Food and financial services conglomerate GraceKennedy Limited recorded improvements in all segments of its business for the nine-month period ending September, leading to a 33 per cent spike in profit to $4.93 billion.
The performance of GraceKennedy’s food business was largely supported by its operations in the United States, as well as the Hi-Lo supermarket chain in Jamaica, which outperformed its target.
CEO of GraceKennedy, Don Wehby, has high hopes for Hi-Lo repeating the performance the periods ahead, given the expansion programme under way, including the build-out of an 11,000 square-foot supermarket along the Seven Miles stretch in Negril, which will replace the existing Hi-Lo branch at Sunshine Plaza in the resort town.
The new store is expected to open to customers by mid-2021.
“We have our challenges with Sunshine Plaza, as well as we felt that we needed a more modern building. We went into a long-term lease arrangement with the developer of the plaza, where NCB is located,” said Wehby.
“It’s a great location for tourists, as well as it has good parking,” he said.
GraceKennedy, which began the upgrading of its Hi-Lo stores in 2016, says the upgrading of its stores will continue into 2021. A budget for the new Negril location was not disclosed.
The conglomerate’s food service business in Canada also remained consistent in performance despite a second wave of COVID-19, while its UK food business rebounded from restrictions placed on the food service sector earlier this year.
The company, however, noted that it is watchful of reintroduced lockdown measures in the UK that could temper the recovery of food services and export business to mainland Europe.
“Our focus will remain on cost containment and maximising margin gains in all other areas of the business,” GraceKennedy said in its third-quarter earnings report.
Over the nine months, the conglomerate grew revenue by 12 per cent to $86.1 billion, while the company closed the period with substantial cash holdings of nearly $23 billion, doubling the amount it held a year ago. Its expectations are its 2020 financial targets will remain on track, despite the pandemic.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jamaica, GraceKennedy engaged in various initiatives to manage its risks, including maintenance of a strong supply chain, offering new delivery channels for both products and services, and improving its efficiency to better manage costs.
