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Paint maker Berger Paints Jamaica poured more than $220 million into the upgrade of its plant and assets during its last fiscal year, but the company is indicating that it’s not done yet.
At the release of its March first-quarter earnings report, the Kingston-based company said it continues its “drive to retool the business”; its goal being “stronger performance throughout” the rest of this year.
Berger Jamaica’s capital expenditure last year was 10 times bigger than the investments earmarked in 2022. So far, for the March quarter, its capex is just over $4 million.
The company’s continuing push to “course correct” where deemed necessary, “in service of beating the competition”, as noted by Chairman Adam Sabga, comes after a year of close to flat sales of $3.36 billion for the paint maker – compared to $3.3 billion in 2022.
Even worse, the company spun from just $700,000 of profit to a big loss of $218 million last year, and that’s even after it had consumed $37 million of tax credits that served to cushion its fall.
The loss was also bigger than the sum of the profits made by the company from years 2019 to 2022.
In the March 2024 quarter, the company’s production costs dipped dramatically, leading to robust earnings of $48 million, or 23 cents per share. It erased the $35-million loss that Berger booked in the comparative period for January-March 2023.
Berger Paints Jamaica, which is ultimately owned by the ANSA McAL conglomerate of Trinidad & Tobago, is considered a leader in the local paint market, but it has to contend with rivals Sherwin-Williams and B-H Paints, as well as a multiplicity of imported brands.
Still, its sales in the quarter just ended indicate that its “push to remain agile to course correct” is showing results at the top line, as revenue improved eight per cent from $717 million to $772 million. Also, its operating cash grew sevenfold to $81 million.
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