GK hopes to close the year on a positive note

Following a recent senior management adjustment, food and financial conglomerate GraceKennedy Limited (GK) hopes to close the year on a positive note as the company’s revenues and profits continue to rise, settling at $126.4 billion and $7.1 billion at the end of the nine-month period as of September.

“As we continue our journey to become the world’s number one Caribbean brand by 2030, GraceKennedy’s strong nine-month performance is a testament to the unwavering dedication of our exceptional team. Their tireless efforts and innovative spirit have been instrumental in our growth and success. I am confident that our growth initiatives will continue to bear fruit as we look to close the year on a positive note,” Andrew Messado, GK Group’s chief financial officer, said in a recent report to shareholders.

Messado, who was recently tasked with managing the company’s day-to-day operations, is expected to continue to lead the 102-year-old conglomerate in achieving its growth goals while seamlessly continuing the work of group CEO Don Wehby, who is on hiatus due to personal health reasons and currently only remains involved at a strategic level.

In early October, Wehby took a temporary leave of absence in hopes of returning to full duties in the near future. He also resigned last week as a government senator with immediate effect, having held the position for the past eight years.

As a large consumer group with multiple operations in and outside Jamaica, the GK Group remains optimistic about unlocking greater growth through its Vision 2030 strategic objectives through which it seeks to gain more 70 percent of its profits beyond local borders while reorganizing itself. its track record to introduce its food business to a foreign market during the period.

GK’s food business, which continues to dominate the group’s profits, generated $99.6 billion in the nine-month period from January to September, accounting for the largest share of total revenue of $8. 1% more than for the similar period in 2023.

“Our Jamaican food distribution arm delivered commendable results, driven by the performance of Grace Foods and Services (GFS), Consumer Brands Limited (CBL) and World Brand Services (WBS), all of which recorded strong revenue growth. business and their profit before taxes (PBT). Robust margin management, promotions and cost reduction initiatives in these businesses contributed to this positive performance,” the report notes.

During the period under review, the group’s insurance business, which accounted for the second largest share of sales, raked in $13.5 billion, followed by $8.1 billion in results from the banking and investment division. , and $6.5 billion from money services. This, while total assets increased to $234 billion.

“Following these positive results, a dividend of $0.75 per share unit was declared, payable on December 16, 2024 (totaling approximately $743 million). This is the fourth interim payment for 2024 and brings the total dividends distributed since the beginning of the year to approximately $2.3 billion,” Messado said.

After almost a year of operating its share repurchase program in which it repurchased up to 1 percent of the company’s outstanding shares in an effort to maximize shareholder value, the company plans to close this project at the end of this month. . As of November 5, 2024, the company, in a market update, said it had repurchased approximately 5.2 million of the nearly 10 million shares it plans to reclaim.

“The share buyback is carried out in the open market through our stockbrokers in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago using cash reserves. The share buyback continues to attract strong interest with participation from shareholders on both exchanges. We believe that investing in our own business is a good use of capital for long-term returns,” the shareholder report also states.