Dear Fellow Shareholders,

Despite the unprecedented peculiarity of the past two years, we intentionally fixed our gaze beyond the horizon of the pandemic and remained focused on our agenda of long-term sustainable growth. 2021 was a year of performance through introspection, innovation, investment, and a heightened sense of responsibility. We were determined to keep our head in the game to deliver better value for our shareholders in a year that was even more challenging than we expected.  Our ‘Beyond the Pandemic’ mindset led to the Group generating an exceptional 40% increase in Earnings Per Share (EPS) from $2.46 to $3.45.

The basis of our success is our people. During this challenging time, our ANSA McAL family came together and found ways to thrive in a very dynamic environment. They are the ones who served our customers and communities, used the equipment and technology, made the strategic decisions, managed the risks, discerned our investments and drove innovation. Whatever complexities, risks and opportunities lie ahead, having a great team of people with fortitude, tenacity, integrity, and enormous capabilities to maintain high standards of professional excellence — this is what ensures our prosperity.

Over the past year, we have focused on building a more inclusive work environment in which our people are empowered and encouraged to speak up. This culture we see as crucial to increasing innovation in the workplace and also as a key to attracting the best talent. We recognise that building capabilities and creating career opportunities across our business is not only important to our people, but it is critical to the Group’s success now, and into the future. We will therefore continue to upskill our teams to meet the needs of our business as we seek more possibilities to be efficient and bring value to all our stakeholders.

Creation of Long-Term Value

Group CEO, Anthony N. Sabga III and Deputy Chairman, Andrew Sabga receive gift packages from the international launch of Carib’s Can You Feel It Campaign from Antron Forte, Category Manager - Beer & Ciders at Carib Brewery Limited

Profits made internationally by some of “the pandemic market darlings” like Zoom and Peloton have proven to be unsustainable as people return to in-person activities.  This is the case even as some of life’s routines may have changed for the foreseeable future.  We expect a similar situation to unfold in 2022 on the local and regional front with “pandemic gains” being short-lived. Conversely, for the Group we are already beginning to see the reversal of “pandemic shortfalls”.  For instance, in 2021, our usually leading Beverage Sector faced strong headwinds due to more extended and severe COVID-19 restrictions than prior year. The closure of bars, restaurants, and other entertainment facilities, significantly impacted the revenues in this sector.  Despite this, we pushed ahead with our planned strategies to create long-term value for this business. We proceeded with strategic plant upgrades to improve efficiencies. We also executed the refresh of our flagship Carib brand with the launch of the CAN YOU FEEL IT global marketing campaign which was extremely well received in the markets. We adjusted our beverage distribution models in both the Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana markets to broaden our customer base and improve customer experience. We are already seeing at the start of Q2 2022, the uptick in volumes following the recent lifting of restrictions in our operating markets as consumer behavioural patterns return to what they were before the pandemic.

Our focus continues to be on the long-term and as such, we may make decisions differently from some companies. Accordingly, we want to share with you, our shareholders, our fundamental management and decision-making approach:

We will:

  • focus relentlessly on our customers.
  • make investment decisions in light of long-term
    market leadership considerations rather than short-term profitability considerations.
  • make bold investment decisions where we see
    a sufficient probability of gaining market
    leadership advantages.
  • measure the effectiveness of our investments
    analytically to abandon those that do not
    provide acceptable returns, and to maximize
    our investment in those that work best.
  • continue to reshape our businesses using
    clear guiding criteria to be globally competitive
    in businesses which offer scale, regional
    leadership and hard currency.
  • pursue market expansion in new and existing
    markets.
  • spend wisely as we understand the importance
    of continually reinforcing a cost-conscious
    culture, particularly in uncertain times.
  • balance our focus on growth with good capital management.
  • continue to focus on hiring and retaining
    versatile and talented employees as we know
    our success will be largely affected by our
    ability to attract and retain a motivated
    employee base.

