Corporate income tax, for the first time in six years, took a $10-million bite out of net earnings for confectioner and bakery, Honey Bun Ltd.
Effective 2 June 2016, the 100 per cent tax remission for the first five years after listing on the Junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended.

The company became subject to income tax on 50 per cent of its chargeable income — for four months for the year ended 30 September 2016.the corresponding period last year…..

Honey Bun (1982) Limited Jamaica’s first HACCP certified bakery has increased its investment in manufacturing infrastructure, with the first phase of construction on an expanded baking and warehousing facility well underway.
2019 a 71.8 per cent increase compared with the corresponding period last year…..

JAMAICAN baking company Honey Bun Limited (HoneyBun) on Friday (August 9), reported unaudited after-tax profit of $16.7 million for the third quarter ended June, 30, 2019 a 71.8 per cent increase compared with the corresponding period last year…..

Kingston, Jamaica; Honey Bun (1982) Limited, Jamaica’s fastest growing wholesale bakery has increased its investment in distribution materials, with its recent purchase of a container load of product trays. Over the last quarter, Honey Bun (1982) Limited received the first of several shipments, carrying approximately 1300 trays, which hold up to 275k
the corresponding period last year…..

Pastry manufacturer’s Honey Bun thanked Jamaicans for over three decades of support, as it presented record sales of JMD 1.2billion with a 114% increase in profits over the prior year to its shareholders. In remarks made at the company’s Annual General Meeting on February 8 at the Knutsford Court Hotel,2019 a 71.8 per cent increase compared with the corresponding period last year…..

CEO of bakery and confectionery Honey Bun Ltd Michelle Chong indicates that in 2017 the company will pursue new export opportunities in a bid to increase hard currency earnings.

“We have several plans to increase sales in new markets where there are opportunities in order to increase our foreign exchange earnings,” Chong said in the annual report released on January 11.

Pastry maker Honey Bun is going after healthy eaters, students and the resort market with new products that are being rolled out throughout the year.

So far, Honey Bun has introduced a wheat-based snack called Pickney Crackers and more recently, a lemon-flavoured doughnut, both targeted at schoolgoers.

More products are in the works.

“One of the products on the drawing board right now is a healthy snack that uses indigenous Jamaican products, and the others have to do with variations of an existing product that we have that will be very innovative,” Honey Bun CEO Michelle Chong told the Financial Gleaner on the margins of the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.

The bakery produces and wholesales pastries and cakes, including rum cakes, doughnuts, snack cakes, as well as buns, bread, raisin bread, cinnamon rolls and cheese bread.

Honey Bun is already in the hospitality market, as one of the channels for its burger buns and ­pocket-sized Buccaneer rum cakes, but Chong noted that the company wants to deepen its share of the resort ­sector with healthier baked goods.

“We believe that there is a space for ­innovative new products, not the same old bakery products, with a healthier twist to it for new markets. We are developing products for the hotel industry now and we will be pursuing that aggressively,” she said.

The company’s product innovation phase follows a $150-million expansion in 2018, which included additions to Honey Bun’s existing plant at Retirement Crescent in Kingston.

“With that completed, we also use ­scheduling to maximise our efficiency. Let’s say we can produce 100 products in an hour; we have to find ways now to increase that to a 120 products per hour in responding to demands,” Chong said.

Honey Bun closed its first quarter ending December 2019 with revenue of $422.5 million, up 14 per cent over prior year, due to increased output, penetration of new markets, and export revenue which climbed 149 per cent over the prior year, according to the company’s unaudited financial statements.

The bakery made a profit of $49.1 million in the quarter, up from $38.09 million in the comparative 2018 period.

While Honey Bun works on ­growing sales and profit margins, the company is also in the middle of a human ­resource audit, which Chong expects to be ­completed over the next 90 days.

The audit is part of a three-year ­strategic plan aimed at making technological, ­efficiency and proficiency improvements across the company.

Last year, Honey Bun brought in Canada-based management consultant Alex Ihama, and spent US$40,000 on ­leadership ­training, organisational changes, and cost-saving measures. The HR audit is being conducted by an undisclosed local firm.

“The HR audit will allow us an  opportunity to compare what we do in HR with global standards,” said Chong. “We believe that it was important for us to undergo an HR audit, not because we are having problems, but because we have this thrust to be the best place of employment, and also because we believe that success is driven by talent.”

As to its implications for staffing: “You never know,” she said. “Could be more staff, could be less, or a restructuring. It all depends on what the audit exposes.”

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20200313/honey-bun-going-after-more-resort-market