Angostura Holdings Limited

What it is

Angostura Holdings is a Trinidad and Tobago company famous for its aromatic bitters, and is also the island’s dominant rum producer. Through its subsidiaries it makes and sells rum, Angostura aromatic bitters, carbonated soft drinks (the “Chill” line), bulk spirits concentrate, and a range of imported wines and other branded liquors.

Angostura Bitters holds the number-one position as the best-selling and most-trending bitters brand worldwide, according to Drinks International. The group also owns distilling operations in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and Suriname.

Who owns it

The single largest block — roughly 44.87% of shares — is held by Rumpro Company Limited, a vehicle of the collapsed CL Financial conglomerate, whose shares are currently controlled by the CL Financial liquidators, Grant Thornton. The State is the second-largest shareholder, with approximately 29.9% held through the National Investment Fund Holding Company.

Together those two positions account for about 75% of the company, leaving a public free float of roughly 25%. The ownership structure has been subject to ongoing litigation: CL Financial Limited (in liquidation) is the indirect parent of Rumpro, which directly holds 92,551,212 shares, or roughly 44.97% of Angostura’s total issued shares.

Who runs it

Ian Forbes was appointed substantive Chief Executive Officer of Angostura Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries with effect from April 1, 2026. He had been acting CEO since October 2025, and had served in the same acting role from September 2020 to January 2023.

Chairman Gary Hunt, a former Minister of Sport, leads the all-non-executive board. All directors are non-executive and reflect diversity in gender, ethnicity and age.

A CFO is not separately named in available public disclosures; the corporate secretary and group general counsel is Kathryna Baptiste Assee.

The money, in plain words

Angostura reached TTD 1.12 billion (USD 166.1m) in revenue in 2025, a 5% gain over 2024. That marked the third straight year above the TTD 1 billion (US$148 mn) mark — a milestone first crossed in 2022.

It keeps about 14 cents of profit from every dollar of sales — a net profit margin of ~13.7% (our calculation) — healthy for a mid-size Caribbean spirits group.

For every dollar of owners’ equity in the business, it earns about 9.6 cents a year — a return on equity of ~9.6% (our calculation), adequate but with room to improve. The balance sheet carries just TTD 47.9m (US$7 mn) in debt against TTD 1.6bn (US$237 mn) in shareholders’ equity, a debt-to-equity ratio of only 3%.

The company holds TTD 390.5m (US$58 mn) in cash and short-term investments — far more than it owes — giving it a net cash position of roughly TTD 342.6m (USD 50.8m, our calculation), a genuinely fortress balance sheet.

Export revenue contributed 42% of total group sales in 2025, making this more than a domestic producer. The board recommended a total dividend of TTD 0.39 (US$0.06)per share for 2025, which it described as reflecting strong earnings and cash generation.

At the current share price of TTD 10.18, (US$2)that dividend yield stands at approximately 3.8% (our calculation) — competitive for the TTSE.

What it is doing now

The most immediate news is the appointment of Ian Forbes as substantive CEO from April 1, 2026, ending several years of interim leadership and giving the company its first firmly settled chief executive since 2023. Angostura has moved to protect its US Bitters revenue against tariff pressure, growing that market by TTD 3.3m (US$489 k) (2%), while UK Bitters revenue climbed 15% year on year in 2025.

Locally, two new Solera Wines and Spirits retail stores opened in late 2024 — one at East Gates Mall, Trincity and one at M6 Plaza, Chaguanas — contributing TTD 13m (US$2 mn) in growth at a 17% uplift. The Angostura Chill carbonated drinks line recorded 29% growth across the Caribbean in 2024, and new ready-to-drink launches in 2025 are extending that momentum.

What to watch

• CL Financial liquidation: The ~44.87% Rumpro stake hangs over the share register; any court-ordered sale or transfer to CLICO or another party could reshape the ownership structure and the board.
• Forbes’ strategic agenda: Forbes joined from the distillery operations side in 2017 and built his career around operational efficiency — investors will watch whether he accelerates international growth or prioritises margin recovery.
• Export mix vs. US tariffs: With exports now at 42% of revenue, any sustained tariff escalation in North America — the bitters heartland — would bite directly into earnings.
• Valuation: At a price-to-earnings ratio of ~13.7× (our calculation) and a 3.8% dividend yield, the stock is not obviously cheap or expensive for a cash-rich Caribbean brand with a genuine global product; the ownership fog is the outstanding discount factor.

This is news, not investment advice.