With a promising start to 2020, Jamaican car sales company Jetcon experienced one of the worst years of its existence because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The company in its 2020 audited financial report, which has just been released, pointed to the promising start to the year with many hopes and expectations given the rising sales during the first two months of 2020 with the following month of March starting to look very promising. “All of that came to a sudden halt during March when Jamaica encountered its first case of COVID-19. What started out promising turned into one of the worse years for Jetcon,” the company stated in a blurb attached to its 2020 audited report.

Jetcon, whose main activities are the importation and sale of motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts and the servicing of vehicles, stated that COVID-19 affected lives and livelihood, making for a challenging economic environment, noting that this is reflected in its audited financials for the year, where revenues were down by 38 per cent to end the year at $629 million.

Mitigating actions employed to stem haemorrhaging

The business was hit particularly hard with the initial onset of the pandemic in March 2020 and again in September with the onset of the ‘second wave’. To mitigate losses and to boost sales, Jetcon was forced to furloughed staff temporarily during the second quarter, cut some prices and introduced new sales initiatives.

However, the company, which has been listed on Jamaica’s Junior Stock Market since March 2016, managed to contain expenses, cutting it by six per cent from the 2019 amount of $65million, resulting in a full year loss of $6.7 million. The loss includes increased depreciation based on the new treatment of leases that require lease cost to be booked as an asset and be subject to depreciation.

Moving into 2021, Jetcon is optimistic that with the roll-out of vaccinations, society and business will begin to return to normal although noting that the company continues to see greater levels of normality compared some normality compared period in 2020 when there was major interruption to businesses and social events. For the first quarter of 2021, orders for vehicles have climbed over the similar months of 2020 with sales of vehicles inching up.

The directors say, “Jetcon was and continues to be in good financial shape, with no outstanding loans and strong inventory. The management of Jetcon would like to thank its staff and shareholders for their hard work, patience, and resilience.”

In concluding, the directors recalled the old adage that, “tomorrow is promised to no one”, highlighting that this has comes into stark focus as they recall the promising start to 2020 with the year turning out to be one of its worst ever. At reporting date of December 31, 2020, Jetcon has inventory amounted to approximately $392 million, representing 60 per cent of the company’s total assets.

Over 97 per cent of inventory comprises motor vehicles and each vehicle is separately identifiable and traceable. Cost includes purchase price and all costs specifically relating to bringing the vehicles to its location and in a condition for sale.