Flow Jamaica’s losses amass to $47 billion

Cable & Wireless Jamaica Limited, CWJ, which operates as Flow, reported a net loss of $533 million for the year ending December 2023, marking its third annual loss since the COVID-19 pandemic, its newly released annual report shows.

The accounts audited by KPMG show that its losses over time have grown to an accumulated deficit of $47.3 billion for the group.

CWJ was delisted from the Jamaica Stock Exchange six years ago and taken private by Liberty Latin America, following its takeover of the regional Cable and Wireless Caribbean operations. With the delisting, disclosures about Flow were largely related to top-line revenue, with its bottom line profit and losses consolidated into that of its parent company.

The Financial Gleaner obtained a link to the 2023 report, which was provided to shareholders ahead of the company’s annual general meeting scheduled for this month, September.

The telecoms accumulated losses of $47 billion, compared to $45 billion in 2020. Before the pandemic, the company started making profit: $1.4 billion in 2019 and $100 million in 2020. Thereafter losses flowed, amounting to $237 million in 2021, $542 million in 2022, and $533 million in 2023.

‘Continues to battle the monster of crime’

The accumulated deficit has reduced the book value of the company, but it remains largely sound based on its reliance on the strength of its ultimate parent, Liberty Latin America. However, the company’s auditor expressed concerns.

“The existence of a material uncertainty may cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” KPMG said.

Last year, CWJ again made a half-billion dollar loss despite growing its revenue from $38 billion to $41 billion. Most of its revenue comes from mobile services, which brought in $23.3 billion, up from $21 billion. The remaining $17.1 billion came from subscription and fixed-line services, up from $16.1 billion.

Flow Jamaica indicated that its combined service that links mobile and home internet, called Ya’ad & Road, has reached over 100,000 customers; and that over 20 per cent of its sales, about $8 billion, is generated on its electronic platform.

“The company continues to battle the monster of crime, as manifested in the theft and wanton vandalism of network infrastructure,” said Chairman Mark Kerr-Jarrett in the report.

Kerr-Jarrett added that in 2023, over 200 incidents of vandalism cost the company over US$2 million to restore the facilities.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com