Wisynco upsizes expansion project
Published:Friday | December 1, 2023 | 12:08 AM
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The first of five new production lines being installed under a multibillion-dollar expansion project by beverage manufacturer and consumer products distributor Wisynco Group Limited, was commissioned into operation on Tuesday. The new sweet-...
The first of five new production lines being installed under a multibillion-dollar expansion project by beverage manufacturer and consumer products distributor Wisynco Group Limited, was commissioned into operation on Tuesday.
The new sweet-beverage line was ramped up on time and within budget, Wisynco CEO Andrew Mahfood reported to shareholders a day later at the company’s annual general meeting.
Another line is to be installed and commissioned in February 2024, three more by June 2024.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting on Wednesday, Mahfood told the Financial Gleaner that the budget for the new production lines, previously set at $5 billion, has been revised to $6.5 billion to cover further expansion and variations in the project works.
“Some of the things that we’ve been doing include more infrastructure work. There’s also a lot of electrical work for the equipment that is coming,” he said.
Wisynco presently operates from twin campuses at White Marl and Lakes Pen in St Catherine. In addition to the rented space it occupies at Ferry on the border of St Catherine and Kingston, the company’s footprint covers 600,000 square feet. Wisynco originally projected that it would build another 70,000 square feet of space for manufacturing at Lakes Pen. But the revised plans will more than double that at 180,000 square feet, with a 20,000-square-foot mezzanine.
Overall, Wisynco will have 800,000 square feet of operating space once the project is complete, Mahfood said.
“We realised, well into the project, that we’ll need this space with all the machinery that’s coming, and so we kept on going, rather than having to bring another team to build again,” he said.
The new lines will allow Wisynco to expand its product portfolio.
He reckons that the company will need another 150 workers to work the lines, saying Wisynco’s workforce “could end up at about 2,150 to 2,200”.
Wisynco Group currently generates annual revenue of $48.7 billion and made a profit of $4.9 billion at year ending June 2023.
For the first quarter ending September, sales jumped 15 per cent to $13.7 billion, while shareholder profit climbed 20 per cent to $1.55 billion, or 41 cents per share. The turnover achieved in September set a historic record for the company in terms of quarterly revenue.
Chairman William Mahfood was bullish about the expansion, saying Wisynco was aiming to double exports, which currently accounts for just five per cent of total production, to 10 per cent by the end of the 2024 financial year.
“With this new expansion we’ll focus on the US market,” said Chairman Mahfood.
“As far as the UK is concerned, we’ve not been able to supply the full amount which they require. That market is hugely excited about the new developments,” he said.