Derrimon Trading is actively weighing asset divestments as part of a broader plan to reduce its debt and return to profitability, following a year of falling sales, a net loss of $616 million, and continued macroeconomic headwinds that have disrupted its local and overseas operations.

The move is part of a recalibration under the leadership of Ian Kelly, who took over as CEO at the start of 2025. Kelly, who previously served as the company’s chief financial officer, told the Jamaica Observer that Derrimon is “deliberating two or three key strategies” that could result in the partial sale of assets this financial year.

“We never buy a company 100 per cent to keep,” Kelly said. ”We are always looking at opportunities to divest an element of the business that we own in order to do a specific project. And yes, given the pressures… in terms of interest rate and changes in the market, we are looking at opportunities to reduce our debt.”

While assessing which parts of the business may be best suited for divestment, Kelly maintains that Derrimon has no plans to significantly alter its diversified structure.

“We feel that every business has an opportunity and an advantage,” he said. “During COVID, we saw the benefit of being diversified, it allowed us to pivot fast. So for now, nothing has changed that would make us walk away from that strategy.”

Derrimon’s group of companies includes FoodSaver NY and Good Food for Less, two supermarkets in Brooklyn, New York, which it acquired in 2021 under subsidiary Marnock LLC. That same year, the company absorbed Spicy Hill Farms and later added meat processor Arosa Limited. Other key local businesses include Sampars, Select Grocers, Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances, and pellet maker Woodcats International.

But after years of rapid expansion largely financed by debt, Derrimon is now navigating the pressure of higher finance costs – up 30 per cent last year – as well as a significant impairment charge of $462 million.

The update comes amid the company posting modest improvements in its March quarter results. Group revenues grew by 21 per cent year on year to $4.3 billion, while operating profit climbed by 22 per cent to $245 million. Still, net profit dipped slightly to $57 million.

At the core of the performance was strong recovery in Derrimon’s retail and distribution segment, which saw revenues jump by $1 billion to $3.54 billion. “Our mantra of available and fresh and being responsive to our customers is what’s driving performance,” Kelly said in the preamble of the quarterly report, crediting stronger consumer basket sizes and improved distribution.

That rebound helped to offset weaknesses in other subsidiaries – including its US wholesale business – which is still recovering from a prolonged shutdown due to roof damage at its New York facility. The group’s overseas segment declined nearly 26 per cent in revenue for the quarter.

Kelly said the company’s strategy going forward will focus on consolidation, product development and smarter capital deployment.

“I have one goal and that is to improve the financial performance of the company,” he told the Sunday Finance. “That means working with the team, refining the team, improving on where we see we’re falling short in the market.”

Locally, Derrimon is doubling down on the growth of its Spicy Hill and Delect house brands, pushing beyond commodity bulk goods into higher-speed shelf items like seasonings, syrups, sauces and soups.

“What you are seeing on a supermarket shelf with Delect is not just flour and sugar and rice,” Kelly said. “You are seeing oil of different sizes, soups, corn beef, seasoning and spices, vinegar, lime juice and so on under the Spicy Hill brand…It is really six feet of gondola as we speak, and that is where we want to go.”