Mayberry Investments Limited (MIL) has appointed Patrick Batallie as its fourth chief executive officer (CEO) as Gary Peart moves up to become the first CEO of Mayberry Group Limited.

Both appointments took place on October 16 with Peart to be elevated as chairman of Mayberry Investments on November 1, a role which was previously held by Executive Chairman Christopher Berry since 1993. Christopher Berry will remain a director of MIL and will continue to be executive chairman of Mayberry Group Limited, the ultimate parent company of Mayberry Investments. Konrad Mark Berry will also remain vice-chairman of Mayberry Group.

Batallie is a seasoned executive with nearly 30 years of experience in financial services and digital transformation across such firms as Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), Pershing, TD Waterhouse Institutional and Citigroup. He was recently the head of digital & experience – securities services and digital at BNY Mellon, where he spent seven years up until December 2023. He also founded Ebony Park, a strategy and management consulting firm for which he was managing partner.

He serves on the board of advisers on Empire Private Capital (Jamaica) Limited/Empire Private Capital (Barbados) Limited, a firm founded by former Sagicor Group Jamaica Chief Financial Officer Ivan Carter. He also serves on the board of advisers for Keo World, a fintech company that Mayberry Investments and Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) both invested in, with SVL investing US$1 million (J$154.28 million) in February 2022.

Peart joined Mayberry Investments in May 2005 as its third CEO when the company was going public on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) for which it raised $803.45 million at $5.05 per share. He has led the firm for the last 19 years through the 2008 financial crisis, two Jamaican debt exchanges and the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this period, he became the third-largest shareholder in Mayberry Investments with a 3.79 per cent stake which is now held through Mayberry Group after the group reorganisation last year.

With Peart’s ascent to CEO of Mayberry Group, he will be more directed towards possibly new opportunities for the Mayberry Group which also includes Widebase Limited, a private equity-focused subsidiary, and Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited (MJE), a subsidiary focused on owning JSE equities. Peart also serves on different boards such as the JSE, Lasco Distributors Limited, IronRock Insurance Company Limited and Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL).

Peart’s move away from the direct daily operations of Mayberry Investments will also allow for him to focus more on his role at Supreme Ventures Limited where he serves as its executive chairman. Peart’s remuneration with SVL rose 43 per cent last year to $149.48 million, but that remuneration is paid in SVL shares. This arrangement has seen his stake in SVL rise from 1,082 shares in March 2020 to 8,700,531 shares or a 0.3299 per cent stake as of June 2024 which places him amongst the 50 largest shareholders. With SVL paying a quarterly dividend that is based on a 90 per cent dividend policy, Peart will be reviewing the company’s affairs tomorrow at 9:00 am when the gaming company considers a dividend payment to shareholders. MJE is SVL’s second-largest shareholder for which it owns 490,555,374 shares or an 18.6010 per cent stake up to June 2024.

Mayberry was founded by Maurice Berry in May 1985 and officially began operations in July 1985. Chris Berry joined Mayberry in 1990 as an advisor and served as CEO between 1993 and 2005 before he moved into being the executive chairman only. Chris Berry holds the largest direct shareholding in Mayberry Group through his holding company PWL Bamboo Holdings Limited which has 465,493,115 shares or 38.75 per cent. Mayberry Group will consider a dividend today at its board meeting. Following last year’s reorganisation which moved shareholders from Mayberry Investments to Mayberry Group, Jamaican shareholders no longer have a withholding tax on their dividends due to Mayberry Group being a St Lucian international business company (IBC) whose shareholders benefit from the Caricom double taxation treaty.

MJE released its third quarter report last Thursday recording a net profit of $211.85 million (US$1.37 million) compared to a net loss of $1.85 billion (US$12.08 million) in the prior period. This profit was due to the $1.56 billion net trading gains related to the $2.3-billion sale of its 20 per cent stake in Caribbean Producers (Jamaica) Limited on July 9. However, the overall nine months’ performance still saw a $256.28 million net loss due to higher interest expense from its debt facilities and unrealised losses on its equity investments accounted for as associates.

Total assets are down five per cent over the nine months to $23.34 billion (US$147.90 million) with its equity investments at $22.72 billion (US$113.97 million) and cash at $576.67 million. Total liabilities are down 19 per cent to $5.85 billion (US$37.07 million) with the company paying off its promissory note to Mayberry Investments Limited and its debt now standing at $5.61 billion. Shareholders equity is up to $17.49 billion with the net asset value (NAV) at the end of the quarter being $14.56.

The sale of CPJ means that SVL now makes up 55.9 per cent of the portfolio with Jamaica Broilers Group Limited (JBG) being 9.4 per cent of the portfolio. The top 10 investments make up 88.9 per cent of the portfolio.

MJE closed at $9.21, which leaves it down seven per cent in 2024 with a market capitalisation of $11.06 billion while Mayberry Group closed at $7.32, which leaves the stock down 18 per cent in 2024 with a market capitalisation of $8.79 billion. MJE’s board did not declare a dividend after last Wednesday’s board meeting. MJE’s NAV was $13.05 on October 17.