Acquisition of A.S. Bryden & Sons ‘paying off’

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaican manufacturing giant, Seprod Group has delivered one of its best quarterly performances with net profits for the December fourth quarter, surging by 314 per cent to J$1.21 billion, an increase of J$916 million.

For the full year, net profits grew to J$3.84 billion, up from the J$1.99 billion posted in 2021, representing a 93 per cent increase year-over-year. For the December 2022 quarter, Seprod chalked up group revenues of J$28.23 billion, an increase of J$15.50 billion or 122 per cent over the corresponding period in 2021.

For the full year, Seprod Group (inclusive of the Bryden Group) achieved revenues of J$79.67 billion, an increase of J$35.79 billion or 82 per cent over the corresponding period in 2021. Seprod acquired the Trinidad and Tobago distribution giant of A.S. Bryden & Sons Holdings in June 2022.

Acquisition ‘paying off’ and export sales rising

The increase in Seprod’s revenue was driven by the acquisition of the Bryden Group, a 25 per cent increase in export sales and addition of new product lines. For the full year, there was also the effect of pandemic-induced price increases, which the company has begun to reverse, as lower price commodities, shipping cost, etc, begin to work their way into inventory replacement cost.

During the December quarter Seprod had reduced prices of certain products, inclusive of cooking oil, shortening and flour. In addition, the Group has begun unwinding the extraordinary warehousing and logistics cost from the use of third-party warehouses, due to the destruction of its main logistics centre in 2021.

This transition has taken place as Seprod transitions to its new distribution campus at its Marcus Garvey Drive base in downtown Kingston.

The earnings per share for the year has almost doubled from J$2.72 in 2021 to J$5.23 per share for the year under review, while stockholder’s equity moved to J$33.00 billion, up from J$23.45 billion in 2021.