• Jamaica Broilers Group Limited (JBG) recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of $379.3Mn for Q2 ended November 1, 2025, compared with a $756.1Mn profit in Q2 2024. Management attributed the quarterly loss primarily to continued challenges within U.S. operations, including higher feed and production costs and pressure on market selling prices, which outweighed the resilience of the Jamaican business.
• Core Q2 revenues were relatively stable at $24.09Bn (-0.2%), reflecting the offsetting impact of solid core demand in Jamaica against ongoing weakness in U.S. pricing conditions.
• However, elevated feed costs and production inefficiencies in the U.S. segment contributed to a 4.6% increase in direct costs. Consequently, Gross profit declined by 18.3% to $4.18Bn in Q2 from $5.12Bn a year earlier.
• Lower gross profits were met by a 1.0% increase in operating expenses to $3.67Bn. A 45.1% increase in distribution costs to $1.10Bn, largely attributed to the U.S. segment, was partly offset by a 10.7% decrease in Admin expenses. The group’s other income also lent a hand, increasing by 94.2% to $0.17Bn. Nonetheless, operating profits decreased, down 56.7% to $0.68bn. Net finance costs were also higher, up 31.4% to $0.91Bn. All these factors contributed to JBG’s lower Q2 profits.
• Despite the weak Q2 profits, the company recorded net profit of $1.22Bn for the six months ended November 1, 2025 (6M 2025), a 17.0% increase relative 6M 2024. JBG also completed the revaluation of its land and buildings. This added approximately $53Bn to asset values and $41Bn to stockholders’ equity. The revaluation pulled the group from a shareholder’s deficit of $10.03Bn to positive shareholders’ equity of $31.54Bn.
• Management noted that stronger Jamaican operations and decisive corrective actions underway in the U.S. helped offset the Q2 setback. Notably, it has already taken steps to improve cost performance, including optimising live-bird yields, enhancing plant efficiency and adjusting pricing where market conditions allow. However, the company communicated its willingness to sell the U.S. meat business if it received a suitable offer.
• Meanwhile, the resilience of the Jamaican business could be tested by Hurricane Melissa. Strong holiday demand and robust inventory are expected to drive high chicken sales for the company. However, the feed business faces a downturn as Hurricane Melissa decimated small farmers in Western Jamaica, who are the primary customers. While other regional farmers may ramp up production to fill supply gaps, the net impact on feed revenue remains uncertain.
• As at the close of trading on Wednesday, JBG’s stock price closed at J$17.20, reflecting a 52.1% year-to-date drop.

(Source: JSE, NCBCM Research)

• Proven Management Limited (PML), the investment manager of Proven Group Limited (PROVEN), today announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with the Cornerstone Group (Cornerstone), a US and regional investment organisation with core capabilities spanning financial services, financial technology, and substantial real estate holdings. Cornerstone’s Mark Myers was also nominated to join PROVEN’s Board of Directors.
• As the parent company of Barita Investments Limited and the second-largest shareholder in PROVEN Group,
• A key focus of collaboration will be the alignment of Proven’s real estate development expertise with Conerstone’s high-quality property holdings, positioning both platforms for long-term growth. The move also strengthens Cornerstone’s broader footprint in Jamaica’s financial sector.
• Chairman of PML, Dr Peter Bunting, noted that the agreement reflects the commitment to disciplined growth, strong governance, and long-term value creation for clients, employees and shareholders of the PROVEN Group. He further noted that the regional and global environments create a compelling opportunity for collaborations of this nature in the pursuit of efficiency, resilience and expansion.
• Both groups will continue to operate independently. The partnership is intended to unlock areas of shared interest and strategic alignment as opportunities emerge.

