Mayberry Jamaican Equities inks US$31-million loss

Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited (MJE), which invests in a basket of listed companies, reported a net loss of US$31 million (some J$4.9 billion) for the year ended December 31, 2025, widening sharply from the US$887,000 loss a year earlier as its heavy concentration in Supreme Ventures Limited dragged the portfolio down.

“The outlook for portfolio improvement remains positive in the medium term,” Managing Director Natalie G. Augustin wrote in her commentary accompanying the audited results.

The company’s wager on Supreme Ventures, representing 56.3 per cent of the total investment portfolio, proved costly as softening stock market conditions sent unrealised losses on associate investments soaring to US$20.7 million, more than double the US$9.1 million in 2024.

MJE also reported that items affecting income but not profit and loss resulted in a total comprehensive loss of US$38.3 million — a dramatic reversal from the US$2.8-million gain recorded 12 months earlier.

The negatives rippled across other financial metrics, with total assets down 24.5 per cent to US$114.8 million. The decline was mainly attributable to the decrease in the “carrying value of investments in associates”, primarily due to the “downward price movements for some key securities in that portfolio”, added Augustin.

Shareholders’ equity dropped 33.4 per cent to US$76.6 million. The broader Jamaican equity market offered little refuge, with the JSE Main Index declining approximately 5.3 per cent in 2025.

MJE, also listed on the JSE, dipped some 20 per cent during 2025 from $10.26 in January to $8.11 in December. In March 2026, it slid more to $7.37.

Augustin maintained that the company’s value-based investment philosophy remains intact: “The company’s investment objective is to achieve long-term capital appreciation while preserving capital,” she said, signalling no immediate pivot away from its concentrated strategy.

business@gleanerjm.com