Paramount Trading (Jamaica) Limited

What it is

Paramount Trading imports, distributes, and manufactures chemicals, lubricants, and related products in Jamaica, operating across five business lines: Chemicals, Construction and Adhesive, Manufacturing, Transportation, and Lubricants.

It distributes lubricants to the transportation, manufacturing, and industrial sectors, and holds an exclusive licence from Allegheny Petroleum Products Company to manufacture Allegheny lubricants in Jamaica with exclusive distribution rights across CARICOM member states; it also holds a licence from SIKA to market and distribute SIKA’s construction product range.

The company serves Jamaica’s food and beverage, construction, hospitality, and bauxite and mining industries, and runs its own island-wide trucking and haulage operation — Stamina Trucking — to control its own distribution.

The company’s shares were listed on the Junior Market of the JSE in December 2012.

Who owns it

CEO Hugh Graham co-founded Paramount in 1991 alongside directors Daryl Fong Kong and Richard Rogers. Graham remains the dominant shareholder; as of May 2021 he held 1,233,966,840 shares — by far the largest single stake, against a total share count that puts his holding at roughly 80% (our calculation), making Paramount in practice a founder-controlled company with a small public free float on the Junior Market.

The next largest disclosed block as of 2021 belonged to Chairman Radcliff Knibbs with 83,560,404 shares, followed by Anna Graham with 63,749,360 shares. The precise current ownership percentages for each holder are not disclosed in available sources beyond the 2021 filing.

Who runs it

Hugh Anthony Graham founded Paramount in 1991 and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director since February of that year — making him one of the longest-serving CEO-founders on the JSE Junior Market.

Radcliff Knibbs chairs the board. The CFO role is held by Joan McAnuff-Jones, listed as Non-Executive CFO.

In his most recent shareholder letter, Chairman Knibbs directly addressed the revenue impact of Hurricane Melissa on the company’s industrial customers.

The money, in plain words

The year ended 31 May 2024 was the hardest in Paramount’s public life. Full-year revenue came in at J$1.722bn (US$11.0m) — but audited accounts filed with the JSE show gross operating revenue of J$1.616bn (US$10.3m), down 34% from J$2.464bn (US$16 mn) the year before (our calculation), as the company lost volume across its customer base and direct costs stayed high.

The bottom line tipped into a net loss of J$14.4m (US$92k) — a net margin of −0.9% — after finance costs of J$70.6m (US$452k) swamped a thin operating profit of J$67m (US$429 k) (our calculation from audited statements). The prior year had delivered a net profit of J$245m (US$1.57m), so the swing was sharp.

On the balance sheet, total assets stood at roughly J$2.08bn (US$13.3m) at 31 May 2024, with equity of J$1.04bn (US$6.65m) and long-term borrowings of J$429m (US$2.74m) — borrowed to fund new property and equipment worth J$617m (US$4 mn) (our calculations, all from audited statements).

By mid-2026, the trailing twelve-month net profit margin had recovered to about 9.8%, and the debt-to-equity ratio stood at roughly 54%. That is still a leveraged balance sheet by Jamaican Junior Market standards, but the direction of travel has reversed.

What it is doing now

Paramount swung back to profit in its second quarter ended November 30, 2025, posting net earnings of J$31.1m (US$199 k) against a J$10.8m (US$69 k) loss a year earlier. Hurricane Melissa, which struck Jamaica on October 28, cut the number of selling days in October and depressed purchases in November.

Revenue for the third quarter ended February 28, 2026, reached J$432.7m (US$3 mn), up 5.7% from J$409.2m (US$3 mn) a year earlier, and nine-month revenue climbed to J$1.26bn (US$8 mn) from J$1.2bn (US$8 mn).

Management is also optimistic about growth following a new partnership with Manpower & Maintenance Services Limited Group (MMS), formalised at the Expo Jamaica 2025 trade show in April. The company described the tie-up as a route to expanding its revenue base beyond its existing distribution channels.

What to watch

• Margin sustainability. The Q2 FY2026 gross profit expansion to J$157.1m (US$1 mn) from J$132.5m (US$848 k) — driven by a 14.4% fall in direct expenses — is the key number to track, because it was margin improvement, not a revenue surge, that restored profitability.
• Finance costs. Financing costs remain material, and their trajectory in the second half will determine how much of the gross margin recovery flows through to the net line.
• MMS partnership delivery. Management has pointed to the Manpower & Maintenance Services deal as a concrete growth catalyst; whether it adds measurable revenue in FY2026–27 is the test.
• Share concentration. With the founder holding an estimated ~80% of shares, liquidity on the Junior Market is thin, which amplifies price moves in both directions — illustrated by the stock’s roughly 84% gain over three months to around J$1.38 (US$0.01)per share as the earnings recovery became visible.

This is news, not investment advice.