FosRich sees opportunity in rebuild

Chief Executive Officer Cecil Foster told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that FosRich Company Ltd intends to supply the island’s rebuild.

“We want to be in the reconstruction that is taking place in the west and beyond,” he said, adding that the company had been in discussions with those leading the large funded deployments.

“There’s still 70,000 houses in the next four years that the Government said that they’re going to be building. We want to be in that space,” Foster said. He said FosRich holds preferred-supplier status on a proposed 627-unit development in Trelawny that he estimated could yield $2 billion to $3 billion in sales over several years.

REVENUE NEARLY HALVED AND LOSSES DOUBLED

FosRich, the Junior Market-listed electrical and solar distributor, reported revenue of $397 million for its latest June quarter, down from $734 million a year earlier, with the net losses widening to $264 million from $121 million. Over the six months, revenue totalled $812 million, down 49 per cent from $1.59 billion, while gross profit fell to $303 million from $577 million. The net losses for the half reached $442.6 million against $189.6 million.

Hurricane Melissa struck western Jamaica on October 28, 2025, so the half-year under review covers the first full six months of recovery spending — a stretch in which such a supplier might have expected demand to climb.

WORKING CAPITAL DIPS

The pressure has drained the company’s working capital. Current assets of $2.77 billion exceed current liabilities of $2.59 billion by $180 million, a cushion that has narrowed from $705 million in June last year.

The company attributes its financial fall mainly to the continued slide in global solar panel prices, a factor it has cited since 2024, and says volumes have held up better than the revenue line suggests. Margins support that account: gross margin edged up to 37.3 per cent from 36.3 per cent, which points to price deflation in the products themselves rather than an erosion of the trading spread.

Foster stopped short of forecasting a quick turnaround, tying recovery instead to cutting debt, improving cash flow and converting the pipeline into revenue. “The opportunities are there, but we have to put ourselves in a position to benefit from them,” he told shareholders.

Management’s remedy runs through the balance sheet. FosRich is pursuing a sale-and-leaseback of company-owned properties, with proceeds earmarked for debt repayment and inventory financing, and is counting on its new Molynes Road superstore and larger project-based sales to lift cash generation.

Its capital dipped to $1.6 billion at June from $1.8 billion a year earlier.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com