(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica’s largest poultry company, Jamaica Broilers Group Limited, racked up more than $1 billion in losses for the January third quarter, the first loss in company’s nearly seven decades of operation.
JBG President and CEO Christopher Levy said the bleed was caused by “a multitude of factors”, in an interview with the Financial Gleaner, on his way overseas to tend to the company’s faltering operations in the United States.
Levy indicated that the company became concerned about the US operations during the review of Jamaica Broilers’ third quarter numbers, prior to their release on the market. It led to a revamping of the US systems.
“We have restructured the United States operation, and as we realign the organisation, we think that we’ll have this righted by quarter one. We’re looking for a good quarter one and a strong year next year,” Levy said. Jamaica Broiler’s first quarter runs from May to July.
The current head of the US operations, brother Stephen Levy, has resigned from both the board and the company effective May 3, 2025. His departure was announced in a market filing that was posted on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on February 28.
After two delays, the group’s financial results for the third quarter were released a month later, on March 27. For the November 2024 to January 2025 period, Jamaica Broilers grew group revenue by $1 billion to $24.6 billion but its earnings spun from a profit of $1.3 billion in the 2024 period to a loss of $1.15 billion. The loss came amid a large spike in operating expenses, from $3.7 billion to $5.2 billion.
Over the longer nine-month horizon, the poultry company’s earnings were positive but greatly diminished – falling from $3.8 billion in the 2024 period to just over $1 billion.
As for the US operation its contribution to the group’s operating profit also fell dramatically from $2.98 billion to $922 million, over nine months.
Asked precisely whether Stephen’s departure was due to the concerns about the performance of the US operation, Levy was solemn in his response.
“I think one and one makes two,” said Levy. “But it’s a very difficult … it’s your family, and it’s a very difficult decision, there’s no doubt,” Chris Levy replied.
“Jamaica Broilers is larger than any one person and we have a responsibility to our shareholders to deliver the results that they expect,” he said.
In addition to Christopher Levy assuming the leadership of the US operations, Senior Vice President Ian Parsard and Vice President Lennox Channer will assist in managing those operations; while Vice President of the Jamaica operations, Tommy Waters, has been reassigned to Best Dressed Chicken USA.
In the February 28 market filing, Jamaica Broilers said Stephen Levy has worked with the company since August 2002. He held various management and executive positions in the group culminating in his recent role as president of the company’s US operations, where he built annual revenues from US$10 million to over US$250 million, Broilers said.
The Jamaica-based IT and accounting teams at Jamaica Broilers are streamlining the US systems and processes and IBM has been engaged to assist with swift implementation of control systems, Levy reported at an investors’ briefing called at very short notice.
In terms of segment results, over nine months ending January, the Jamaica operations was down nine pet cent year on year to $5.4 billion while the US operations was down 69 per cent to $922 million.
Jamaica Broilers is now focused on what Levy described as a turnaround effort.
“For the short term we’ll get the (operations) stabilised. Then we’re going to have to kind of regroup, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
The goal is “cauterise any losses and … then we can rebuild the team,” the JBG CEO said.
He said the operational team has been rebuilt but that it would take more time to do the same for the administrative team.
