National Flour Mills Limited

What it is

NFM began trading in 1966 as Trinidad Flour Mills, owned by a mix of local and foreign shareholders. It was formally incorporated on 30 September 1972, with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago holding a majority of the issued share capital, with minority stakes held by two foreign investors — Inter Continental Grain Company and Maple Leaf Limited.

The company runs three business lines — Food, Animal Feed, and Other — manufacturing and distributing flour, milled cereals, and dry mixes, as well as feed products for dogs and animals. Beyond its local distribution network, NFM exports to Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St.

Vincent, St. Lucia, Suriname, Canada, and the United States.

Who owns it

In 1995 NFM became a public company when shares were sold on the open market and listed on the TTSE; today 51% is held by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and 49% by the public. The government’s stake is held indirectly through National Enterprises Limited (NEL), a state holding company that also holds shares in the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Atlantic LNG, and that is itself separately listed on the exchange.

Who runs it

The CEO is Ian Mitchell, who set out NFM’s 2025 growth strategy in a January interview, citing opportunities across the CARICOM market and plans for further investment in plant and machinery. The outgoing board chairman was Ashmeer Mohammed, who signed off on the 2024 annual report.

CFO is not disclosed in available sources.

As of late 2025, the ruling United National Congress party’s deputy chairman Hamlyn Jailal was reported to be in line to be appointed NFM’s new chairman at the company’s 52nd annual shareholders’ meeting, where 11 new directors were also to be elected. It is worth noting that following a recent director departure, NFM has no independent directors on its ten-member board.

The money, in plain words

Revenue fell 9.3% to TT$523.4m (US$77.7m) in 2024, from TT$577.3m in 2023. Yet the company made more money, not less: cost of sales dropped 14.8% to TT$362.2m, lifting gross profit — what is left after the raw cost of making goods — by 6% to TT$161.2m (a gross margin of 30.8%, our calculation).

After-tax profit reached TT$44.2m (US$6.6m), up 24.6% year on year — a net profit margin of 8.4% (our calculation), meaning NFM kept about 8 cents of every dollar of sales as profit. Total assets grew from TT$447m to TT$471m, partly reflecting investment in new packaging equipment.

The company carries zero debt against total equity of TT$373m, with total assets of TT$557m and total liabilities of TT$184m. Return on equity — how hard it works the owners’ money — stands at roughly 11.8% (our calculation).

Shareholders received a dividend of TT$0.12 per share payable in January 2026, and a TT$0.10 interim dividend in October 2024, producing a combined yield of approximately 15.2% on the current share price (our calculation) — unusually rich for any market.

What it is doing now

NFM entered new export territories in 2024, including Anguilla, Dominica, Bonaire, and the Bahamas. It is also midway through implementing a new company-wide software system to modernise its operations, while investments in a new 2-kg production line, a dry-mix packing line, and fleet expansion are intended to lift its capacity to meet customer demand.

The company is preparing for a leadership transition, with its delayed 52nd annual shareholders’ meeting — originally scheduled for October 2025 — set to elect an almost entirely new board. First-quarter 2026 results showed early-year softness: revenue of TT$125.8m (down 2.8%) and net income of TT$10.7m (down 22%), with a net margin of 8.5%.

What to watch

• Global grain prices. Cheap imported flour, mainly from Turkey, is pressing hard on NFM’s core business. Any move in global wheat markets — or in government import policy — flows straight to the bottom line.
• Board transition. A near-total board refresh under a newly elected government raises genuine questions about strategy continuity, and the absence of any independent directors is a structural governance concern.
• Export growth vs. the Q1 2026 dip. NFM’s stated ambition is to become a leading foreign-exchange earner through flour, feed, pet food, and dry mixes — products that already reach Caribbean markets, the United States, and Canada. Whether the Q1 slowdown is seasonal noise or the start of a trend is the question investors should press at September’s AGM.
• The share-price paradox. Over the past three years earnings per share have risen 19% a year on average, but the share price has gone nowhere — a gap that either signals deep value or deep scepticism about the state’s controlling hand.

This is news, not investment advice.