Barita Investments Limited is moving into the next phase of its growth strategy after delivering strong nine-month results, expanding its asset management platform and advancing plans to unlock value from its real estate portfolio.

For the nine months ended June 30, 2026, Barita generated J$10.1 billion in net operating revenue, up 61 per cent over the corresponding period last year, while net profit increased 20 per cent to J$2.7 billion.

The nine-month revenue performance was particularly significant, having already surpassed the approximately J$8.5 billion in net operating revenue generated for the entire 2025 financial year.

The performance was achieved despite significant expense items during the year, including expected credit-loss charges associated with elements of the balance sheet and impairment charges arising from the recalibration of aspects of Barita’s technology strategy. These items weighed on reported profitability, with underlying performance materially stronger before their impact.

The results come during a period of significant development across the Group. Barita completed the acquisition of JN Fund Managers Limited in January, subsequently renaming the company Barita Fund Managers Limited, while Barita Financial Group Limited received its Financial Holding Company licence from the Bank of Jamaica. The Group has also begun moving its real estate portfolio into a more active development phase.

The developments follow a recent one-notch upgrade by Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited, CariCRIS, across all four of Barita’s Jamaica national-scale and regional credit ratings.

Chief Executive Officer of Barita Investments Limited, Ramon Small-Ferguson, said the performance reflects the increasing breadth of the business.

“What is particularly encouraging is the strength of the underlying revenue performance. In nine months, we generated more net operating revenue than we did in the entire prior financial year, despite absorbing some significant expense items associated with credit remediation and the recalibration of elements of our technology strategy,” Small-Ferguson said.

“At the same time, we are building a more diversified financial services platform. We see meaningful opportunities across investment banking, asset management, pensions, wealth management, merchant banking and real estate. The objective is not simply to grow, but to improve the quality and recurrence of our earnings and build businesses that reinforce each other.”

“The CariCRIS upgrade provides encouraging external validation of the progress being made, while the Financial Holding Company licence provides an appropriate institutional framework for the broader Group we are becoming. Our focus now is firmly on execution.”

Asset management takes on greater role

A key component of Barita’s strategy is increasing the scale of its off-balance-sheet businesses, including unit trusts, managed portfolios, pensions and other investment management solutions.

The acquisition of Barita Fund Managers Limited, BFM, materially expanded the Group’s asset management capabilities and provides a larger platform from which to grow assets under management and recurring fee income.

Richardo Williams, who leads Barita’s asset management business, said the opportunity extends across both individual and institutional clients.

“We see considerable scope to grow the amount of client capital that we manage across unit trusts, managed portfolios and pensions. These businesses allow us to build deeper, longer-term client relationships while giving investors access to professionally managed and increasingly diversified investment solutions,” Williams said.

“Pensions are a particularly interesting area of opportunity. Recent changes to the investment framework give pension managers greater flexibility to diversify portfolios, including through increased allocations to private-company equity. The value is not simply in having higher limits, but in using that flexibility intelligently to improve portfolio construction and long-term outcomes for pensioners.”

“With BFM now part of Barita, we can combine its pension and institutional asset management expertise with the research, investment and capital-markets capabilities of the wider Group. We believe that creates a strong platform for growth across the asset management business.”

Recent regulatory changes increased the limit for pension fund investment in private-company equity from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, with a further increase to 10 per cent contemplated, subject to supervisory monitoring. The changes form part of a broader evolution of the investment framework available to pension managers.

Real estate moves from pre-development towards active development and structured execution

Real estate is another area in which Barita is moving from investment and asset ownership towards more active value creation.

The Group has begun advancing plans for several strategically located properties, including the former Eden Gardens site in New Kingston and the former Kingston Ice Factory and adjacent lands on Harbour Street in downtown Kingston. 

The Group appointed experienced international real estate executive Bernhard Stocker to lead its real estate development activities, with a mandate to convert the potential within the portfolio into commercially viable projects over the coming years. 

Stocker said the strategy comes at a time when Jamaica is becoming increasingly attractive to investors, visitors and people seeking residential and lifestyle opportunities.

“Jamaica is becoming increasingly compelling as a destination for investment, tourism and lifestyle, and that creates an opportunity to think ambitiously about the type and quality of development the country can support,” Stocker said. 

“Barita has a portfolio that includes exceptionally well-located urban and coastal assets. Our task is to unlock their value through disciplined development, bringing together internationally recognised design and engineering counterparties, appropriate capital, sound commercial judgement and highest execution standards with a focus on sustainability and resilience.” 

“Some of these sites give us an opportunity to do more than construct buildings. We have the potential to create developments that change the face of Jamaica, contribute positively to their surrounding environment and communities and generate resilient value over the long term.”

Multiple engines of growth

While asset management and real estate are receiving increased attention, Barita’s growth strategy extends across the wider financial services platform.

Investment banking remains an important area of expansion, alongside securities, wealth management and other capital-markets activities. CariCRIS, in its recent ratings review, pointed to higher fee income from BFM, increased investment banking activity and lower funding costs as factors expected to support improved earnings quality.

The Group is also seeking greater integration among its businesses, allowing investment expertise, distribution, capital markets, financing capabilities and its balance sheet to support opportunities across the platform.

Small-Ferguson said that integration will be central to the next stage of Barita’s development. “We are not assembling a collection of unrelated businesses. The opportunity is to create an integrated platform where the capabilities of one part of the Group strengthen another.”

He adds, “We have made considerable progress in building that platform. The next stage is to make each of those businesses perform at a higher level, grow recurring and fee-based income, use our capital efficiently and ensure that the wider Group creates more sustainable value for clients and shareholders.”