2 weeks ago
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Having invested significantly in more efficient machinery, Omni Industries Limited is confident that it will soon reap the benefits of its investments in the form of increased profits.
The company’s net profit for the first quarter of 2025 dipped to $31 million, down 60 per cent from $77 million in the comparative period in 2024.
The Twickenham Park-based plastics manufacturer said the decline in profit was primarily linked to last year’s exceptional export order.
Speaking at the company’s first annual general meeting since listing on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange last year, Managing Director and Company Secretary Patrick Kumst said the company’s gross profit for 2024 was $637 million, a six per cent increase from 2023.
Net profit came in at $127 million, but was lower than 2023, because of costs tied to the initial public offering and investments.
“We made a deliberate choice to spend where it mattered for growth – on systems and our people; we made the decision not to declare a dividend, choosing instead to reinvest and keep strengthening the business,” Kumst reported to shareholders.
The company commissioned a new injection moulding machine in January and shipped another in March for commissioning by September. This is in addition to two machines installed last year.
“These machines are designed for greater energy efficiency, faster cycle times, and precision output, allowing us to increase production capacity while reducing material waste. It’s an investment that has already begun to pay off,” Kumst said.
Omni Industries is one of Jamaica’s leading manufacturers of industrial packaging and construction-grade solutions, including plastic buckets, crates, garden hoses, housewares, and Aluzinc roofing materials.
Kumst said the company invested $125 million from the proceeds of the IPO into new machinery and critical upgrades and expected to spend an additional $49 million this year.
The company’s exports for 2024 stood at 14 per cent of revenues, a figure which it hopes to move to 20 per cent in two years.
Having made a shipment to Guyana recently, Omni is now targeting Nicaragua, Belize and Barbados, Kumst said.
Noting that 58 per cent of the company’s total revenue came from the construction industry which had a downturn last year, Kumst said the company’s earnings were shored up by its supply of products to other sectors, such as beverages and paint manufacturing.
Commenting on the ongoing supply chain challenges, Kumst said the company sources its inputs from different countries to minimise risk.
“One of the strategies that we have is that we don’t rely on any one geographical region; a lot of our inputs are sourced from the US market, from Central America, Latin America, Europe and Asian markets. So at any given time, if there is a logistical challenge as there was last year with the Middle East developments that have disrupted shipping flows from Asia, we lean on our other partners from Central America or North America,” Kumst reported to the meeting.
“It’s a continual balancing game, but that’s how we manage it,” he said.
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