#3 Byron Thompson, chief executive officer and managing director of the Seprod Group of Companies

Byron Thompson, chief executive officer and managing director of the Seprod Group of Companies, returns to “The List” at No.3 thanks to a significant increase in operating profits during fiscal year 2009.

Thompson, who has been a director at the food and household products manufacturer for 15 years, said his company performed well despite economic uncertainty and declining consumer spending due to the downturn in the global economy. Seprod, which manufactures and distributes edible oils and fats, corn products and other household consumer products, boasted a revenue of  $9.49 billion in 2009 a modest 2.56 percent gain over 2008, when the group saw $9.25 billion in revenue. The company’s after tax profits jumped 58.38 percent from $938,203 million to $.48 billion in 2009. The group ended the year with before tax profits of $2.185 billion and a net profit attributable to shareholders of $1.478 billion, according its 2009 financial statements.

Thompson said the profits were achieved through cost reductions, increased internal efficiencies and the increased revenue from investments, which helped the company’s stock earn $2.86 per share compared to $1.82 the year before. The 70-year-old company invested $10.6 million in the Maximo software package to manage its inventory of machine spare parts across its seven subsidiaries.

“It tracks and tells us when to purchase machine parts, spare parts and when repairs are needed as well as allows for better inventory management of spare parts,” Thompson told the Jamaica Gleaner in August 2009.

In another major move, in July 2009 Seprod acquired a majority 55 percent stake in the Thomas Sugar Company from the Government of Jamaica. The new acquisition is expected to produce value foreign exchange dollars from exports. The Jamaica Gleaner reported that Seprod Limited and partner Fred M. Jones Estate expect to spend $445 million initially on the property and pay another US$82,200 per year to lease cane lands in St Thomas.

“The idea now is to get the sugar mill running efficiently, as well as the cane cultivation practices, so that the cane have good yield,” said Thompson of the acquisition.

Thompson is hoping that those moves would bolster Seprod’s revenues and profits going forward. In recent years, Seprod’s performance has seesawed. As a result, Thompson made has failed to make the list two consecutive years.  In 2005 he was ranked No. 8 on “The List” but failed to repeat in 2006, before rebounding with a No. 3 rank in 2007, before dropping out again in 2008. His success and subsequent No. 3 ranking in 2009 came in a year when the company had to deal with the loss of longtime chairman of the board Desmond Blades. During Blades’ tenure, the value of the Seprod’s market capitalization grew 1,800 percent, a rate of 22.4 percent per year. During that time, by comparison, the Jamaica economy grew at a rate of less than 1 percent and the Jamaica Stock Market rose by an average of 10.5 percent annually.

Thompson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and geology from the University of the West Indies and an MBA from Barry University, Florida, is a director of Facey Commodity Company Limited, the Customs Brokers Licensing Authority and Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association.