Blue Power Group Limited

What it is

Blue Power Group manufactures and sells soaps in Jamaica, offering both bath and laundry bar soaps. It operates from 4–8 Victoria Avenue, Kingston, where it makes laundry and beauty soaps.

The company was formerly known as Lumber Depot Limited and changed its name to Blue Power Group Limited in April 2010. In 2019 it separated its lumber division into its own listed entity, a move the directors said was designed to unlock value from each business and let shareholders choose the industry they preferred.

Founded in 2001, Blue Power initially focused on its laundry soap line but has since seen faster growth in bath soaps. The company is pushing into niche products — charcoal and turmeric soaps, medicated bars, and beauty lines — to command higher prices and better margins.

Who owns it

Antibes Holdings Limited is the controlling shareholder, holding 50.09% of Blue Power’s stock units. Antibes is a private limited company based in Cobham, Surrey, England.

The remaining roughly 49.9% is the free float traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

Who runs it

Jeffrey Hall, CD, has served as Chairman of Blue Power Group Limited since May 2, 2022. He holds a JD from Harvard Law School and an MPP from Harvard University, and was appointed Group Managing Director of Jamaica Producers Group in 2007; he also serves as Chairman of Kingston Wharves Ltd. and Chairman of Scotia Group Jamaica Ltd.

Lisa Kong-Lee, an accountant by profession, served as Executive Director of the company — but her retirement from the role has since been announced by the company. A CFO replacement is in process: the company has announced the appointment of a new Financial Controller.

The money, in plain words

In the twelve months through April 2025, Blue Power took in JMD 963.5 million (≈ USD 6.15 million) in sales and kept JMD 136.8 million (≈ USD 0.87 million) as profit. That means it kept about 14 cents of profit from every dollar of sales — a net profit margin of 14.2% (our calculation) — solid for a manufacturer, though down from 20.5% the year before as costs tightened.

For every dollar shareholders have put in, the company earns back about 8 cents a year — a return on equity of 7.98%, modest but positive. The debt-to-equity ratio sits at just 0.01, meaning it carries virtually no debt — a rare virtue in any industry.

The company holds JMD 195 million in cash against just JMD 9 million in debt, a net cash position of JMD 185.97 million (≈ USD 1.19 million) — an asset that funds both investment and dividends without needing to borrow.

At a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.4×, the market values the company at roughly 16 times last year’s profit — below the household-products industry average of 20×, which either means the stock is cheap or that investors are cautious about near-term growth. The board declared a dividend of 10 cents per share in August 2025, consistent with a yield of roughly 2.2%.

What it is doing now

Blue Power is engineering a shift away from Caribbean Community (CARICOM) regional markets, while strengthening local partnerships with key distributors to increase market share in Jamaica and setting up new arrangements in North America. In early 2024, new tariffs on raw material imports from Asia — flowing from a Caribbean Court of Justice ruling in a case brought by a rival soap-noodle manufacturer — eroded Blue Power’s competitiveness in the Caribbean, even though Blue Power was not directly party to the dispute.

In October 2025 the company appointed Ms. Tara Goulbourne as Chief Commercial Officer, part of a broader leadership refresh following Lisa Kong-Lee’s retirement.

The chairman has previously indicated the company believes it can grow its revenue base threefold within five years — an ambitious target for a business of this size, but one underwritten by a clean balance sheet and a growing specialty-soap pipeline.

What to watch

• CARICOM trade resolution: The company’s export market in CARICOM continues to be affected by legal uncertainty about trade rules in the region. A favourable resolution could reopen a meaningful revenue stream quickly.
• North America push: Blue Power is targeting the United States and Canadian markets, particularly the Jamaican diaspora. Converting that ambition into sales contracts is the key execution test for the new commercial leadership.
• Margin recovery: Net margin fell from 20.5% in FY2024 to 14.2% in FY2025 (our calculation). Watching whether the specialty-soap shift and the new distribution deals rebuild margins — or whether input costs continue to squeeze them — is the single most important financial signal for the next reporting cycle.
• Leadership continuity: With the Executive Director retired and a new Financial Controller and Chief Commercial Officer just appointed, operational stability through the transition matters more than usual for a company this size.

This is news, not investment advice.