The Jamaica Producers Group (JP), in its third quarter operations is reporting an improved performance over the quarter which has seen them doubling profits to $330 million and increasing revenues to $5.2 billion.

According to the company, the year-to-date results show a $1.1-billion increase in revenues with business segments – Logistics & Infrastructure (L&I) and Food & Drink (F&D—generating improved third quarter and year-to-date revenues and profits compared to the previous year.

In a release on Monday, Jeffrey Hall, chief executive officer (CEO) of JP, commented on the strong third-quarter results for the group.

“We have grown our earnings rapidly by investing in precisely those industries that we believe can deliver significant growth for Jamaica. JP doubled its profits in the third quarter and increased its year-to-date profits by over 60 per cent relative to the prior year,” he said.

In highlighting some of the strategies employed by the company, an elated Hall elaborated on some of the moves undertaken which has significantly impacted the company’s third-quarter results.

“We’ve grown our agriculture business with market-leading technology and productivity at our JP St Mary’s farms. We’ve expanded tourism linkages and value-added manufacturing exports with our Tortuga rum cake business. We’ve made a hugely successful investment in global services and logistics with Kingston Wharves,” he shared.

The company achieved revenue growth in its combined St Mary-based banana and pineapple farming business of 40 per cent relative to 2018.

Hall commented on this growth by saying that “Jamaicans are eating more of our locally grown fresh produce and this is improving the prospects for our farms”.

JP further reported that it had won new business for Tortuga in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and with major US retailers and would be building on this with the launch of the all-new Tortuga Jamaican Rum Fruit Cake this Christmas.

Kingston Wharves, Jamaica’s leading multipurpose port and logistics business, reported year-to-date earnings upby 29 per cent, according to the release.

Hall continued by saying that there is more growth for Jamaica in all the industries in which JP is investing.

With the capital that is now available for investment, Hall opined that small urgently needed tweaks to government policy could unleash that growth. He expressed the view that “GDP growth in Jamaica will require stakeholders to focus now on attracting new investment, providing globally competitive services and enhancing innovation and productivity in manufacturing.”

Hall further noted that the opportunities are big enough for everyone to participate and that his company is more than willing to work with key stakeholders “to spotlight those opportunities that can immediately deliver employment and growth in each of its key sectors”.

According to the release, The L&I Division, comprising Kingston Wharves and JP Shipping Services generated before tax profits of $2.4 billion reflecting a 19 per cent increase over 2018. Divisional revenues of $6.3 billion were also said to be up some seven per cent.

“JP’s F&D Division continues to be the largest contributor to the revenues of the group earning year-to-date revenues of $9.0 billion and profit before finance cost and taxation of $645 million, more than double the prior year’s result of $310 million,” the release noted.

— Kellaray Miles