Manufacturer AMG Packaging and Paper is still holding much of the information around its expansion plans close to its chest, but in a post-AGM interview on Thursday, chairman of the company Metry Seaga confirmed that the company is exploring the acquisition of another property.

He, however, declined to speak on the property’s use once acquired.

“It’s a bit premature to answer that question, but what I can say is that the board of directors are looking at various options for expansion and growth. We have some exciting things happening, but we needed to steady the ship and make sure that things were on the right track. Now that we have achieved that we are ready to move forward,” Seaga said.

AMG Packaging and Paper has been talking expansion plans for about a year now, with much of the discussions surrounding securing the cash to finance the project. On Wednesday, general manager of the company Micheal Chin told the Jamaica Observer that the discussions have since advanced, but it will take some time — maybe two to three years — for completion of the project.

The cardboard box maker’s focus on scaling up the business comes on the heels of the company hitting $1 billion in revenues for the financial year ended August 31, 2023. It’s also off to a good start for the 2024 financial year, as revenue grew seven per cent to $272.4 million for the first quarter.

Additionally, manufacturing costs of the company are also trending down, aided by lower raw material costs and savings from the installation of new machinery at its recently opened second plant at 12 Retirement Cresent.

“The improvement in revenues and the decrease in our manufacturing costs allowed gross profit for the period to November 30, 2023 to increase by 38.42 per cent, moving from $73.4 million to $101.6 million,” the company said.

Earnings of the company swelled 64 per cent to $39.8 million. AMG was also storing more cash at November 2023 as cash resources soared six times the balance in November 2022, to $361 million; meanwhile, it owes some $75 million in debt.

The move to acquire a new property comes roughly five years after AMG acquired the property which adjoins its current facility at 9 Retirement Crescent in Kingston. The complex was initially targeted at alleviating some of the space constraints at the first facility, but the board later decided to utilise some of the space to construct a second production plant.

It’s been less than two years since AMG Packaging commissioned the new factory, but today, it has doubled the company’s production capacity allowing AMG to better respond to market demands.