4 months ago
23
Paramount Trading returned to profit following changes at the chemicals manufacturing and distribution firm.
CEO Hugh Graham said the profit of $9.27 million for the February 20205 third quarter signals a recovery for Paramount. Its profit is however down by half compared to the $18.4 million made a year earlier.
“The movement that you’ve seen is really a relook at how we do things. That is to say sharpening our pencils, cutting some of the costs and really doubling down as we had to do,” Graham said.
Graham said that changes were necessary to address the company’s first loss in its history. The company reported a year-end loss of $14.4 million in May 2024, and despite a third-quarter profit in 2025, it still has a nine-month loss of $43 million.
“So, if it’s 34 years of profit, after operating for 35 years, and there’s a loss trend developing, you have to reverse that; which means changes. So, we had some reorganisation of people and, of course, processes,” Graham said.
Paramount formally advised the JSE that Dr Jacqueline Leckie has tendered her resignation as chief financial officer and chief digital strategy officer, effective February 28, 2025. Bruno Loffler took over as group head of finance and administration, effective March 1, 2025.
Graham said three of the company’s five segments recorded increases in revenues, with the bleach segment being the star performer, as it grew by 43 per cent. All other technical and food grade segments also grew but this was tempered by a reduction in lubricants and construction business.
“Bleach has really started to show the revenue from the investment in the plant to get it reliable,” Graham said.
Third quarter ended February 2025, revenues amounted to $409.2 million, just a shade over the $400.9 million for the similar period in 2024.
Graham stated that the company’s $700 million lubricant plant has struggled to fully utilise its capacity since the COVID-19 pandemic. The plant performed well until 2020 but has faced challenges since. Excessive production capacity remains after supplying Fesco with the Futroil motor oil brand. The company hopes to secure a manufacturing contract with a “big” lubricant marketing company.
The Jamaican lubricants market features major companies such as Mobil, Shell Helix, Valvoline, and Chevron. Graham said that Paramount prefers to partner with these companies.
“Rather than running up and down wanting to compete against them, we probably just need one of those businesses to align with us similar to the [recent] Manpower Maintenance Services alignment,” Graham said alluding to ongoing discussions covered by non-disclosure agreements with possible targets.
In early April, Paramount signed a manufacturing deal with Manpower Maintenance Services to supply various cleaning products, including bleach, all-purpose cleaner, window cleaner, and disinfectant. The contract value was not disclosed.
Concerning personnel changes at the company, Paramount incurred a 20 per cent increase in administrative costs. Graham said that there are ongoing personnel adjustments as the company evaluates its workforce and their performance.
“One thing that has started to bear fruit and what seems to be a good way forward is the multidimensional use of people,” Graham said.
“So, you may, for example, have someone in accounting that did a math degree as a minor. What you do is to tap into those resources. It’s a definite shift where you look at resources and how you can better leverage the full person as opposed to their specific area of expertise,” Graham said.
He noted that employing multidisciplinary professionals helped maintain costs, which positively affects the overall financial performance.
English (US) ·