Ja Broilers still looking to acquisitions for growth
Published:Friday | September 13, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Poultry conglomerate Jamaica Broilers Group will continue on its acquisition path, but its forecast for local growth is sombre in the near term.
“Growth via acquisition is expected to continue as has been the case for the past five years,” said Senior Vice-President of Finance Ian Parsard.
As for Jamaica, which is Broiler’s primary market: “Realistically, we expect single-digit growth percentage-wise going forward,” Parsard said of the mature local segment, which is largely controlled by Broilers and rival CB Group.
In the first quarter ending July, Jamaica Broilers profit declined by 12.7 per cent to $361 million, due to one-off costs. Its operations were hurt by instability in Haiti and also slow growth in Jamaica. But the previous year benefited from a foreign currency gain of $300 million versus $36 million this year.
“Haiti’s growth is being curtailed as a result of the disruptions in the country. We are consolidating the operations and focusing on the table egg business. Expect Haiti to be flat on the top line,” Parsard said.
Revenue across the group grew to $13.1 billion, aided mainly by a $1-billion growth in Broiler’s US operations from new and existing business. Sales in the US market account for 39 per cent of group revenue, up from 32 per cent a year earlier. That operation benefited from the acquisition of a feed mill in the first quarter of 2018. The Jamaica operation’s share of revenues, meanwhile, fell from 68 per cent to 63 per cent.
Jamaica Broilers holds total assets of $22.3 billion as at July. The company has a net worth of $15.3 billion.