JAMAICA’S listed companies are increasingly missing deadlines for audited financial statements, extending reporting gaps for investors and raising concerns about the timely flow of market-sensitive information.

Of the 31 audited financial statements due by March 2 under the 60-day filing requirement, 10 were delayed due to the impact of Hurricane Melissa or incomplete audit processes by external auditors. This puts the compliance rate at about 70 per cent.

At least 13 of the 16 listed companies required to file audited financial statements within 90 days have reported delays. While these firms have submitted their unaudited quarterly results, their audited reports remain incomplete.

The two key reasons for the late submission is the impact of Hurricane Melissa and the auditors not completing their audit process.

Dolphin Cove Limited has pushed back the submission of its report, originally due March 2, to April 15. The company’s 2024 financials were also delayed last year due to bankruptcy proceedings involving its ultimate parent, Leisure Investments Holdings LLC.

“The audit process has experienced unavoidable timing constraints resulting from operational delays caused by Hurricane Melissa and the subsequent internal reorganisation and payroll optimisation aligned with current operating levels,” Dolphin Cove gave in its update.

Spur Tree Spices Jamaica Limited also indicated that its consolidated audited financial statements, due by March 31, have been delayed.

“This delay is due to the incompletion of the full audit process,” the company noted in its release.

Caribbean Producers (Jamaica) Limited was negatively impacted by the passage of Hurricane Melissa in October 2025. As a result, it is indicating that its audited report will not be ready until May 15.

“The delay is a result of additional time required to complete the audit following the passage of Hurricane Melissa,” CPJ noted.

The delay in completing CPJ’s audited financials has had a spillover effect on its parent, AS Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited (ASBH), and ultimate parent, Seprod Limited. The consolidated audited financial statements for both companies cannot be finalised until CPJ’s external audit is completed, showing how delays at one company can affect reporting timelines across connected entities.

These delays mean investors are waiting longer for critical information on the state of their investments. A company due to submit audited results by March 2 but reporting on May 2 leaves investors waiting nearly six months since the third-quarter report released in November 2025.

While some companies publish unaudited fourth-quarter results, there can be material differences between those figures and the audited financials. This leaves investors relying on their confidence in management and the strength of the company’s financial reporting processes.

Stronger compliance

These delays follow a similar pattern seen in March 2025, when 11 of 33 audited financial statements due within 60 days were submitted late. Of those required to file within 90 days, only 14 of 20 met the deadline. This translates to about two-thirds of 60-day filings being submitted on time, compared with less than one-third for 90-day filings.

A check by the Jamaica Observer found that nearly half of all audited financial statements due in 2025 were submitted late due to a range of factors. Some companies changed auditors, delaying the completion of audits, while others extended discussions with management over the classification of certain financial assets. The passage of Hurricane Melissa also disrupted audit timelines, particularly where external auditors were displaced. In response, the Jamaica Stock Exchange granted an additional 10 days for companies with reports due at the end of October 2025.

Financial irregularities and subsequent restatements at Jamaica Broilers Group Limited (JBG) delayed the release of its 2025 audited financials to November 2025, from an original July deadline. EduFocal Limited also filed its 2024 audited financial statements late, submitting in November 2025 instead of March. The company was suspended from trading in June and readmitted in December.

Numerous companies were late in submitting audited financial statements between 2020 and 2022 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the audit process. More frequent shocks, including natural disasters, are also affecting companies’ ability to remain compliant.

A May 2020 report showed that on-time compliance for audited financial statements among Main Market companies was 78 per cent in 2018, falling to 63 per cent in 2019 as firms worked to implement IFRS 9. The new standard required some companies to engage external consultants to meet its expected credit loss requirements.

Junior Market companies recorded a 78 per cent compliance rate in 2018 and 74 per cent in 2019 for the submission of audited financial statements.

— DAVID ROSE