Express Catering posts highest profit since pandemic
Published:Friday | September 26, 2025 | 12:07 AM
Express Catering Limited, ECL, operator of food and beverage outlets at Sangster International Airport, reported flat revenue but more than doubled its net profit to US$3.8 million for the financial year ended May 2025, according to its newly released year-end financial report.
It marks the company’s highest annual earnings since the pandemic-induced travel reset in 2020.
Revenue reached US$25.9 million – just US$300,000 above the previous year, but US$4.7 million more than in 2023, when the company began expanding its store network from two dozen to three dozen outlets in the airport. In 2024, ECL posted a profit of US$1.4 million on revenue of US$25.6 million, compared to US$2.7 million profit on US$21.2 million in revenue in 2023.
ECL had previously telegraphed in its 2024 annual report that it foresaw “many opportunities” ahead, then referencing the refurbished airport and its capacity to handle nine million passengers but was then operating at about 60 per cent of capacity.
During the year, Express Catering added two new stores, bringing its total to 36. The portfolio includes international franchises such as Starbucks, Quiznos, Auntie Anne’s, Dairy Queen, and Cinnabon, alongside proprietary concepts tailored to airport travellers.
Founded in 2001, Express Catering became “the dominant food and beverage partner” of Sangster International’s operator, MBJ Airports Limited, in 2011. It holds exclusive rights to operate food and beverage outlets in the post-security sections of the airport, which is based in Montego Bay.
In 2025, the company managed rising costs by slashing administrative expenses by roughly 10 per cent. It also refinanced debt, cutting finance costs by over 20 per cent. The moves lifted operating profit to US$6.9 million from US$5.1 million the previous year.
Express Catering’s performance remains closely tied to passenger traffic at Sangster International, through which passenger traffic rebounded post-pandemic but dipped in 2024 following a negative US Department of State travel advisory issued at the top of the year, and the impact of Hurricane Beryl in July.
In 2025, travel rebounded at Sangster, with total passenger movements for August up 5.3 per cent year-on-year. However, year-to-date travel still trails 2024 by 1.4 per cent.