Leadership

Kevin O’Brien Chang Chairman
Kevin O’Brien Chang is the Chairman of the Company.
On his return home from Canada in 1989 he oversaw the growth of the original Fontana location in Mandeville, which became the then largest pharmacy in Jamaica. Kevin also spearheaded the opening of Fontana Montego Bay in 1994 and Fontana’s transformation from a local to a national business.

Kevin holds a BSc in Statistics and an MBA from the University of Toronto. Before returning to Jamaica, he was Marketing Systems Manager at Mastercraft Group Development in Toronto and Ottawa Canada, where he transformed their customer marketing presentation systems. He has written two books on Jamaica – ‘Reggae Routes: the Story of Jamaican Music’ and ‘Jamaica Fi Real: Beauty Vibes and Culture’.

Anne Chang Chief Executive Officer
Anne Chang is the Chief Executive Officer and has been a director of the Company for the past 22 years.

She has oversight of local and foreign purchasing, supplier relations and marketing. Anne has also been integral in establishing Fontana’s social media footprint in Jamaica as well the Customer Reward Programme that now boasts over 120,000 members and confirms Fontana as the premier Jamaican beauty destination for women of all ages.

Prior to joining Fontana, Anne was a senior executive at Bell Canada Inc, Canada’s largest telecommunications company for 10 years holding several key positions in Operator Services, Bell retail centres, Finance and Consumer Marketing.

Anne, who is currently a member of the board of Fairfield International Academy in Montego Bay, holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in marketing from McMaster University.

Record-Breaking Revenues Recorded Last Year

After the record-breaking revenues recorded last year, we are pleased to have bettered that figure by 15%, closing the year at $7.3 billion in revenues. We saw a significant growth in our beauty product lines and were able to capitalize on this by forging partnerships with various top suppliers of beauty and cosmetic products.

We continue to see exponential growth from the larger stores with healthy competition across the network for top position. Our ability to adapt to changing market dynamics and capitalize on emerging opportunities has been a key driver of our sustained success.

Corresponding with our revenue growth, our gross profit for 2023 surged to $2.63 billion, marking a substantial 16% increase. We maintained our gross margin at 36% as we continue to manage our procurement process to reduce cost of sales. This achievement underscores our ability to balance cost management with revenue expansion, a testament to our operational efficiency.

Operating expenses grew by 26%, ending the year at $1.9 billion compared to $1.5 billion last year.

Staff costs were a huge contributing factor to this increase. Staff retention and welfare were at the top of management’s agenda, and the addition of the Ferry warehouse also contributed to staff costs.

In preparation for the opening of our new Portmore location later this year, we supplemented the shared services so that proper coverage could be allocated to logistics, warehousing, and loss prevention. The strategic decision to expand our footprint in a new location, investing in talent acquisitions and innovative projects will continue to impact our expenses. Despite this, operating expenses as a % of sales saw a slight 2% increase over last year.

Operating profit over the period declined by 2% ending the year at $745.7 million from $762.1 million last year.

As we move to add our 7th store, we are maintaining a disciplined approach to expense management.

Expenses as a % of sales declined from 25.2% last year to 23.6% this year as a result of focused expense management and new initiatives implemented to improve efficiencies. Operating profit over the period grew by 17% to $761 million.

Finance costs saw a reduction of 10.3%, moving from $218.6 million last year to $196 million this year. This was mainly attributable to the constant value of the Jamaican dollar when compared to its US counterpart, resulting in minimal exchange difference compared to last year and proper handling of our exposure to revaluations.

Our net profit for 2023 stands at an impressive $655.20 million, indicating an 8% growth from the previous year. This result underscores our continuous commitment to profitability and long-term value creation. Our earnings per share is now at $0.52 compared to $0.49 in 2022. The return on equity was 27% this year, down a slight 1% when compared to the prior year.

Anne Chang Chief Executive Officer