2 months ago
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In response to the growth of its pharmaceutical operations, Lasco Distributors Limited has acquired a commercial property in the vicinity of its base on Red Hills Road in Kingston to facilitate the division’s expansion.
Lasco Chairman James Rawle declined to comment on the cost of the acquisition. The property is located at 38½-40 Red Hills Road.
“This covers 14,000 square feet of space when you take everything into consideration. We are in the process of retrofitting it to make it suitable for pharmaceutical storage. I don’t want to go into the price, but it’s a competitive price,” Rawle said.
There is an existing structure on the site which is next to affiliated company Lasco Financial Services Limited on the north side of Red Hills Road that will undergo retrofitting, said Rawle.
“It’s a brownfield site, part of which is occupied by Lasco Financial Services, while we have acquired the vacant part,” he said.
“We are growing at the moment and space is at a premium now. We just need more space,” he added.
But, amid the company’s growth, it has found it challenging to recruit and retain quality workers, the chairman said.
He said the problem extends right across the three affiliated companies – Lasco Distributors, Lasco Financial and Lasco Manufacturing Limited.
“Just finding the adequate number of technicians and sometimes factory workers is an issue,” Rawle said. “It’s an ongoing thing and we have to ramp up our training and upskilling efforts while recruiting as best as we can.”
The report to the company’s shareholders for the three months ending June 2024 stated that operating expenses increased by 16.8 per cent, but net profit still climbed by 19.7 per cent to $359 million.
Meanwhile, revenue increased by a mere 0.1 per cent to $7.33 billion.
“The company faced significant supply chain challenges that impacted product availability in the first quarter. Despite these headwinds, we delivered revenue in line with the prior year,” the earnings report said.
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