Good time to be in real estate – First Rock delivers solid results

It’s a good time to be in the real estate business, even more so if you’re an investor in First Rock Capital Holdings Limited. The Company, which has only been operating for two years, is already delivering record profit and asset growth. Between January and September, First Rock’s assets passed the J$5 billion dollar mark. At the same time, net profit attributable to shareholders totalled US$2.4 million. That’s an 800% increase compared with the same period last year.

Ryan Reid, CoFounder and President of First Rock Capital Holdings

“Not many companies who have been in operation for two years can say that they’ve reached this milestone” said Ryan Reid, President and Co-Founder of FirstRock Capital Holdings Limited, in an interview with Kalilah Reynolds Media (KRM).

But it could have been better. The First Rock President said the Covid-19 pandemic tempered the company’s growth this year.

“In light of covid we have become cautiously aggressive… our risk appetite has changed somewhat as expected within these conditions, and so the pace at which we execute on certain transactions is slower and I’d say rightly so.”

Reid said part of the company’s success so far is a strategic decision to diversify across all markets. The real estate investment firm has assets in Jamaica, Cayman, the United States and Costa Rica, but not every segment of the business performed well.  For example, Reid said the high demand for lower end residential and apartment space last year did not translate to this year. Additionally, while highlighting that all jurisdictions are showing good performance, he admitted that about two properties in Costa Rica are showing less than favourable performance. In that regard, the company has been selective in allocating resources.

“We’ve been very prudent with how we deploy capital and what we are seeing now is the manifestation of that prudence,” said Reid.

He noted that there’s a considerable demand in mid to high income real estate and a greater demand for commercial space primarily outside Jamaica. Within Jamaica, Reid said there’s greater demand on the high end residential side.

Looking ahead, the real estate businessman was tight lipped about further acquisitions this year, but he hinted that an expansion may be on the horizon.  

“We have a lot of transactions that we’re looking at.  We’re very bullish on Cayman, there are some opportunities that we are looking at there within the commercial space,” he said.

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