Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) has engaged IBM to strengthen the controls in its financial reporting systems, and an independent firm will begin an internal audit of its US operations by October 31. JBG is also developing a group-wide whistleblower policy.
It reflects part of a remediation drive the poultry group disclosed days after releasing its audited statements in which the group recorded a $6.8-billion loss for its May year end.
“The board will be convening a retreat in the coming weeks, at which it will undertake a detailed review of the report’s findings and recommendations and determine the remedial actions to be approved and implemented,” the company said in an announcement issued on Friday by Company Secretary Peter DePass.
The report in question comes from a corporate governance framework review conducted by Cube Corporate Support Limited, which JBG confirmed is now complete. The company has received the final document but has not published it. JBG said it will deliver a further substantive update to the market, including the board-approved remediation programme and an implementation timeline, by November 30, then report progress quarterly alongside its financial results.
Seven measures are already in place or under way, JBG said, ahead of the board’s full consideration of the review. Chief among them is a Group Finance Committee with responsibility for oversight of financial reporting, accounting practices and finance structures across the group. The company has also reorganised corporate and reporting structures in both its Jamaican and US operations, tightened account reconciliation and review procedures, and widened its focus on enterprise-wide risk management.
The US arm, where the accounting failures originated, draws the sharpest attention. JBG said it has engaged a “reputable independent firm to undertake an internal audit programme” there, expected to commence on or before October 31.
The measures respond to irregularities that surfaced in the US business in 2025 and involved overstated biological assets and inventory, unrecorded liabilities and unfounded journal entries. Stephen Levy, brother of Group President Christopher Levy and head of the US operations, resigned that year. The restatement that followed erased roughly $22 billion from accumulated retained earnings and left the group with negative equity at May 2025.
Friday’s announcement also confirmed the completion of an independent email search review, which JBG first disclosed as a subsequent event in audited statements published earlier that week. That exercise used a digital forensics firm to examine electronic communications tied to the irregularities, with a second independent forensic firm engaged to review the findings and issue a final report. Neither turned up fresh problems.
“The review did not identify any additional transactions, matters or accounting irregularities beyond those previously identified,” the company said.
Both reports and their supporting information went to the board and to JBG’s external auditors, Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants. Directors approved the audited statements for issue on September 21.
The group recorded revenue of $74.6 billion and a net loss of $6.8 billion. Stripped of the US business, continuing operations earned $2.96 billion, against a restated loss of $2.95 billion the year before. The US operations lost $9.8 billion, made up of $6 billion in trading losses and a $3.75-billion write-off on the sale of the South Carolina processing business, which fetched $4.98 billion against assets carried at $8.69 billion.
business@gleanerjm.com
