JBG forensic sweep finds no new irregularities amid $6.8b loss

Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) said it conducted a forensic review of its electronic communications and found no accounting irregularities beyond those already disclosed, the poultry group said in audited statements that report a $6.8-billion net loss for the year ended May 2026.

“The review did not identify any additional transactions, matters, or accounting irregularities beyond those previously identified and reflected in the restated prior-period consolidated financial statements,” the group said. “Based on the results of the review, management has concluded that no further adjustments or disclosures are required.”

A forensic communications review examines the correspondence around a company’s accounts – emails and messages – rather than the ledgers themselves, testing whether the paper trail reveals transactions or conduct the books never captured.

The exercise, disclosed as a subsequent event, goes to the centre of the governance dispute that dogged JBG since 2025. The board engaged an independent digital forensics firm to review electronic communications tied to the accounting irregularities found in the 2024-25 financial year, then hired a second independent forensic firm to review those findings and issue a final report.

“This work was not completed as part of the original internal investigation conducted during the financial year ended 3 May 2025 due to timing constraints,” the statements said. The review was undertaken “to address a completeness concern identified during the assessment of the prior period accounting irregularities”.

Results and supporting information went to the company’s current auditors, Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants. Directors approved the statements for issue on September 21.

US RETREAT

In April, JBG announced the board’s decision to sell the assets of The Best Dressed Chicken, Inc, its South Carolina processing operation, and completed the transaction in the final quarter of the financial year. It marked the group’s second US divestment in two years: In March 2024 it sold hatchery assets in Iowa for US$23 million, bought from Welp Inc in 2016 and held through subsidiary International Poultry Breeders Hatcheries, Inc.

JBG booked losses of $9.8 billion on its US operations over the review period, made up of $6 billion in trading losses and a $3.75-billion write-off on the sale. The disposal fetched proceeds of $4.98 billion against assets carried at $8.69 billion.

Its remaining US operations owe more than three times what they own. Liabilities total $29.7 billion against assets of $9 billion to May. Management said it is holding “ongoing discussions with financial institutions to secure sufficient working capital funding, including arrangements beyond the current forbearance period”, alongside cash flow forecasts projecting positive earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation for 2026/27.

“Since the sale of the assets of Best Dressed Chicken, Inc. in the United States, the group has met all of its interest obligations,” the statements said.

JAMAICA OPERATIONS

Stripped of the US business, the group returned to profit. Continuing operations earned $2.96 billion, against a restated loss of $2.95 billion the previous year, on revenue of $74.6 billion.

The group still reported a loss per stock unit of $6.79, against $7.21 a year earlier, and its accumulated deficit widened to $16 billion from $9.3 billion. A $39.45-billion revaluation of land and buildings, which bypasses the profit and loss account, lifted total comprehensive income to $33 billion for the year, reversing a comprehensive loss of $8.5 billion.

BALANCE SHEET REBUILT

That revaluation also rebuilt the group’s equity. Stockholders’ equity stood at $22.9 billion at May 2, against negative equity of $10 billion a year earlier.

The exit from South Carolina coincided with a refinancing that reshaped the debt profile. Total borrowings eased to $38.1 billion from $42.5 billion, and net current liabilities narrowed to $6.86 billion from $34.58 billion.

JBG also recorded $2.19 billion in debt forgiveness during the year. “Debt forgiveness relates to a loan held by the discontinued US operation that was legally forgiven by the lender during the year,” the statements said.

The irregularities surfaced in JBG’s US operations in 2025 and involved overstated biological assets and inventory – live birds, feed and grain carried above their true value – unrecorded liabilities and unfounded journal entries. Stephen Levy, brother of group president Christopher Levy and president of the US operations, resigned that year. The restatement that followed wiped roughly $22 billion from accumulated retained earnings and left the group with negative equity at May 2025.

business@gleanerjm.com