KINGSTON, Jamaica — Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited reported a sharp reversal in performance in 2025 as a broad downturn on the Jamaica Stock Exchange drove steep unrealised losses across its investment portfolio, wiping out gains from the previous year and weighing heavily on net asset value.

In unaudited results for the 12 months ended December 31, 2025, the investment company posted a total comprehensive loss of $5.7 billion, compared with a gain of $584 million in 2024. Net losses amounted to $4.9 billion, while loss per share widened to $4.10 from 12 cents a year earlier.

The deterioration was not driven by operational weakness. Operating expenses declined during the year, and dividend income from investee companies increased. Instead, the losses reflected falling market prices for equities held in the portfolio as local share prices weakened, reversing valuation gains recorded in 2024.

As share prices declined, the value of Mayberry Jamaican Equities’ assets fell 22.4 per cent to $18.3 billion. Shareholders’ equity dropped by roughly one-third to $12.2 billion, pulling net asset value per share down to $10.12 from $14.89 at the end of 2024.

The company’s share price also declined sharply, ending the year at $8.75, down 26.2 per cent year on year. The stock now trades below its reported underlying value, reflecting continued investor caution toward the sector.

Concentration amplifies market swings

The results underscored how portfolio concentration can magnify volatility in weaker markets. More than half of Mayberry Jamaican Equities’ investment value remains tied to a single holding, Supreme Ventures Limited, with the remainder spread across 24 other companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

While such concentration can boost returns during rising markets, it also deepens losses during downturns. In 2025, declines in a small number of large holdings — including investments accounted for as associates — accounted for most of the drop in portfolio value.

The market weakness contrasted with an improving macroeconomic backdrop. Jamaica’s economy expanded in 2025 following hurricane-related disruptions the year before, supported by growth in both services and goods-producing industries.

That recovery, however, did not translate into equity market gains. Both the Main and Junior Market indices ended the year lower, pressured by valuation adjustments, higher inflation in the second half of the year, and lingering uncertainty linked to extreme weather risks.

The Jamaican dollar also weakened modestly against the United States dollar, prompting repeated foreign-exchange interventions by the Bank of Jamaica to stabilise market conditions.

Despite the scale of the losses, Mayberry Jamaican Equities ended the year financially stable, with positive shareholders’ equity and manageable debt levels, showing no signs of immediate financial stress.

Still, the erosion of asset values leaves the company entering 2026 with reduced capacity to absorb further market shocks. Future performance is likely to hinge less on cost control — which remained steady in 2025 — and more on whether equity prices recover, particularly among its largest holdings.