(Source: JSE)

• The IMF upgraded The Bahamas’ 2025 growth outlook to 2.8%, up from 2.2% projected in mid-October 2025, representing a 60-basis-point increase and roughly $90Mn in additional economic output, while slightly raising its 2026 forecast to 2%.
• Despite the improved growth outlook, the IMF again called for fiscal austerity, including new and higher taxes and spending reforms, to achieve the Government’s 50% debt-to-GDP target by FY2030/31. The Fund specifically reiterated proposals for a personal income tax and a 15% VAT rate, which the Government has said it is not considering.
• Economic conditions are expected to remain broadly stable, with unemployment staying just below 10% through 2026 and inflation below 1% in 2025, while growth is expected to decelerate after 2025 toward a long-run average of 5%–2.0% without meaningful reforms.
• Public finances have strengthened since the pandemic, but the IMF projects overall fiscal deficits of about 0.5% of GDP for this year and next, and notes that central government debt remains high at about 74% of GDP, requiring additional consolidation to meet medium-term targets.
• Key IMF policy recommendations include broad tax and expenditure reforms, such as introducing a progressive personal income tax, raising VAT to 15%, replacing the Business Licence fee with corporate income tax, removing the real property tax cap, reducing VAT and customs exemptions, and cutting transfers to state-owned enterprises, particularly the Public Hospitals Authority and Water & Sewerage Corporation.
• The IMF also urged wider structural and institutional reforms, including civil service pension reform, adoption of accrual-based accounting, improved housing affordability measures, labour market and skills reforms, stronger financial sector oversight, enhanced digital assets regulation, and continued efforts to expand financial inclusion through agency banking, digital payments, and the Sand Dollar¹.

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¹SandDollar is the digital version of the Bahamian dollar.

• The presidents of Latin America's two largest countries urged restraint on Wednesday in the face of escalating actions from the United States toward regional neighbour Venezuela.
• S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a “blockade” of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela, a move that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called a "grotesque threat."
• Trump's administration has moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships - including an aircraft carrier - to the region, spiking tensions. Maduro's government has rejected Trump's moves and has alleged that the U.S. military aims to control Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, at her morning press conference, called for dialogue and asked the United Nations to act to prevent violence in Venezuela. "I call on the United Nations to fulfil its role. It has not been present. It must assume its role to prevent any bloodshed," she said, reiterating Mexico's position of being against intervention and foreign interference in Venezuela.
• Sheinbaum also offered Mexico as a host for any potential negotiations or meetings between the two countries. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called for peace in the region.
• The two leftist presidents have both been closely engaged in trade negotiations with the Trump administration, and both have achieved a relatively positive rapport with the U.S. leader.
• In a statement shared by his spokesperson on Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the immediate de-escalation of tensions between the United States and Venezuela, asking both countries to "honor their obligations under international law, including the U.N. Charter and any other applicable legal framework to safeguard peace in the region."

(Source: Reuters)

• The Bank of England is set to cut interest rates, after lower-than-expected inflation figures and signs of a weakening jobs market. Headline inflation slowed to 3.2% in November, from 3.6% in October, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. That was the lowest since March and a much clearer drop than predicted by analysts, who had forecast a rate of 3.5%. The news comes only a day after labour market data from the ONS showed the unemployment rate rising to its highest level in over four years in October.
• The economy has struggled for growth in the second half of this year, after a sugar rush in the first quarter in which exporters rushed to get their goods to the U.S. before President Donald Trump could impose trade tariffs. The hangover from that, and the lingering uncertainty over the global economic outlook caused by Trump’s trade policy, has been severe.
• But at the same time, an unwelcome rise in inflation has stopped the Bank of England from cutting interest rates more quickly to support the economy. A raft of hikes in government-controlled prices, such as energy bills and rail fares, meant that inflation was rising for much of the year, leading it to peak at 3.8% in September. That was also partly due to companies passing on increases in labour costs due to a 6.7% hike in the National Living Wage and an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.
• Panmure Liberum chief economist Simon French said the wide range of goods and services now showing softening price trends showed that demand is now so weak that companies are having to absorb those price increases themselves instead. The government will be particularly relieved to have seen politically sensitive food prices, which have been a constant bugbear for the last couple of years, making the biggest contribution to the slowdown in inflation in November. Prices for clothing and footwear and for discretionary services such as restaurants and hotels also fell slightly.
• However, with the worst bout of inflation in half a century still fresh in everyone’s minds, it has been forced to keep the pace of policy easing “gradual and cautious”.
• Peel Hunt’s Pickering said that the scale of the slowdown could be enough to have some members of the Monetary Policy Committee voting for a half-point cut in the Bank Rate to 3.5% on Thursday. The consensus remains for a quarter-point cut to 3.75 %.

