Local Tea producing company Jamaican Teas will soon leave the real estate market.
Speaking at yesterday’s Jamaica Stock Exchange 11th Regional Investor Conference, company CEO John Mahfood indicated that the decision to divest the shares of the real estate section of the entity, follows its 2012 studio apartment venture.
In 2012, Jamaican Teas entered the residential real estate market with plans to develop 18 studio apartments in Kingston at cost of 120-million dollars.
Mahfood says while the venture was not a failure, the return on investment was not as expected.
He says while the date has not yet been set for the divestment, Jamaican Teas will return its focus to tea production.
For 2013, the company realised $21 million in operating profit from $185 million in sales from rental and development after its first real estate development.
In 2014, real estate returned a $2-million profit from $26 million in sales, and last year the business segment incurred a $9-million loss from $82 million in revenue.
The company’s second development, an 11-acre property comprising 71 two-bedroom houses located in Yallahs, St Thomas commenced in 2015. BM