Melissa Exacts Toll on TJH and Fontana’s Quarterly Earnings, YTD Results Divergent.

  • Hurricane Melissa exacted a toll on the quarterly earnings of TransJamaican Highway (TJH) and Fontana Limited (Fontana), highlighting that the impact of the superstorm’s October 2025 landfall extended across sectors.
  • For the December 2025 quarter (Q4 2025), TJH’s net profit slipped 7.7% to US$8.6Mn, primarily driven by lower revenues and higher operating expenses. Revenue declined 2.5% to US$23.74Mn, reflecting the 15-day toll suspension following Hurricane Melissa, which resulted in an estimated revenue loss of approximately US$3.5Mn.
  • Its quarterly performance was further dampened by higher operating expenses, which rose 31.4% to US$5.8Mn due to higher amortisation, maintenance activity and consultancy costs. A 43.3% rise in administrative expenses due to hurricane-related relief and recovery initiatives and spending on a Road and Operational Maintenance software system also helped to push up costs.
  • For Fontana, Melissa’s impact on its quarterly profits was more pronounced, with earnings falling by 38.7% to $201Mn, despite marginal revenue growth. Hurricane disruptions caused a 16-day closure of its Fairview Montego Bay store, its second-largest location by sales. Its corporate offices also sustained damage, and the Savanna-la-Mar branch faced similar Melissa-induced disruptions.
  • In light of the disruption to its operations, Fontana faced lower sales volumes in its Western Stores, operating inefficiencies from shortened hours, and logistics challenges in rebalancing inventory. As a result, revenues only rose by just 5.6% to $2.9Bn, while direct costs outpaced revenues by 7.4% to $1.77Bn. This meant gross profits increased by only 2.8%, and margins narrowed to 38.2% from 39.2%. With melissa sapping revenue growth, operating expenses and finance costs tipped the scales even further. Expenses grew by 22.2% to $840.85Mn, and there was 72.4% increase in finance costs to $73.83Mn.
  • Though Melissa put a dent in both companies’ quarterly earnings, TJH's full-year earnings grew by 17% to US$36.6Mn, amid sustained traffic growth and higher t-Tag penetration across the network in the first half of the year.
  • Meanwhile, Fontana’s YTD earnings are down 36.5% despite 12.1% revenue growth. Higher operating expenses of $1.66Mn (+22.3%) reflect fixed-cost absorption during store closures, integration costs tied to Monarch locations it acquired, and setup costs for three new Ora concept stores. Finance costs also surged 72.4% due to borrowings to support the Monarch Acquisitions. However, while these weighed on near-term profitability, management emphasised that a portion of the expenses represents strategic growth investments.
  • Since the start of the year, TJH’s stock price has increased by 44.5%, while Fontana’s stock price has decreased by 4.8%, to close at $6.66 and $7.42, respectively, on February 17, 2026. At this price, TJH trades at a P/E of 14.4x, below the Main Market Energy, Industrials and Materials Sector average of 21.7x, while Fontana trades at a P/E of 20.6x, above the Junior Market Distribution Sector average of 18.5x.

(Sources: Fontana and TJH Financial Release, NCBCM Research)