Berger Paints Jamaica Limited

What it is

Founded in 1953, Berger Paints Jamaica has spent seven decades making and selling paint in Kingston, and it remains the largest paint manufacturer in the English-speaking Caribbean, with 95% of its products made on-site. The company was originally called Lewis Berger West Indies Limited and renamed Berger Paints Jamaica Limited in 1972.

It makes and distributes decorative, architectural, industrial, and automotive coatings — for homes, factories, cars, and everything in between — both in Jamaica and for export. About 95 per cent of what it sells is manufactured at its Kingston factory, giving it a strong local-production identity unusual for a branded goods company in the Caribbean.

Who owns it

The controlling shareholder is ANSA Coatings International Limited, a subsidiary of the Trinidad-based ANSA McAL conglomerate, which holds a majority stake of 54.12 per cent. BRG was incorporated in 1953 and listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in 1992; in 2017, ANSA McAL bought the company’s former British parent, giving it that majority position.

ANSA McAL is a diversified conglomerate that spans manufacturing, packaging, brewing, insurance, financial services, and media across the Caribbean and the United States. The remaining ~46% of BRG shares trade freely on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, giving local and regional investors a public stake in the operation.

Who runs it

Christian Llanos serves as Chairman, and Dwaine Williams is General Manager — both were present at the opening of the company’s upgraded trowel-on production facility in March 2025. Llanos stepped into the chairman role after Adam Sabga resigned effective October 31, 2024, while Williams has led day-to-day operations since replacing the previous general manager in October 2023.

A CFO is not disclosed in available sources. The board has seen significant turnover since ANSA McAL acquired the company in 2017, with leadership changes accelerating through 2023 and 2024.

The money, in plain words

For the year ended 31 December 2024, Berger took in J$3.49 billion (~US$22.3M) in sales — a 4% rise on the J$3.36 billion reported a year earlier. After all costs and taxes, it kept J$105.68 million (~US$674,000) — a net profit margin of 3.0% (our calculation), thin by most standards but a dramatic improvement on a J$218 million net loss in 2023.

The main engine of recovery was cost: raw materials and consumables fell 13% year on year, to J$1.61 billion from J$1.85 billion — meaning the company squeezed far more profit out of each dollar of sales without needing to raise prices significantly. Total assets stood at J$2.45 billion (~US$15.6M) at year-end, and with shareholders’ equity of J$1.17 billion (~US$7.5M), the return on equity was roughly 9% (our calculation) — modest but positive after two years of negative returns.

At a share price of J$7.80 in early March 2025, the stock carried a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82× — in line with the broader Jamaican market, suggesting investors price in modest recovery, not a rapid re-rating.

What it is doing now

The most concrete recent move is a J$130 million (~US$830,000) investment in new production infrastructure, which expanded Berger’s total coating capacity to around 1.45 million litres. The stated ambition is to make Jamaica the group’s production hub for textured coatings across the Caribbean region.

Berger also entered the lower-price “economy” paint segment for the first time, launching Magicote Flat followed by Magicote Low Sheen — an area described by management as among the fastest-growing by value. Retail channel sales rose 15.7%, hardware sales grew 7.5%, and automotive revenue climbed 14%, though its project-focused construction channel fell 12.4%, hurt by poor weather and broader economic headwinds.

What to watch

• Cost discipline holding. The entire 2024 profit story was a cost story, not a revenue one. If raw-material prices rise — paints rely heavily on imported petrochemical inputs — the margin quickly evaporates.
• Revenue growth pace. Analysts project revenue growing from roughly J$3.1 billion in 2025 to J$5 billion by 2030, an 8.6% annual rate — achievable only if new products and regional export volumes gain traction.
• Board stability. The departure of the chairman and a director in late 2024 raised questions about internal alignment; a settled leadership team is a precondition for executing any multi-year growth plan.
• ESG investment payback. Berger has invested in solar power and an on-site artesian well, and reports a 15% reduction in energy use, targeting 25% by 2025 — real savings if delivered, but capital that must be recovered.

This is news, not investment advice.