There is much speculation in the equities market today surrounding the sudden resignation of Mayberry Investments principal officers, Christopher Berry and Gary Peart from the board of Lasco Financial Services Limited.

In a notice posted on the website of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), Lasco Financial advised, “Mr. Christopher Berry and Mr. Gary Peart, acting on behalf of Mayberry Investments Limited, have resigned as directors of the Boards of both Lasco Financial Services Limited and its subsidiary, Lasco Microfinance Limited for reason which they perceive might result in a future conflict of interest due to their involvement with Supreme Ventures Limited.”

No details were given about this future conflict of interest. According to Lasco, “further, Mr. Peart has indicated that as a member of Lasco Financial Services Limited Audit Committee, there is no accounting or auditing issues that have had any impact whatsoever on his decision to resign from the board.”

Mayberry considering replacement candidates

Pursuant to the further Amended Articles of Incorporation in 2016, Mayberry Investments Limited is considering candidates as suitable replacements to the boards of Lasco Financial and Lasco Microfinance Limited. As at September 30, Mayberry was the third-largest shareholder in Lasco Financial with 264.3 million shares.

This represented 20.7% share equity in the company and was bettered only by East West (St. Lucia) Limited with 382.97 million, shares representing 30.15% share equity and Lasco founder, Lascelles Chin with 380.73 million shares, which amount to share equity of 29.97%.

Mayberry’s shareholding are held through Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited with 253.95 million shares with a share equity of 19.99% and Mayberry Managed Clients Account, owning 10.47 million shares, which represents a share equity of 0.82%.

Lasco Financial very profitable

Based on accounting records, Lasco Financial Services and its subsidiary are very profitable. Based on its last published consolidated second quarter results, the financial arm of the Lasco Group generated $617.7 million in revenues, which was $37.8 million less than the corresponding three months period in 2019.

The 5.7% decline is largely due to the fall in revenues from its subsidiary loan company, Lasco Microfinance, which went down by $152.2 million. This was a reduction of 34.5% when compared with the previous financial period.

However, there was a compensating increase of $50.4 million or 11% increase in revenues from remittance transactions and a $33.5 million or 10.8% increase in Cambio Revenues. The loan business continues to experience the residual impact from the effects of the COVID pandemic, whereas the money service business showed strong quarterly growth.

Good second-quarter profit

Profit for the second quarter closed at $136.0 million compared with a loss of $16.4 million in the previous period.

Consolidated profit after tax for the six months ending September 2020 was $30.1 million, down from the corresponding period’s $74.7 million but an improvement on the first quarter, which showed a loss of $105.7 million.

Contributing to the improvement in performance is the decision by the business to place its focus on assisting its existing customers to navigate their business challenges using moratoriums and cash preservation strategies.

There will now be a shift towards lending again, however, as opportunities for lending are now beginning to manifest as businesses are adjusting to the new normal, with some embracing new opportunities.