JMMB Group Limited

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What it is

JMMB Group offers a full range of financial services to individual, corporate, and institutional clients across Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, and Barbados, operating through three main arms: financial and related services, banking and related services, and other activities.

Those arms cover banking, investments, consumer financing, insurance brokerage, money transfer, and foreign exchange trading. In the most recent year, Jamaica contributed 56% of operating revenue, the Dominican Republic 20%, Trinidad and Tobago 16%, and Barbados 8%.

Who owns it

One of the group’s most valuable assets is its stake in Sagicor Financial Company Limited (SFC), a pan-Caribbean insurer; JMMB’s holding has drifted up to 24.50% of SFC without any new share purchases, simply because SFC has been buying back its own stock — making JMMB SFC’s single largest shareholder.

JMMB itself has over 12,000 individual shareholders and no single disclosed controlling block; the founding Duncan family retains board representation through Donna Duncan-Scott. The precise free-float split is not disclosed in available sources.

Who runs it

Keith Duncan has been Group CEO since 2005, having joined JMMB in 1993; he sets the Group’s strategic direction and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. The board is chaired by Dr. Archibald Campbell CD, FCA, DBA.

Patrick Ellis serves as Chief Financial Officer of JMMB Group. The company was co-founded in 1992 by the late Joan Duncan and Dr. Noel Lyon, whose founding vision was to make money-market investing accessible to every Jamaican — opening accounts from as little as J$1,000.

The money, in plain words

For the year ended 31 March 2025, the Group brought in J$25.22 billion (US$161 million) in net operating revenue, 6% more than the year before. It kept about 15 cents of profit from every dollar of revenue — a net margin of 14.8% (our calculation) — a reasonable result for a regional financial group navigating persistently high interest rates.

For every dollar of owners’ equity in the business, the Group earned back roughly 6 cents — a return on equity of about 6.2% (our calculation), which is modest and reflects the weight of a punishing Jamaican government asset tax. That tax has cost the Group J$9 billion in total to date, including J$1.16 billion in just the first quarter of the current financial year — more than double its expected dividend payout for the same period.

Total assets grew to J$705.46 billion (US$4.50 billion), up 4% year-on-year, while customer deposits climbed 13% to J$226.32 billion, signalling continued client confidence.

What it is doing now

JMMB Real Estate Holdings is advancing two major commercial developments — Harbour Street and The Haughton — with construction expected to begin in the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. Both projects are designed to meet a developer’s profit hurdle rate of 15% and will be financed through market-based partnerships under a build-and-sell model.

Earnings per share stood at J$1.80 for FY2025, and the Group has guided for a minimum 20% annual increase in dividends over the next three years. It paid J$488.9 million in dividends for 2024/25 and has proposed J$587 million for 2025/26.

What to watch

• The asset tax. The Group — backed by IMF concerns — argues the tax, levied on assets rather than profits, distorts financial activity and disproportionately harms long-term investors and pensioners. Any change in Jamaican tax policy here would lift profits sharply.
• Sagicor exposure. JMMB’s 24.5% stake in SFC is its largest single investment; gains and losses there swing directly through JMMB’s own bottom line, as the Q1 FY2025 loss of J$1.47 billion illustrated.
• Interest-rate turn. Net interest income rose to J$11.31 billion in FY2025, supported by a more efficient funding mix. If regional central banks cut rates further, trading gains and asset prices should recover — the key upside catalyst management has flagged.
• Real estate build-out. The two new commercial developments are a new business model for JMMB; execution and sale timing will determine whether they add meaningfully to earnings or sit on the balance sheet.

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This is news, not investment advice.