(Source: Politico)

• Chinese visitor growth to Japan slowed in November to its weakest pace in nearly four years, as Beijing curbed travel amid rising tensions over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan. Arrivals from China rose just 3% from a year earlier to 562,600, the slowest increase since January 2022, according to a statement by the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO). Overall, inbound traffic climbed 10% year-on-year, it said.
• The slowdown offers the clearest sign yet that geopolitical tensions are beginning to reshape Japan’s tourism outlook. Beijing’s advisory discouraging travel to Japan and its directive for airlines to cut flights through March 2026 raises the risk of a prolonged downturn.
• JNTO noted that demand from China typically eases during this month, but the latest slowdown was compounded by the Chinese government’s warning against travel
• Japan had otherwise been enjoying strong growth in Chinese tourism, with arrivals more than doubling last November compared with the year before. The increase in overall arrivals was driven by visitors also from South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. South Korea remains Japan’s largest source of tourists, followed by China, Taiwan and the U.S., respectively.
• Still, China’s pullback carries outsized weight. Chinese travellers are Japan’s biggest spenders, accounting for a fifth of the nation’s ¥8.1Tn ($52.4Bn billion) in tourism revenue. Their retreat hits an economy where population decline leaves tourism as one of the few reliable growth engines.
• Japan could lose ¥1.2Tn ($7.7Bn) in tourism revenue next year if travel freezes persist, according to Hiromu Komiya, an economist at Japan Research Institute.

(Source: Jing Daily)

• The All-Jamaica Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November 2025 increased by 2.4%, according to data released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The release marks the first CPI data to reflect the impact of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on October 28, 2025. Furthermore, this is the largest monthly movement in the All-Jamaica CPI since September 2013 (which rose by 2.8%), matching the 2.4% monthly increase recorded in August 2024 following Hurricane Beryl.
• The main contributor to the increase in the CPI for November 2025 was the ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division, which rose by 6.0%. The rise in the index for the ‘Food’ group was mainly attributed to a 19.1% increase in the ‘Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses’ class, due to higher prices for most produce, including tomatoes, pumpkins, sweet peppers, hot peppers, and cucumbers.
• There was also an 8.8% increase in the index for the ‘Fruit and Nuts’ class due to higher prices for fruits such as papayas, watermelons and ackees. Additionally, ‘Ready-made food and other food products’ increased by 16.4%, mainly due to a rise in escallion prices. Increases were observed in all other classes in the group.
• That said, the index for the ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ declined by 1.3%, largely influenced by lower electricity rates. The index for the ‘Transport’ division remained unchanged compared to the previous month.
• Owing to the significant increase in consumer prices for November, the Point to Point (P2P) inflation rate amounted to 4.4%. This was 1.5 percentage points higher than the 2.9% recorded for October 2024 to October 2025. It also marks the highest P2P since May 2025 (which was 5.2%).
• The sharp rise in inflation increases the expectation for the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to hold rates at its next policy meeting on December 18, 2025. It held its policy rate at 5.75% at its first meeting post-Hurricane Melissa to contain inflation, support the domestic currency and ensure the affordability of imports during storm-recovery efforts. Still, headline inflation is anticipated to rise sharply above the 4%–6% target in the near term.
• Nonetheless, the BOJ emphasised that macroeconomic stability remains its primary concern, reaffirming its commitment to contain post-Melissa inflationary pressures to protect vulnerable populations and support the economic recovery. Consequently, the Central Bank could likely hold rates for much of 2026, though analysts see room for a 25 basis points (bps) cut in the fourth quarter of 2026 (Q4 2026) to support domestic demand, lowering the rate from 5.75% to 5.50%.

