ACCESS Financial Services has stopped collecting interest owed by its struggling Florida subsidiary, Embassy Loans, after the US business posted a $43.6-million loss and its lending portfolio continued to shrink.

The Jamaican lender said at its annual general meeting on Thursday that the money would remain with Embassy to help it make more loans, while management increases oversight and considers the subsidiary’s future. Embassy Loans Inc. is a consumer finance company and offers auto title loans to customers in need of emergency funds.

At March 31, Access had $332.7 million in interest receivable from Embassy, up from $252.6 million a year earlier, according to its audited financial statements. The matter arose during the question-and-answer session when a shareholder pressed management on Embassy’s performance and the rising balance.

“Currently, we are suspended on collecting those receivables from Embassy Loans,” Chairman Michael Shaw explained during the meeting held at the Courtleigh Hotel & Suites in New Kingston. The amounts, he said, were being left with the subsidiary to help it expand its loan book.

Embassy’s loss after tax widened from $9.4 million in the year ended March 2025 to $43.6 million in the year ended March 2026. Revenue from customers fell from $137.1 million to $129.3 million, while its charge for expected credit losses reached $104.2 million.

Its loan book was still contracting in the June quarter. Access said Embassy’s average net loan portfolio was 35 per cent smaller than a year earlier, contributing to a decline in the group’s loans and interest income.

“Embassy Loans continues to struggle,” Shaw said. “People take loans, you know, for different reasons. We’re challenged with, I would say, primarily it may be a cultural issue in some aspects of it. But we’re not getting into the details of it,” he added. Management has also pointed to restrictions on lending rates in the US market as one of the challenges Embassy faces.

Access has centralised some of Embassy’s functions to reduce costs, and is providing more support from its Jamaican operation. Shaw said the company had yet to decide its longer-term approach to the subsidiary.

“At this stage, we haven’t made a decision as to how we will treat Embassy yet. We’re still going through the process of providing greater oversight,” he said.

“We have not given up on it,” Shaw added.

In the meantime, the company plans to increase marketing to attract borrowers in Florida.

The annual report shows that Access recorded $80 million in interest income from Embassy during the financial year, while the interest receivable balance rose by about $80.1 million. Those figures appear in the Jamaican parent company’s accounts. The amounts owed between Access and Embassy are removed from the consolidated accounts, which report the two businesses as one group.

Embassy’s $43.6-million loss reduced the group’s full-year profit. Access’s Jamaican business earned $402.1 million after tax, while the group reported $358.5 million.

Access itself has also been dealing with weaker lending conditions at home following Hurricane Melissa. Management said eight of its 17 locations were severely affected, and demand for loans in western Jamaica, though improving, remain below its level before the storm. Shaw said many of the company’s customers in the west work in hotels that have yet to fully recover.

The company wrote off loans whose prospects of repayment worsened after the hurricane, though management said it could still pursue collection. It has also tightened its assessment of borrowers in the affected areas.

For the three months ended June, Access’s group profit fell 24 per cent to $102 million. The company attributed the decline in income partly to Embassy’s shrinking portfolio and lower loan activity in Jamaica.