Woodcats International Limited

What it is

Woodcats has powered Jamaica’s logistics and warehousing sectors since 1999, and since Derrimon Trading Company Limited acquired it in 2018, new investment and modern systems have strengthened performance considerably. It manufactures the wooden pallets that move goods across the country’s supply chain, and also produces crates, shipping boxes, furniture, and lobster traps, while providing heat-treatment services that certify wood packaging for international export.

The company operates two facilities in Kingston and produces or services more than 300,000 pallets annually, supplying logistics operators, food distributors, and exporters. It also turns wood waste into sawdust, mulch, and other saleable by-products — a secondary revenue stream that improves yield from raw timber without changing the core economics.

Who owns it

Derrimon Trading Company Limited — itself a JSE-listed food distribution and retail group — retains about 49.4% of Woodcats after the listing, down from more than 81% before the IPO. Other pre-IPO holders include the DTL Employee & Shareholder Nominee Trust (≈7% post-IPO) and Princeman Limited (≈6%), with strategic investors, key partners, and the general public making up the rest.

Who runs it

Earl Richards serves as Chairman; Derrick Cotterell and Ian Kelly are executive directors, with Peter Douglas as General Manager. Derrick Cotterell also holds the position of Managing Director of Woodcats through his role as Executive Chairman of Derrimon Trading.

Ian Kelly has served as CFO and Company Secretary for Woodcats, in addition to his executive roles at the Derrimon group. Peter Douglas, an accountant with more than 30 years of finance and manufacturing experience, joined Woodcats in 2004 and became General Manager in 2007.

The money, in plain words

Revenue has roughly doubled over five years, rising from approximately J$530 million (~US$3.4M) in 2020 to over J$1.08 billion (~US$6.9M) in 2024. Operating profit jumped 30.7% in FY2024 alone, from J$137 million to J$179 million, while net profit grew from J$108 million to J$136 million — a net margin of 12.6%, up from 10.3% the year before.

In other words, the company kept about 12.6 cents of profit from every Jamaican dollar it earned.

Return on equity — the annual profit earned for every dollar owners have invested — hit 26% in FY2024, well above the Junior Market manufacturing average and almost double the comparable figure in 2021. For the nine months to September 2025, revenue reached J$840.4 million (~US$5.4M), up 3.8% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 35.7% and net profit of J$95.1 million (~US$607K), modestly ahead of the same period a year earlier.

What it is doing now

On March 17, 2026, Woodcats listed on the JSE Junior Market as the first IPO of the year, welcoming 8,073 new shareholders at an opening price of J$0.90 per share. The listing valued the company at J$2.15 billion (~US$13.7M), placing it among the top 20 companies on the Junior Market by size.

The company raised J$375 million (~US$2.4M) in fresh capital, earmarked for new tooling — forklifts, a pallet-nailing machine, and a pallet shredder. Longer-term targets include expanding certified heat-treatment capacity by 50%, launching composite wood-plastic pallets by Q4 2026, and boosting annual pallet output by 30% by 2027.

What to watch

• Woodcats faces limited local competition in wooden pallets today, but the prospectus warns that new entrants or large customers bringing production in-house could erode margins.
• Junior Market companies receive a full tax holiday for five years, then a reduced rate — but failure to maintain ongoing compliance could trigger clawbacks, a risk that grows more significant as profits rise.
• Working capital intensity has risen, with both inventory days and receivable days increasing materially; the cash conversion cycle now exceeds 120 days, and the business relies on overdraft facilities.
• Derrimon Trading retains just under 50% ownership, meaning minority shareholders depend on board independence and disclosure quality to protect their interests in related-party dealings.

This is news, not investment advice.