(Sources: STATIN, BOJ, and BMI, A Fitch Solutions Company)

• Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited (SGJ) today announced that it has agreed with Sagicor Financial Company Ltd. (SFC) to merge Sagicor Life Inc. (SLI) with SGJ under a single Caribbean holding structure. SLI is a leading provider of life, health, and general insurance solutions across the Eastern and Southern Caribbean. As part of the merger process, new shares will be issued to SFC as consideration for shares in SLI.
• On a pro forma basis, the combined business would have over US$6.9Bn in total assets and over US$1.3Bn in total revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2025. Following completion, SFC’s ownership in the new entity is expected to increase from 49.0% to approximately 55.0%, reflecting SFC’s receipt of additional shares, subject to customary adjustments. Based on management projections, the transaction is expected to be accretion-neutral to shareholders, excluding the impact of cost and revenue synergies, which could provide for meaningful financial upside.
• The merger, which remains subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, represents a transformative step for Sagicor, advancing the collective vision of a more unified, efficient, and regionally integrated Sagicor presence throughout the region. With the proposed structure, Sagicor’s Caribbean businesses will be brought together under a new holding company, Sagicor Group Caribbean (“SGC”), creating a stronger platform that advances the ONE Sagicor vision. Through a Scheme of Arrangement, SGC will replace SGJ as the company listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, providing continuity and transparency for investors.
• Dodridge Miller, a current Director and former Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of SFC, will be nominated as Chairman of Sagicor Group Caribbean, while Christopher Zacca will serve as CEO. Robert Trestrail will continue to serve as CEO of SLI. Chris and Robert will work closely to build a best-in-class Caribbean financial conglomerate. This aligned leadership structure reinforces continuity and provides a clear path toward delivering long-term strategic objectives.

(Source: Sagicor Group Jamaica)

• On December 15, 2025, Moody's Ratings (Moody's) has taken rating actions on several non-financial companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago. These actions follow the rating agency’s rating action on the Government of Trinidad & Tobago (GoTT), where the Ba2 rating was affirmed and revised the outlook to negative from stable.
• Moody’s affirmed the credit profiles of Heritage Petroleum Company Limited¹, National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago², and Port of Spain Waterfront Development Limited³, while revising the outlooks on all ratings to negative from stable.
• These outlook downgrades are due to the revision in Trinidad & Tobago's outlook to negative. This reflects heightened external vulnerability following a sharp decline in foreign exchange reserves, which have fallen well below prior projections, despite ongoing current account surpluses. Persistent foreign exchange shortages reported among economic agents and the reduced coverage of upcoming external maturities increase balance of payment and government liquidity risks during the transition period before new hydrocarbon projects are expected to bolster reserves and growth from 2027/28.
• Accordingly, the change in the companies' outlook to negative reflects the heightened government liquidity risks, which directly constrain the potential support available to Heritage, NGC, and POSWDL.

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¹B2 Baseline Credit Assessment [BCA], Ba3 Corporate Family Rating [CFR] and Ba3-backed senior secured notes.
 ²Ba2 BCA, Ba2 CFR and Ba2 senior unsecured notes.
 ³Caa2 BCA, Ba2 CFR and Ba2 senior secured global notes.

(Source: Moody’s Investors Service)

• Venezuela has decided to immediately terminate all contracts, agreements and negotiations for the supply of natural gas to Trinidad and Tobago. This is according to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who on Monday cited “hostile acts” involving the United States.
• In a communique published on December 15, Venezuela accused the government of Trinidad and Tobago of participating in the “theft” of Venezuelan oil following what it described as a December 10 assault by the United States on a vessel transporting Venezuelan crude. The statement characterised the incident as an act of piracy and a violation of international law and the principles of free navigation and trade.
• The Venezuelan government further alleged that Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has pursued a hostile agenda toward Caracas since taking office, including allowing the installation of U.S. military radar systems to monitor vessels carrying Venezuelan oil. It said Trinidad’s territory had been turned into a platform for U.S. actions against Venezuela.
• As a result, the government said it would halt any current or future contractual arrangements or negotiations related to natural gas supply to the Caribbean nation.

(Source: OIL Now)