Durrant Pate/Contributor

Manufacturing and distribution company, Wisynco has recorded its highest quarterly revenues of $14.6 billion for its September first quarter.

This represents an increase of 6.6% above the $13.7 billion achieved in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

With the expansions for its beverage lines being primarily completed, the Jamaican company which is publicly traded, has been able to meet product demands and improve the service levels to customers. With Hurricane Beryl impacting Jamaica on July 3, 2024, at the start of Wisynco’s first quarter, the company experienced a decline in the demand for frozen and chilled products, as some customers had storage challenges.

However, this was more than compensated by the increase in demand for its beverage portfolio. Additionally, the softening of visitor arrivals, the reduction in remittances, and some inflationary effects all seemed to have resulted in lower-than-expected overall consumption during the quarter under review. 

Despite these factors, gross profits climbed by 10.7% to $5.3 billion compared to the $4.8 billion recorded a year before. Pre-tax profit for the quarter slumped to $1.7 billion, which is 9.5% lower than the $1.9 billion of the comparative quarter for the prior year. 

After the provision for taxes, Wisynco recorded shareholders’ profit of $1.5 billion or 40 cents per share compared to $1.6 billion or 41 cents for the first quarter of  2023/2024. Gross margins went up to 36.3% which is 140 basis points higher than the 34.9% for the same quarter last year. 

The higher gross margins resulted primarily from the greater production output and the resulting reduction in unit cost. Selling, Distribution & Administrative expenses (SD&A) for the quarter totalled $3.6 billion or 23.6% more than the $2.9 billion for the corresponding quarter of the prior year. 

SD&A expense to sales ratio was 24.8% for the quarter, compared to 21.4% in the prior year. These greater expenses are the result of Wisynco building the scale in its operations, (warehousing and distribution), as well as sales and marketing teams meeting the anticipated increase in demand. 

Balance sheet strong

Wisynco’s balance sheet remains strong with a current ratio of 2.2, compared with 2.8 for last year’s quarter. Since the start of this new financial year of 2025, the company has added $1.0 billion of equipment to its property, plant and equipment. 

The new factory expansion and product lines, which will yield new innovations, should have commenced production within the second quarter but due to unavoidable delays, it is now scheduled to start in the third quarter.