Despite facing challenges in 2016, Sterling Products Limited (SPL) is set to open two additional Igloo Ice Cream outlets this year, as the company remains optimistic that economic conditions in Guyana will improve.
One of the two outlets will be located on the East Coast of Demerara while the other will be opened on the Corentyne Coast, East Berbice.
According to Chief Executive Officer Ramsay Ali, it is expected that a total of 20 new jobs will be created with the opening of them new outlets.
In December, SPL opened its new Igloo Ice Cream Parlour and Play Park at Providence, East Bank Demerara, which has been well received by the public. “We’re very proud of the Igloo Ice Cream Parlour we’ve built. Since opening in December to now, sales have actually doubled, if you look at year-on-year,” Ali said.
The company invested significant sums in its infrastructure in 2016, as well as over the last 10 years, and the development of new products, such as the zero-cholesterol Abbey Butter Spread. Work is also ongoing on the development of new products. “We’ve up our ante in the export markets as it relates to all of our products and we continue to invest heavily in our quality,” the CEO stated.
SPL held its Annual General Meeting on April 21 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, where shareholders were apprised of the company’s performance in 2016 and plans for the New Year.
In his report, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr Leslie Chin, in highlighting some of the challenges the company faced in 2016, said, “Upon careful analysis of the company’s performance, we fully recognise that year 2016 was a challenging year for manufacturers as well as the wider business community. We have seen reduction of 14 per cent of manufacturing within the economy as at half year 2016; the official year end 2016 economic performance is expected in a downward trend. ”
Dr Chin said the company recorded third party revenue of G$3.076 billion in 2016, a decrease of G$3.0 million compared to 2015 revenues. Nevertheless, “The economic activity as it relates to our business, and in general, resulted in stable year on year results,” he said.
The company is proud of its prudent financial management which has seen it performed fairly well, despite a slowdown in the economy. Finance Controller/Company Secretary, Deodat Indar, said both profits and revenue were relatively stable over 2015 figures. One of the things SPL is paying close attention to, in terms of the expense side of the business, he said, is continuing to adopt a hands-on management approach. “If the country is in a slowdown, you have to manage as such too. There is also the view that there are opportunities coming up in this country everywhere and the company has to see where it is strategically fit for us to be in.”
Looking forward, SPL’s CEO said optimism is high that the economy will improve. “The economy is going to get better. Oil and gas is looming… those revenues will come. We are eagerly looking to see how it will be dispensed.”
