Hurricane Beryl cost Jamaica $32 billion and sent the economy into decline, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica. The Jamaican economy contracted by 2.8 per cent in the July-September 2024 quarter, while the outlook for the December...
Sygnus Credit Investments Limited, SCI, aims to raise US$26 million in a new preference share offer to the market. It forms part of plans by the firm to secure as much as US$100 million in funds over the medium term. The current preference share...
Productive Business Solutions Limited, PBS, a Xerox distributor and technology service provider, saw its capital being slashed by a quarter, following accounting irregularities at its Costa Rica subsidiary. It led to job losses and management...
The Fair Trading Commission, FTC, recently conducted a preliminary assessment of credit bureaus in response to consumer concerns about incomplete reports. “We will be issuing the preliminary report for consultation early next week,” said FTC...
Investment bank Mayberry Group Limited reported improved September third-quarter 2024 results. It resulted in the company earning $145 million net profit for shareholders for the September quarter, bettering the $986-million loss reported during...
Cinema operator Palace Amusement Company has reduced screenings of Joker: Folie à Deux, a film that has underperformed locally and internationally, based on reviews. Rarely has a film, a super villain action movie set as a musical, been so...
The Financial Services Commission, FSC, will conduct a review of the stock market to see whether its rules adequately protect investors, and better align its oversight with international standards. It comes within the transition to the ‘twin peaks...
Farmers of coffee in Jamaica’s high mountains have witnessed a two-thirds dip in production from pre-pandemic levels. Jamaica produces many varieties of coffee but two mountain regions define the brew: high mountain and the Blue Mountains, the...
Johann Heaven will take over the leadership of investment holding company Proven when its founding head steps down in January. The CEO-designate of Proven Management Limited, PML, will be aiming to double earnings. PML is the management company for...
Regional energy company Sol Group has acquired renewable energy provider Content Solar for an undisclosed sum. Content is a 32-megawatt solar plant in the parish of Clarendon that was developed by American company WRB Energy and held by WRB Serra...
Satellite internet providers are now offering data for cars, boats and other personal devices as the internet of things – IoT – takes hold in Jamaica. At least two service providers will allow customers to use their devices outside the home, while...
Natural gas supplier New Fortress Energy, NFE, is facing a class-action lawsuit over allegations that investors were misled by utterances regarding the company’s growth prospects. The lawsuit comes amid a three-quarter decline in the value of the...
Edgar Munn, a coffee buyer from the family that built Mavis Bank Coffee Factory, MBCF, will visit Jamaica next month with the goal of securing more beans for processing and sale in the United States, the country’s second-largest coffee market. “I’...
The size of the microcredit market has grown to $46 billion, more than 15 per cent higher than a year ago, based on the loan balances of applicants, according to the Government of Jamaica in its foreign filings of its annual report to the US...
Travel and tourism interests expect a reduction in tourist arrivals in 2024 but say the flows will still outperform the pre-pandemic benchmark. The sector’s fortunes were affected by Hurricane Beryl in July and a previous travel advisory from the...
Jamaica only has a single correspondent bank that’s willing to provide it with cash services, and that is partly why consumers are subjected to such large spreads on the foreign currency they buy and sell in transactions with local banks, the...
The Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, expects negative growth this fiscal year, due to the passage of Hurricane Beryl last month. The central bank projected that the Jamaican economy would decline within a range of negative 1.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent on the...
Jamaica’s largest pharmacy chain, Fontana, is now selling magic mushroom products but remains silent on whether it will also be expanding into medical marijuana, or cannabis. Psychedelic mushrooms are unregulated but not prohibited in Jamaica,...
Jamalco has resumed full production despite its declaration of force majeure due to damage caused by Hurricane Beryl at its Rocky Point port facility in Clarendon. “Jamalco produced at its targeted 1.2 million tonnes per annum production rate in...
One in four members of the financial sector are bracing for a potential rate hike amid economic uncertainty, central bank data on inflation expectations shows. As to whether those sentiments are prescient, that remains to be seen. The Bank of...
Key Insurance Company Limited earned profit of $16 million in the June second quarter, a seven per cent improvement that was driven by higher core revenue and investments. The company’s outlook remains positive despite external risks. “Despite a...
The Jamaica Stock Exchange, JSE, expects the first green bond listing this year. The JSE expects to become the first stock exchange in the English-speaking region to facilitate the issuance of green and other sustainable bonds. The exchange,...
Proven Properties Limited, a subsidiary of Proven Group Limited, announced that it paid US$6.5 million to acquire half of the ownership in a company that owns a five-storey building called ‘One Barbados Place’. Barbados-based Caribbean Consultants...
The Fair Trading Commission, FTC, plans to conduct a market survey to assess the adequacy of current regulations governing taxi apps. This move is in response to the emergence of ridesharing services like Uber, InDrive, and 876 On The Go, which...
