Dan Theoc has been appointed as Wigton Energy Limited’s new chairman following the departure of former director Dennis Chung.

Theoc’s appointment took effect on June 2, a day after Chung’s resignation as director and chairman took effect. Chung’s resignation coincided with his elevation to the role of chief technical director at the Financial Investigations Division (FID). Chung became a director of Wigton in January 2020 and chairman of Wigton in January 2024 following the retirement of Oliver Holmes. Holmes served as a director and chairman of Wigton’s board from January 2019 until his retirement.

Theoc is the senior vice-president of investment banking at Mayberry Investments Limited, a subsidiary of Mayberry Group Limited (MGL). Mayberry Investments was the broker which took Wigton Energy (formerly Wigton Windfarm Limited) public in May 2019. MGL has an interest in Wigton Energy through its subsidiary, Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited (MJE), which owns 9.2089 per cent of Wigton as its largest shareholder.

It was also announced that Dr Wayne McKenzie had resigned as an independent director of Wigton on June 3, less than six months after he was appointed as a director on December 16. Dr McKenzie is the president and CEO of Jamaica Private Power Company Limited (JPPC) and Jamaica Energy Partners Limited (JEPL). InterEnergy Group, parent company of JPPC and JEPL, recently bought the Paradise Park solar farm in Westmoreland, Jamaica’s largest solar farm, and renewable energy assets across the Caribbean and Central America.

Dr McKenzie’s resignation occurs a year after Nigel Davy resigned as a Wigton director in April 2024. Davy successfully completed the reverse takeover of Ciboney Group Limited (now Innovative Energy Group Limited), which then acquired Innovative Energy Company DBA IEC SPEI Limited in November 2024. Innovative Energy Group is deeply involved in the renewable energy space.

With Theoc’s appointment to the role of chairman, there were changes made to the composition of certain sub-committees. Theoc, who served as the chairman of the audit and risk committee, was removed from that sub-committee along with the corporate governance committee. Allison Philbert was selected to join the audit and risk committee and appointed as its new chair. Omar Azan was also removed from the audit and risk committee but appointed to the finance and investment committee, while Joseph Issa was removed from the finance and investment committee and appointed to the audit and risk committee. These were the latest changes made to the now eight-member board.

Wigton turns to the sun

Wigton had been a traditional wind company for the last two decades as its core business was being that of a renewable energy player with a windfarm in Rose Hill, Manchester. However, it is now pushing its business more towards solar based projects as the next step for its next growth phase.

The company changed its name last October and has since ramped up its marketing efforts to attract more clients to its product offerings. One such offering has been its move to offer a solar lease package which sees Wigton financing the upfront cost to setup a solar installation and repaid over a 10-year period. Cigarette distributor Carreras Limited and the Jamaica Inn are two of their recently known clients.

The company is also involved in joint venture (JV) projects with IEC SPEI Limited under the business name Wigton-IEC Joint Venture. This joint venture completed a 2MW solar photovoltaic system at the Norman Manley International Airport in December 2022. Another project that the JV recently undertook was the installation of roof-mounted and floating solar photovoltaic system with a capacity of 6MW and a battery storage system at the Sangster International Airport (SIA). The project began in early 2024 with 3MW installed during the year and the other 3MW to have been installed recently. This SIA project had a contract value of US$7.78 million.

The JV is currently working on installing different solar photovoltaic systems and battery storage systems at different Essex Valley Agriculture Development project locations in St. Elizabeth. This contract is valued at US$7.33 million.

The company is now working on executing the 49.83MW solar facility build out in Clarendon. Wigton won the request for proposal last November which will be financed by a mixture of debt and equity. Gary Barrow, Wigton’s recently appointed chief executive officer, confirmed with the Jamaica Observer that significant progress has been made in bringing this project to reality, but that more information would be provided once certain agreements are finalised.

He also confirmed that the company was still evaluating the options regarding the conversion of its phase I licence in Rose Hill, Manchester from wind power to solar power. Wigton’s phase I facility opened in April 2004 with 23 wind turbines producing 20.7MW of electricity. The move would see Wigton producing 42MW from 21 wind turbines and 70.53MW of solar energy from Clarendon and Manchester.

Beryl drags Wigton earnings

Wigton Energy’s revenue for the March 2025 financial year was cut by 10 per cent from $2.06 billion to $1.85 billion as its wind farm operations were disrupted after Hurricane Beryl in July 2024. A nine per cent rise in the cost of sales pushed Wigton’s gross profit down 22 per cent from $1.27 billion to $993.10 million.

Wigton benefited from a $220.33 million insurance claim related to the property damage and business interruption. However, the 13 per cent rise in general administrative expenses to $777.86 million resulted in the company’s operating profit shrinking by a fifth from $897.69 million to $714.47 million.

Lower finance costs and share of loss from its associate resulted in profit before tax decreasing from a quarter from $480.84 million to $360.39 million. However, due to Wigton benefiting from tax credits in 2024, the company’s net profit dipped 64 per cent from $839.02 million to $302.93 million.

Wigton’s asset base decreased seven per cent to $9.67 billion with $5.43 billion in property, plant and equipment and $3.09 billion in cash. Total liabilities and shareholder’s equity were $4.35 billion and $5.32 billion, respectively. Barrow confirmed that Wigton was still searching for a buyer of Lot 28 Ferry Pen, St Andrew, a 1.08-acre property, which was purchased in February 2023 for US$1.55 million or $243.68 million. He also noted that the company was evaluating its upcoming debt maturities which are due in September 2026 and March 2027.

Wigton’s stock price closed Monday at $1.24 which left it down 11 per cent in 2025 with a market capitalisation of $13.61 billion. The company’s board revised its dividend policy last October with renewable energy company aiming to pay up to 25 per cent of its audited profits to shareholders annually.

MJE purchased an extra one million shares during the fourth quarter (January to March) while the VM Building Society bought 34,320,614 shares to take its stake to 9.1708 per cent as the second largest shareholder. Wigton’s top ten shareholders own 45.2156 per cent of the company which no longer has a 10 per cent shareholder cap.

Dan Theoc has been appointed as Wigton Energy’s new chairman.