Lumber Depot anticipates both pain and gain post-Melissa
Published:Friday | November 28, 2025 | 12:07 AM
Lumber Depot Limited is expecting increased business, at least for the remainder of 2025, as property owners affected by Hurricane Melissa look to rebuild their damaged homes.
But beyond that, the impact is uncertain, as many of the construction material supplier’s customers are out of pocket as a result of the catastrophic storm.
Lumber Depot mainly serves customers in Papine, Gordon Town and surrounding areas of rural St Andrew.
“People are now at the stage where they want roofing materials, everything to start reshaping their lives … I think up until the end of this year, we’ll continue to see an uptick in the business,” said Managing Director Major Noel Dawes.
But, “in the case of St Andrew, coffee farms were badly affected, for example. So, looking at that sector, it is going to be down,” he reported to shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.
The focus has to be on recovery, and that means stocking the materials necessary to assist customers get back on their feet, so they can start earning again, he added.
“For me, it’s about getting people’s lives back on track. Because when you get them back on track and they are able to generate their own income, then you will have more steady customers and business going forward,” Dawes said.
Lumber Depot operates a full-service hardware store in Papine, which serves the needs of large and small-scale building contractors, as well as homeowners doing construction projects, renovations and repairs.
In its past financial year ended April 2025, the business generated profit of $136 million on revenues of $1.5 billion, with an annualised return on equity of more than 20 per cent, Dawes reported. Revenue was down one per cent and net profit declined by five per cent relative to FY2024.
The neighbouring property recently acquitted by the company on Gordon Town Road will be utilised for parking and storage to facilitate organic growth.
“It will provide us with the leverage to grow our bottom line by exploring product diversification with stock items that our customers have shown a keen interest in purchasing from us. It will partially resolve some of our parking and storage issues, allowing us to implement some of the expansion ideas that we have shared with you over so many previous meetings,” Dawes said.
The property purchase was financed from internal resources and a $205-million mortgage, he said.
The company is also growing through acquisition, having purchased a 29.3 per cent stake in Atlantic Hardware & Plumbing Company, which is now listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, having made its début in April.
The cost of the acquisition was $280 million, “of which $210 million was funded from cash flow and $70 million as a short-term loan to seller”, the company noted in its annual report.
“Both the carrying value and the market value of our interest in Atlantic exceed the cost of that investment,” Lumber Depot Chairman Jeffrey Hall said in the company’s July first quarter report.