Syd A Mogg will be retiring from Jamaica Broilers Group Limited (JBG) after spending more than 33 years at the family-run poultry and agriculture company which has been shaking up its USA operations following the discovery of several issues related to expense management and operational controls.

Mogg, whose retirement was announced last Tuesday, is vice-president of the US operations (Wincorp International Inc). His departure becomes effective May 3, the final day of the company’s 2025 financial year.

He has also resigned as a director of JBG’s board, effective May 3.

Mogg was first appointed as an executive director in February 2019 and re-elected as a director at the company’s November 2023 annual general meeting (AGM).

An experienced agriculturalist with more than 45 years’ experience, he joined JBG in August 1991.

“During his time with us Mr Mogg has developed strategic relationships with key industry players and regulatory agencies within the USA, as well as over 20 trading partner countries of Wincorp. We wish Mr Mogg all the best in his next chapter and pray God’s blessing on him and his family,” stated Peter A Depass, JBG’s company secretary, in the market disclosure.

Mogg’s resignation from the board will leave it with 10 members. This comes after it was previously announced that Stephen Levy, president of the USA operations, would be resigning as an executive director and employee on May 3. Stephen Levy is the brother of JBG Group President and CEO Christopher Levy and son of JBG Chairman Robert E Levy. Robert Levy is the son of JBG co-founder Sydney Levy, who formed the company in May 1958 with Byron Coombs and Larry Udell.

The resignations of Stephen Levy and Mogg come after the company’s management team discovered issues related to expense management and operational controls at the USA operations. Those issues led to the separation/removal of the entire USA management team from January 2025. The USA operations are now being managed by Christopher Levy with support from Ian Parsard, group senior vice-president – finance and corporate planning; and Lennox Channer, group vice-president – accounting and administration. Also, Tommy Waters, vice-president of Jamaica’s poultry operations, has been reassigned to Best Dressed Chicken USA.

The issues discovered at the USA operations resulted in the late publication of JBG’s third quarter report which revealed a $1.15-billion consolidated net loss. The USA operations in particular had a US$13-million net loss ($2.05 billion) as the group was now recording a lot of invoices that weren’t previously accounted for in previous periods.

JBG is currently implementing several necessary changes at the US operations which includes the introduction of the Dynamic 365 platform and establishment of an internal audit department. The USA business has since seen improvements following the Jamaican management’s intervention which included the chicken processing plant yield moving up from 56 per cent to 62 per cent in just two weeks.

However, the upcoming 2025/2026 fiscal year is set to be a transition period to restore the USA operation’s profitability. The Jamaican business is currently supporting the USA operations and should be tapping the capital markets shortly.

Due to the loss observed during the third quarter, JBG has skipped its semi-annual dividend consideration. The stock price has dived 24 per cent from $34.01 on March 26 to $25.87 on April 17 with the stock hitting a new 52-week low of $25.51 on April 8. The stock is down 28 per cent from its starting price of $35.92 and down 38 per cent from its peak closing price of $41.74 on January 7.

It was also revealed in a subsequent disclosure that a director sold 40,000 shares on April 1 which translates to an estimated gross amount of $1.12 million using the $28.10 closing price. The JSE doesn’t disclose the identity of who sells shares in a company. However, according to the January 25, 2025, shareholder report, Edward Z Barber, Ian Haynes, Omar Azan, and Wendelyne Murphy owned no JBG shares.

Bruce Bowen, Christopher Levy, Stephen Levy, Robert Levy, Claudette Cooke, Gregory Brenton Shirley, Ian Parsard, and Syd Mogg owned shares. Stephen Levy owned 3,392,600 shares, Mogg owned 445,600 shares, Bowen owned 28,000 shares, Christopher Levy owned 12,894,279 shares, Cooke owned 276,173 shares, Shirely owned 6,046,610 shares, Parsard owned 4,414,974 shares, and Robert Levy directly owned 244,734 shares.