 per cent, while capital expenditure fell 12 per cent after years of heavy network investment.
business@gleanerjm.com
