JFP Limited

What it is

JFP Limited — incorporated in 1985 as Jamaica Fibreglass Products Limited and renamed in December 2021 — is based in Kingston, Jamaica. It designs, manufactures and distributes custom-built commercial furnishings.

The company works in wood, metal, solid surface, acrylic and upholstery, making furniture for offices, hotels, restaurants, laboratories and schools, as well as point-of-sale fittings for clients including KFC, Pizza Hut, Digicel, AC Hotel by Marriott and the Government of Jamaica. It exports to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Who owns it

The two controlling shareholders are Metry Seaga, through his vehicle Eurobian Limited (304.7 million shares), and Stephen Sirgany, through JKZ Limited (304.6 million shares); the two together held roughly 54.4% of the company as of early 2023. The remaining shares are in free float on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

JFP listed on the JSE in March 2022 via an IPO brokered by GK Investments at J$1 (US$0.01)per share. The company netted J$215 million (US$1 mn) from that offering.

Who runs it

In June 2026, founder Metry Seaga stepped up from CEO to Chairman, succeeding Lisa Bell, while Andrea Melis — previously advisor to the CEO and chief operating officer — was appointed the new CEO.

Since joining JFP in June 2025, Melis led 58 operational initiatives across seven areas of the business; average contract values rose 50% to J$4.8m (US$31 k) and the active project pipeline expanded nearly fourfold to roughly J$1.3 billion (US$8 mn).

The money, in plain words

Revenue barely moved — J$407.5m (US$3 mn) in 2024 versus J$411.1m (US$3 mn) the year before — but the share of each sale left after covering materials and production costs (the gross margin) fell from 52% to 36%. The main cause: cost overruns driven by clients changing designs mid-project and slow approval processes.

The bottom line was a net loss of J$117m (~US$0.75m) — double the prior year’s loss — and owners’ equity shrank 81% from J$133.4m (US$853 k) to just J$24.8m (~US$159k). That equity figure is the cushion between the company’s assets and its debts; at this size, it is thin.

Cash pressure intensified too: receivables (money owed by clients) climbed to J$175.5m (US$1 mn), while amounts owed to suppliers surged 27%.

The first quarter of 2026 brought no respite: revenue fell a further 18% to J$92.1m (US$589 k) and the net loss was J$28.3m (US$181 k), reversing a small profit in the same quarter of 2025.

What it is doing now

JFP has engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to run a comprehensive strategic review, aimed at reshaping the business for long-term growth. On the factory floor, it is investing in a plasma CNC cutting machine, a pipe-bender and edge-banding equipment to lift efficiency and reduce production costs.

The company has also signed up PF Chang’s — the American Asian-fusion restaurant chain — as a new client, supplying furniture across Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, Saint Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Bermuda, Panama and Guyana.

What to watch

• Gross margin recovery. Management has begun enforcing signed contracts and design approvals before starting projects, with penalties for delays — the test is whether the gross margin can climb back toward the 50%-plus levels seen in better years.
• Equity erosion. With owners’ equity near zero, any further loss could technically wipe out the book value of the business; whether the PwC review produces a capital plan is the critical question.
• New CEO execution. Andrea Melis has already driven a fourfold expansion in the active project pipeline to roughly J$1.3 billion (US$8 mn) — converting that pipeline into actual signed revenue without repeating the cost-overrun pattern of 2024 is the central challenge.
• Regional expansion. JFP is seeking further PF Chang contracts in Jamaica, Barbados and the Cayman Islands — a meaningful win there would provide the volume needed to restore manufacturing-scale economics.

This is news, not investment advice.