PriceSmart Inc is investing US$27.6 million ($4.40 billion) to construct its South Camp Road, Kingston, warehouse club while it moves to expand its high volume Portmore location in neighbouring St Catherine.

The Nasdaq-listed company provided the update in its first quarter (September to November) report or 10-Q filing on Wednesday. PriceSmart is set to open a third and fourth warehouse club in Jamaica later this year.

“The opening timelines for our Jamaican clubs have been adjusted as we address operational disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa and support recovery efforts across the island. I’m pleased to report that our existing clubs in Kingston and Portmore weathered the storm well and were back serving members almost immediately. We do not anticipate any further delays to our new club openings at this time,” said PriceSmart Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David N Price on the company’s earnings call on Thursday.

PriceSmart Realty (Jamaica) Limited signed a lease agreement with South Camp Fourteen Limited during the first quarter for the newest Kingston location. The Jamaican subsidiary will lease the property for an initial 30-year term with two 10-year renewal options. The South Camp Road location is expected to be the 60th PriceSmart location when opened.

The South Camp Road property is approximately three-acres compared to the Portmore location which has 218,000 square feet or approximately five acres of land. PriceSmart’s CEO indicated in a previous October 2025 earnings call that the company would have to do some changes to the parking format to support the sort of parking it requires. This location is a four-minute walk away from Sabina Park and The Convent of Mercy Academy, “Alpha” school.

PriceSmart also confirmed that it purchased the land for its third warehouse club in Ironshore, Montego Bay, St James, in the first quarter. While it hasn’t disclosed the purchase price for this location, the five-acre property is a three-minute walk away from Tyre Warehouse Coral Gardens. The new location will serve the North Coast, which only has the PriceSmart Fresh Bakery in Bogue City Centre, Montego Bay, as its only PriceSmart offering.

PriceSmart has increased its investments in Jamaica over the last eight years as it sees greater value from the North Caribbean market. PriceSmart’s two Jamaican clubs delivered a 13.1 per cent increase in net merchandise sales for the August 2025 financial year (FY) compared to the 2024 period when net merchandise sales grew 12.2 per cent. Its original Red Hills Road store had a 10.3 per cent rise in net merchandise sales for the 2020 period and a 11.5 per cent rise in sales during 2019. The company expanded its Red Hills Road location to a two-floor parking garage in 2018 to address traffic at the location.

Now PriceSmart will be doing warehouse club and parking lot expansions in the current 2026 FY at its Portmore and sole Barbados location. PriceSmart had previously expanded the floor space at its Portmore location in November 2024 by 15 to 20 per cent. PriceSmart spent US$20 million ($3.1 billion) on this location, which opened in April 2022 as its 50th overall location.

“When we do warehouse expansions, remodels, or parking expansions, it helps on several fronts. First and foremost, it’s helping our members. In the case of the parking, we have the good problem of having busy locations. So when we offer more parking our members get in and out quicker, but it also enables if there is better to flow, to turn spaces a little faster,” Price added on the move to expand its parking space.

Although PriceSmart doesn’t disaggregate its Jamaican earnings, its Caribbean segment saw revenue rise six per cent to US$365.31 million. The total membership accounts for the Caribbean segment increased five per cent to 510,819 accounts, with membership income up 10 per cent to US$5.99 million. Due to higher operating expenses, the Caribbean segment saw a marginal dip in operating profit to US$22.54 million, with net profit declining eight per cent to US$16.43 million. The Caribbean segment saw US$20.60 million spent during the quarter on capital expenditure with total assets at US$584.71 million.

For the overall PriceSmart business, consolidated revenue grew 10 per cent to US$1.38 billion as it operated with 56 warehouse clubs or two more locations during the first quarter. Operating profit increased by eight per cent to US$62.93 million as export sales dipped along with higher operational expenses. However, adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was nine per cent higher at US$86.90 million.

Even with higher other expenses and taxes, PriceSmart’s consolidated net profit improved seven per cent to US$40.17 million, with earnings per share of US$1.29. This was US$0.03 lower than analyst estimates.

Total assets grew five per cent during the quarter to US$2.39 billion, with US$1.34 billion in non-current assets and US$206.42 million in cash. Total liabilities and equity were US$1.09 billion and US$1.30 billion, respectively.

PriceSmart’s stock price traded at a new all-time high of US$133.05 on Thursday and remains up seven per cent year-to-date with a market capitalisation of US$4.06 billion.

PriceSmart announced plans to open its 10th Costa Rican warehouse club in Ciudad Quesada during fall 2026. This is against the backdrop of two new Jamaican clubs and one new Dominican Republic club on the horizon.

“We are advancing on our plans to enter Chile, a market that we believe offers strong potential for multiple PriceSmart warehouse clubs. As part of this initiative we’ve hired a country general manager and signed executory agreements for two prospective club sites. While we haven’t announced targeted opening dates, we’re moving quickly in managing key factors that influence time such as permitting and construction,” Price closed.

PriceSmart is expanding its Portmore location again. (Photo: David Ramsay)

The property at 14 South Camp Road where PriceSmart is building a new store. (Photo: David Rose)