Drowning in red, FosRich sees a lifeline in solar
Published:Friday | November 14, 2025 | 12:06 AM
Electrical and energy solutions provider FosRich Company Limited is aiming for a sharp turnaround after posting steep losses of nearly half-billion dollars year to date. It is banking on solar energy to fuel its recovery.
Over nine months ending September, the company chalked up revenue of $2.42 billion, down from $2.82 billion in the prior year, while earnings slid deep into the red, FosRich having spun from profit of $82 million to a loss of $433 million.
Chief Financial Officer Peter Knibb, addressing FosRich’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, described the performance as “not encouraging”, citing supply chain disruptions early in the year and steep declines across most product lines.
“The slowdown affected us terribly. It interrupted all our supplies, both on the raw material side and on the manufacturing side, to the extent that our production was interrupted for an extended period,” Knibb said.
While solar devices and hardware eked out gains, 10 of the company’s 12 business lines contracted.
FosRich is mainly in the business of energy solutions distribution, but it also operates as a retailer of hardware products. Its retail network — encompassing seven outlets spanning Kingston, Montego Bay, Mandeville, and Old Harbour — is also experiencing uneven growth.
The continuing setback follows a difficult 2024, when net profit collapsed to $35 million from $235 million the year before. That decline was driven by surging operating costs and financing charges, despite revenue growth in segments such as industrial sales, hardware, and control devices, Knibb reported to shareholders.
Managing Director Cecil Foster struck an optimistic tone, unveiling a multi-pronged strategy aimed at restoring profitability and shareholder confidence, with solar energy as the centrepiece.
“Solar is a revolution that nothing can stop,” Foster declared, outlining plans to scale installations to 4,000 to 6,000 units annually over the next few years.
The strategy includes getting solar products to customers faster and freeing up working capital for expansion, a partnership with National Housing Trust under which FosRich is executing nearly 200 solar installations under the NHT grant programme for pensioners, which provides $1.5 million per beneficiary for renewable energy upgrades.
Beyond NHT, FosRich is targeting businesses and homeowners frustrated by high fuel costs and noisy, polluting generators.
FosRich has also inked deals with Fox ESS, a manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries and inverters, and JA Solar, a top solar panel producer. Foster said the alliances give FosRich access to advanced technology and competitive pricing, enabling it to scale installations rapidly.
The company also sees opportunity in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, on the expectation that the demand for clean energy sources will rise. Foster noted that the Jamaican government’s plan to rebuild infrastructure with solar at its core aligns perfectly with FosRich’s ambitions.
“If commerce does not start, then the country is going to not improve in 2026. We have to get the small and medium-sized people back to working again,” he said, adding that banks and telecoms are also pushing for rapid adoption of clean energy.
“We are promising that these are some of the things that we’re going to be taking on to change the fortune, so next year this time we have a better result.”