CariCRIS Downgrades its National Scale Credit Rating of The Jamaica National Group

• Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) has downgraded the Jamaica national scale Issuer/Corporate Credit Ratings assigned to The Jamaica National Group Limited (JNGL) by one notch to jmA (Foreign Currency Rating) and jmA+ (Local Currency Rating). The rrating agency also reaffirmed JNGL’s regional scale ratings at CariBBB+ (Foreign Currency) and CariA- (Local Currency).
• The national scale ratings indicate good creditworthiness relative to other obligors within Jamaica, while the regional scale ratings reflect adequate creditworthiness (Foreign Currency) and good creditworthiness (Local Currency) compared to other Caribbean obligors.
• The one-notch downgrade reflects breaches in three of the six previously identified Rating Sensitivity Factors. The breaches include three consecutive years of: losses after tax resulting in negative returns on assets and equity, deteriorating Group cost-to-income ratios, and declining Group tangible net worth relative to total assets. There were also increased regulatory capital adequacy ratio requirements for JN Bank due to financial constraints at JN Financial Group Limited.
• Despite continued losses after tax in FY2025 (albeit reduced), CariCRIS has assigned a stable outlook as it expects JNGL will likely stabilise its liquidity and capital positions and return to profitability by March 2026. This outlook is supported by the divestment of its largest loss-making subsidiary in September 2024 and the anticipated partial or full divestment of two other significant loss-making subsidiaries by June 2025.

(Source: CariCRIS)