Guardian Media Limited – Preference Shares

What it is

Guardian Media Limited (GML) runs the most comprehensive multimedia operation in the Caribbean, combining print, radio, television, electronic billboards, and digital media, with most of its operations in Trinidad and Tobago — the Guardian daily and Tobago Today newspapers, CNC3 television, and six radio stations.

The company has also expanded beyond its home islands, launching Mix 90.1 FM in Guyana and operating radio studios and production facilities in Georgetown. GMLP is not a share in GML’s profits; it is a fixed-income instrument — a preference share that pays TT$3.00 (US$0.45)per year regardless of what the underlying business earns, provided GML has the resources to meet it, and accumulates unpaid amounts if it does not.

Who owns it

GML is the media arm of ANSA McAL, a Trinidadian conglomerate owned by the Sabga family. ANSA McAL is the majority shareholder of the publicly traded GML ordinary shares.

The exact percentage held by ANSA McAL in GML’s ordinary capital is not published in the sources reviewed; the TTSE filing page for GMLP does not separately list major-shareholder percentages for the preference class.

ANSA McAL itself is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s largest conglomerates, with diversified businesses across the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. The free float of the GMLP preference shares is small and trades very thinly — the TTSE ticker recorded zero volume on the most recent session reviewed.

Who runs it

The chairman is Peter Clarke; the managing director is Gerhard Pettier, appointed to that role on 1 November 2024; and the chief financial officer is Candice Changoor, who assumed that position on 1 January 2025.

Pettier is GML’s fourth managing director in as many years: he succeeded Dr Karrian Hepburn-Malcolm, who had followed Brandon Khan, who had in turn followed A. Nicholas Sabga — a rapid rotation that reflects the depth of the company’s operational challenges.

The money, in plain words

GML reported a loss before tax of TT$2.9m (US$0.43m) for the year ended 31 December 2024 — a significant improvement: 77% less than the TT$10.6m (US$2 mn) loss before tax in 2023. Revenue for 2024 totalled TT$97.9m (US$14.56m), a decline of TT$1.4m (US$208 k) from 2023 — a drop of about 1.4% (our calculation).

Within the business, the print segment (newspapers and printing services) lost TT$5.5m (US$818 k) before tax, while the multimedia segment (radio and TV) made a profit of TT$2.6m (US$387 k) before tax — so broadcasting is now the profitable engine and print is the drag. On the bottom line, the total comprehensive loss for 2024 was TT$11.6m (US$1.72m), slightly worse than the TT$11.2m (US$2 mn) comprehensive loss in 2023, because items below the trading line (such as pension adjustments) widened the gap.

For GMLP preference shareholders, none of this changes the coupon: the instrument pays a fixed TT$3.00 (US$0.45)per share per year — 6% of the TT$50 (US$7)par value — with arrears accumulating if unpaid. At the last traded price of TT$65.85 (US$9.79), the running yield is 4.56% (our calculation).

The shares trade above par, meaning the market prices in the reliability of the coupon rather than the parent’s profit.

What it is doing now

Chairman Peter Clarke said management revised the company’s multimedia revenue model, streamlined operations, managed controllable costs, and reduced workplace inefficiencies to try to deliver better value to shareholders. The board approved a final ordinary dividend of four cents per share for 2024 — a token payment given ongoing losses, but a signal that the preference coupon obligation is being maintained.

In April 2025, GML notified shareholders that the 2024 Annual Report is accessible on the company’s investor-relations page and was filed with the TTSE under Sections 63 and 67(2)(c) of the Securities Act 2012. The most recent TTSE market summary shows GMLP quoted at TT$65.85, (US$10)with no volume — a thinly traded instrument held largely for income, not capital gain.

What to watch

• Print-to-digital tipping point: the challenges of shrinking advertising budgets and digital market disruption that hit GML in 2023 continued through 2024 — if the print segment’s losses deepen further, pressure on the parent’s capacity to service preference obligations rises.
• Multimedia growth: the broadcast/digital arm is profitable and expanding, with a Guyana radio footprint now live; accelerating that revenue line is the clearest path to group-level breakeven.
• ANSA McAL strategy: in 2025 ANSA McAL divested several non-core units and reported a 9% rise in group revenue to TT$7.79bn (US$1.2 bn) — a strengthening parent is a comfort for preference coupon security at GML.
• Leadership stability: four managing directors in four years is a risk worth monitoring; Pettier is the incumbent and the first full-year result under his tenure will be the clearest read on whether the management churn has finally stopped.

This is news, not investment advice.