Mayberry bets that stock rebound will erase losses; takes aim at asset tax

Mayberry Group Ltd expects the recovery in the local stock market to continue wiping out earlier losses during the year.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) gained over 20 per cent this year so far, its first major rise since the start of the pandemic. Mayberry holds the bulk of its stock portfolio in its subsidiary, Mayberry Jamaican Equities Ltd (MJE).

“The portfolio has turned and is growing nicely,” CEO Gary Peart told shareholders at the annual general meetings on Tuesday.

MJE earned $874 million in the June quarter, reversing a $2.08-billion, first-quarter loss and a $1.36-billion loss a year earlier. Its six-month loss narrowed to $1.21 billion from $3.55 billion.

Unrealised gains of $808.5 million on investments in associates and $124 million on financial instruments drove the swing.

MJE operates a listed fund that pools money from multiple investors to buy a basket of stocks. Mayberry Group owns 50.4 per cent of the fund.

The rebound follows a $4.94-billion MJE loss in all of 2025, when Supreme Ventures (SVL) shares fell about 30 per cent, Jamaica Broilers dropped roughly 50 per cent, and JMMB also lagged. “These big hits resulted in a big negative on the portfolio,” said Chris Berry, chairman. “We feel that they are still great holdings for the future.”

MJE used the depressed prices to buy more shares, including SVL stock at prices as low as $13. Supreme Ventures made up 56.2 per cent of its investments at June 30. Peart said Wigton Energy, Jamaica Broilers, NCB Financial, GraceKennedy and JMMB were trading above their June 30 prices at the time of the meeting.

MJE’s shareholders’ equity was $10.59 billion at June 30, down from $12.17 billion in December.

Group financials

Mayberry Group, MJE’s parent, earned $188.4 million attributable to shareholders in the June quarter, reversing a $1.17-billion loss in the March quarter. Its half-year loss narrowed 40.3 per cent to $983.7 million. The group lost $3.07 billion in 2025, largely from unrealised declines in its investments, though Peart said its core cash-generating business grew 47 per cent. He forecast a “bumper” final quarter and a return to full-year profit in 2026.

Berry and Peart also targeted Jamaica’s asset tax, which cost the group $93.3 million in the first half, down from $117.5 million a year earlier. “The asset tax is not just affecting people who own shares, it’s also affecting the investment rate in the entire country,” Berry said. “It’s really a double tax, if you think about it,” he added.

In 2020, as pandemic lockdowns began, local investment banks negotiated with the Government to delay a planned reduction in the asset tax, which was originally proposed to be cut in 2019. In 2024, JMMB CEO Keith Duncan publicly stated that the sector backed the Government during COVID-19, and now it was time for the Government to return the favour.

On Tuesday, Peart said the company continues to lobby for the levy’s removal. “We are willing to do any and everything to get it removed,” he said.

Berry said subsidiary Mayberry Investments Ltd remained capitalised above Financial Services Commission minimums and passed the regulator’s stress tests.

Asked whether the group might separate its real estate holdings, as it did with MJE, the management said: “Keep watching this space.” Property gains rose more than 400 per cent in 2025, Peart said.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com