Future Energy Source Company (Fesco) Limited has deepened its footprint in Jamaica’s energy market, posting fuel sales growth seven times faster than the industry in 2024, CEO Jeremy Barnes revealed at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

While the petroleum retail market inched forward by less than one per cent last year, FESCO grew volumes by 7.4 per cent, racking up roughly 129 million litres in fuel sales for FY 2024.

“So when we listed the company in 2021, we had a market share of about 4.65 per cent. For the calendar year 2024, we sold 129 million litres, which is up 7.4 per cent year over year,” Barnes said. Meanwhile, market fuel volumes totaled 1.26 billion as at December 2023 and climbed marginally to 1.27 billion by 2024.

“If you look at the market, the market grew less than one per cent, but we at FESCO grew 7.4 per cent. Again, this is the work of the people who operate the service stations, the staff that pump the gas, and the public that continues to support our business, and we’re really appreciative of that. We’re not in every parish yet, but we’re coming, and we’re getting closer to our customers,” he continued.

That surge helped push turnover to $30 billion for the financial year ended March 2025, well above the $12.6 billion the company had targeted in its initial public offering (IPO) projections four years earlier.

Meanwhile, earnings for the year came in at $461.6 million, slightly ahead of the $430 million forecast in the IPO document, despite heavier debt service and the continued drag of its nascent liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) division. FESCO overall market share also etched up a notch to 10.1 per cent compared to 9.5 per cent at the close of 2023 calendar year.

“We had a good year…we have a lot to smile about,” Barnes told shareholders at the opening of his presentation.

“It was actually our best year operationally, where we achieved record numbers in gross profits, operating profits, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation)…For the first time, our gross profits exceeded $1.5 billion, reaching $1.66 billion, which was up almost $278 million for the year,” the CEO continued.

Barnes noted that FESCO’s market share gains are underpinned by its growing retail network. Among the roughly 340 service stations across Jamaica, the big six brands dominate: TotalEnergies leads with about 80 locations, followed by Texaco with 70, Rubis with 52, FESCO with 23 branded sites, Petcom with 18 and Johnson’s with 15.

Despite ranking fourth by footprint, FESCO has been expanding volumes quickly, helped by a deliberate strategy of keeping margins slim to retain customers.

“We try to keep our margins slim, so that we can keep customers coming. We also focus on ensuring that the stations are well lit and safe, because customers want to feel comfortable when they stop. That’s part of what has allowed us to grow the way we have,” he said.

The company plans to add four new stations by December 2026, steadily closing the network gap with larger competitors.

Central to this new growth phase is FESCO Oval, a company-owned hub on Spanish Town Road in Kingston that began selling fuel in June 2025. In addition to fuel sales, the location will also become the new home for FESCO’s corporate offices.

“We built a head office at Beechwood Avenue, and within just three, four years, we realised that we needed more space. As you have seen and witnessed, our staff complement has grown from seven when we listed the company in 2021, now we have over 200 members of staff,” Barnes said.

“FESCO has been growing rapidly. We’re not growing linearly; we’re growing exponentially. The best way I can describe it is this: not just in one direction, but like a marble moving everywhere — and now we’ve become a basketball, just growing, growing, growing. This is really a testament to all our stakeholders,” he continued.

Further, Barnes said FESCO has secured arrangements for Burger King and Popeyes restaurants and a pharmacy on-site by year-end.

That development has been financed through a new construction loan, arranged alongside a refinancing of FESCO’s 11.75 per cent bond with a facility priced at nine per cent. The refinancing also pushed out maturities, lowering immediate principal payments and freeing cash for growth.

The Oval is just one element of FESCO’s expansion pipeline. The company, which began operations in 2013 with only $900 in seed capital, is now building out a diversified energy and consumer services business. In addition to its fuel retail network, management is betting heavily on LPG through its FESGAS brand, describing it as a “100-year business”.

In FY2025, FESCO’s LPG business doubled revenues to $1.1 billion. The division made an operating cash profit of $72.6 million, but after accounting for depreciation and financing costs, it still ended the year with an operating loss of $102 million.

Barnes told shareholders the operation is expected to move into profitability at the operating level by the 2027 financial year.

The build-out has not been without growing pains. Barnes told shareholders that FESCO faced heavy repair costs tied to its 27-truck LPG fleet and delays in the arrival of new cylinders, which constrained growth during the year. Still, he reasoned that the groundwork has been laid for the business to scale, with additional filling plants and storage capacity already acquired.

“We don’t believe LPG is a two-year or three-year business. We believe it’s a hundred-year business. It takes time to build out the infrastructure — the filling plants, the cylinders, the fleet — but once you’ve done that, it becomes a sustainable, cash-generating business for decades,” he said.

Fesco’s Beechwood Avenue location in Kingston. Opened just a few years ago, the space has already been outgrown, with the company preparing to relocate its corporate headquarters to the new Fesco Oval hub on Spanish Town Road in Kingston. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

BARNES…if you look at the market, the market grew less than one per cent, but we at Fesco grew 7.4 per cent.