Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

William McConnell, managing director of Lascelles deMercado, speaking at the 2005 annual general meeting of the conglomerate. Beside him is Lascelles chairman George Ashenheim. - File

Rum distiller Wray and Nephew Limited (W&N), operators of the private Appleton Estate, wants to make another grab at the state-owned sugar operation, having failed a decade ago to effect a turnaround of sugar factories it acquired as part of a consortium.

Wray and Nephew, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lascelles Group, has put in a bid for the debt-ridden and failing Sugar Company of Jamaica, which Government is again trying to divest, at a time when the SCJ is holding a more than $2 billion overdraft, and has accumulated losses of $8.9 billion.

The company is only one of eight players going after the factories.

Stack changes

It is unclear how its chances stack up against other serious bidders - confirmed by Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke - as the Aracatu Group with which the association of cane farmers has joined forces with; Coimex; and Damphur, an Indian sugar company.

Paul Henriques, managing director of the Agricultural Division at Appleton Estates, told Wednesday Business that W&N was still awaiting feedback from the Government on its bid and so would not speak on the details.

"It would be premature to divulge anything, and we haven't heard back from the Government as yet," said Henriques,

Although W&N's full interest in the SCJ is still not clear, industry sources speculate that it's mainly after the the 4,400 hectares of cane lands at Monymusk estate in Clarendon.

Last November, the Government of Jamaica decided privatise the SCJ, its second attempt since 1993 when Wray & Nephew, Cliff Cameron's Manufacturers Investment Limited and Booker Tate Limited, a U.K. company bought the assets, incorporating the business as the Sugar Company of Jamaica Limited. Each company took a 17 per cent stake, and government retained 49 per cent.

Lascelles' chairman William McConnell represented Wray and Nephew on the SCJ board.

Government now wants to sell the factories and equipment but lease the 18,600 hectares of cane lands, according to Clarke.

SCJ has fixed assets of $1.8 billion, and long term liabilities of $3.76 billion.

The assets include, the six factories - Monymusk, Bernard Lodge in St. Catherine, the Long Pond and Hampden estates in Trelawny, Frome in Westmoreland, and Duckenfield estate in St. Thomas.

Non-land assets include, raw sugar factories, an ethanol fermentary, distilleries and machinery.

In February of this year, Appleton announced it was on an aggressive drive to acquire at least another 2,000 hectares of land in Clarendon to expand sugar cane production.

The local estate currently produces between 25,000 to 26,000 tonnes of sugar per year on 3,500 hectares, and hopes that additional land would increase sugar production by 15,000 tonnes per year.

Henriques refused to speak on the plans.

Committed to Jamaica

"Appleton is committed to the sugar industry and we are always looking for more cane," he said.

In 1998, Wray and Nephew sold back to the government the 17 per cent equity it held in the SCJ after the private partners failed to turn around the ailing operation.

As part of the buy-back, government absorbed some $500 million of losses.

Government currently finances its operations with almost $7 billion in advances.

The government has made no financial projections for the SCJ for 2006/07 as is customary, but last year, the company slimmed its net losses to $404 million, from the $1 billion deficit in 2004/05, on the back on significant improvements in sugar income of $3.4 billion.

Chairman of the National Investment Bank of Jamaica, Aubyn Hill is overseeing the divestment.