Health Brands Limited, a Jamaican subsidiary of Trinidadian outfit Agostini’s Limited, saw a 20 per cent jump in revenue after it began distributing the Carlisle Laboratories portfolio of products in the Jamaican marketplace.

This was revealed in Agostini’s recently published 2024 annual report. Health Brands is a Jamaican pharmaceutical distributor which supplies more than 41 drugs to the National Health Fund (NHF) and supplies other segments of the Jamaican health-care market.

Agostini’s acquired Health Brands from Smith Russell & Company Limited, a company owned by Athol Smith and Kathleen Russel, in August 2023, for TT$156.42-million (J$3.56-billion). Agostini’s appointed Glenise Durrant-Freckleton as chief executive officer (CEO) of the business which got a boost from integrating with the overall Agostini’s group of companies and the Carlisle Laboratories portfolio.

That Carlisle Laboratories portfolio was previously distributed by Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Limited up until the end of 2023 before it moved to Health Brands in January 2024. Some of the well-known products in that Carlisle portfolio include Histal, Histatussin, Dica and Caribe Balsam products which are staples on most pharmacy shelves. Carlisle Laboratories is a pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Barbados that exports to 20 markets across the Caribbean. Agostini’s acquired the Barbadian Collins Group in December 2022 for TT$211.10 million (J$7.23 billion), which included Carlisle Laboratories, that resulted in a TT$113.27 million gain on acquisition.

“This was the first full year of Health Brands operations within Agostini’s Limited and our Jamaican team contributed impressively to the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare group’s growth and strategic positioning in the market,” said Barry Davis, the recently appointed CEO of Agostini’s Limited in the annual report.

Agostini’s featured three Jamaicans in its annual report while noting that Health Brands donated TT$2.75 million (J$63.89 million) to various charities in 2024. Roger Farah chaired the Health Brands board for the last two years but retired as chairman of the overall Agostini’s Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Group in September 2024.

Massy Holdings Limited, parent company of Massy Distribution (Jamaica), mentioned in its 2024 annual report that they experienced challenges related to the loss of the Carlisle portfolio and that this impact was partially offset by the addition of new lines during 2024.

“We had a challenging year because we would have lost a very big pharmaceutical line, Carlisle Labs, and the reason for it was a merger that happened, and it would have gone with that partner that acquired the line. Outisde of that one line that was lost, the performance was flat, but we have been getting other lines [and] adding to the portfolio. So, we expect a very good year this [financial] year,” stated Ambikah Mongroo, chairperson of the Massy Integrated Retail portfolio on November 29.

Agostini’s has been on a massive acquisition spree over the last three years as it seeks to deepen its presence in the pharmaceutical and personal care space. Agostini’s acquired three Aventa companies in Aruba and Curaçao on June 28 for TT$100.48 million. The three companies, Aventa Aruba N.V., Aventa N.V. (Curaçao) and d Pharmaceutical Warehousing Incorporated (Curaçao) are involved in the pharmaceutical and personal care distribution space. This acquisition represented its first entry in the Dutch Caribbean and was nearly a year after it entered the Jamaican market place.

Superpharm Limited acquired the assets and operations of 10 in-house pharmacies located within Massy Supermarkets in Trinidad & Tobago for TT$22 million on September 28. Those Massy Pharmacies have been rebranded to Mpharmacy. Superpharm also acquired the assets of Linda’s Bakery Limited, which included 13 locations across Trinidad for TT$5.5 million on April 29. Rosco Procom Limited also acquired the business name and assets of Savco Power Limited for TT$1.74 million on June 1.

Agostini’s appointed Donnia Sooklal as the Chief Transformation Officer – Pharmaceutical Group on May 20 and promoted James Walker from Chief Strategy Officer to CEO – Pharmaceutical Group on June 1.

Agostini’s scored another big win on January 15 when its subsidiary Smith Robertson & Company Limited was appointed the national distributor for Unilever Caribbean Limited’s Beauty and Personal Care categories in Trinidad & Tobago. Micon Marketing Limited, a subsidiary of A.S. Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited, was appointed the national distributor for the Home Care & Nutrition categories.

Agostini’s operates in three segments which include pharmaceutical and health care (P&H), consumer products and energy, industrial and holdings (E&H). All three segments reported an improvement in revenue for the 2024 financial year with P&H contributing TT$1.87 billion, consumer products contributing TT$2.94 billion and E&H contributing TT$285.98 million. The P&H segment grew net profit by five per cent to TT$147.68 million while the consumer products segment saw a marginal increase to TT$152.67 million. E&H saw a two-thirds cut in net profit to TT$23.09 million as there was no repeat in acquisition gains for the period.

On a consolidated basis, Agostini’s grew revenue by nine per cent to TT$5.09 billion (J$118.33 billion) with operating profit increasing nine per cent to TT$517.78 million. Consolidated net profit was down 11 per cent to TT$323.44 million due to there being no acquisition gain. On a normalised basis, net profit would be up eight per cent. Net profit attributable to shareholders was TT$242.29 million.

Agostini’s asset base grew 10 per cent to TT$4.70 billion with non-current assets at TT$2.26 billion and cash at TT$277.72 million. Total liabilities increased 12 per cent to TT$2.36 billion as the group took on more debt for acquisitions while total equity increased nine per cent to TT$2.34 billion, with equity attributable to shareholders at TT$1.81 billion.

Agostini’s stock price closed at TT$66 on Tuesday which left it down one per cent in January with a market capitalisation of TT$4.56 billion. Agostini’s will pay a TT$1.13 dividend totalling TT$78.09 million on February 14 to shareholders on record as of January 17. Victor E Mouttet Limited will receive TT$37.88 million from its 48.51 per cent stake.

Agotini’s will hold its 81st annual general meeting (AGM) at 10 am on February 13 by the Hyatt Regency — Port of Spain Ballroom. Shareholders will get the opportunity to elect Caroline Toni Sirju-Ramnarine and Nicholas Sinanan who were recently appointed to the company’s board of directors. Trevor Nicholas Gomez and Joanna Banks, an executive vice president at Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited, retire by rotation and have offered themselves for re-election. Amalia Maharaj, Gregor Nassie and Roger Farah will retire as directors of Agostini’s at the end of this AGM. Former Group CEO Anthony Agostini retired in January 2024.

A special business item for the AGM will be a proposed name change from Agostini’s Limited to Agostini Limited.