Shareholder value can be built only if we maintain a healthy and vibrant company, which means doing a great job taking care of our customers, employees and communities. You cannot have a healthy company if you neglect your key stakeholders. As we have learned in 2021, there are myriad ways an institution can
demonstrate its compassion for its employees and its communities while still upholding shareholder value. During the pandemic, Group employees who tested positive for COVID-19 were placed under personal medical supervision and their progress was tracked daily by our HR and HSSE teams. Every employee also continues to have access to counselling through the Company’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which was in existence even prior to the pandemic.
We actively supported national vaccination efforts by providing funding for vaccination sites, and fought misinformation about vaccines through powerful awareness campaigns on both social and traditional media platforms. High vaccination rates in the Group allowed for a faster and safer return to the workplace.  Our people felt supported and safe and were therefore motivated, innovative and more productive. We maintained the confidence of our customers by working closely with them to understand their needs, and made practical changes to our systems and procedures to improve the ease-of-doing business with the Group.  
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As you can see, sustainability for us is not just a catchphrase, it is increasingly an integral part of ANSA McAL's strategy. In this context, sustainability is a collective term for economic, environmental, social, and governance factors. Financially, this means creating a strong balance between risk-taking to create earnings and growth and risk management, as well as a sound financial structure in every way. Socially, this means that we must ensure a strong and healthy balance for our employees, as they are the Company's most important asset.  It also means that we must do our part to ensure that we add value to the wider society in the way that we operate our businesses. Environmentally, ANSA McAL has determined key areas of focus which will set the framework for our future efforts within water preservation, waste reduction, climate impact and modern energy.  Most recently, in line with our modern energy agenda, we have made an investment in the Monte Plata Solar Park in the Dominican Republic.  This together with our wind farm investment in Costa Rica increases our renewable energy portfolio to 90-100 MW.

During 2022, each of our businesses will be required to set environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets as part of their business plans, which collectively will form the basis for the Group’s overall ESG goals. In 2023-2024 we hope to be able to report to you on our specific targets and the progress made toward doing sustainability the ANSA McAL way.

Outlook

In our road map for the year 2022 and beyond, there is always going to be a balancing act set against a highly volatile global backdrop of rising inflation, disrupted global supply chains, and material uncertainty around the true economic impact of the conflict in Ukraine. However, we view these as a part of the new normal in which we simply expect new challenges to arise continuously, and are confident we can manage through them to achieve positive business results, while making a real difference in society. We have a proud tradition of evolution, innovation and resilience as for 140 years, we have navigated challenges in a wide range of economic cycles, market conditions and global dynamics.  
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Our teams will continue to focus on areas of the business that will underpin our growth moving forward. From an increased and improved approach to e-commerce, a renewed focus on growth markets, and ongoing new product and business development, ANSA McAL people will innovate!

We look forward to reaping the rewards of core Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) investments in our Banking and Insurance businesses to accelerate digital channels and the completion of the transition of ANSA Bank in Q3 2022 to the first digital bank in the region.  This will not only radically enhance customer experience but will also significantly advance the Group’s agenda to reduce its carbon footprint. Having consolidated our market position with the acquisition of Trident Insurance in Barbados, we also eagerly anticipate the closure of the COLFIRE transaction in Trinidad subject to regulatory approval.  We are also seeking to diversify our current financial services portfolio via a potential partnership with international technology and digital asset management experts to establish a data mining centre in the Tamana Industrial Park in Trinidad. Current energy rates in Trinidad & Tobago make this project very attractive so we will need to secure a long-term Power Purchase Agreement to ensure the sustainability of the project.  This project will be the first of its kind in the region and has the potential to create wealth, not only for the Group, but also on a national and regional level.

ANSA McAL supported national vaccination
efforts by funding national vaccination
sites and by hosting vaccination sites throughout Group companies

ANSA Bank will be the first fully digital bank in the region

The Boldly Berger campaign vibrantly took to the streets of the markets in which the brand operates

We are heavily focused on our export thrust to increase hard currency inflows. We have built momentum with the gains in our packaging business, which doubled export volumes and our chlorine hub in Jamaica, which had its first full year of operations in 2021.  Our water treatment business will be looking outward to new markets in the USA and the Dominican Republic. There is a clear strategy to deepen our presence in Guyana where we have had a strong presence for 30 years.  

Consumer appetite for our exceptional brands stands us in good stead and we will continue to invest in them as we did in 2021 with our Carib and our Boldly Berger campaigns. We will also be introducing new and exciting brands to the market as part of our ongoing innovation process. Underpinning our aggressive growth strategies, is the constant upgrading of the Group’s governance, risk and control frameworks and processes. We have an increased focus on emerging risks which is a critical practice in today’s global economic and geopolitical environment. Increasing the level of independent oversight within our governing structure is a key way of ensuring that we accurately assess the risks related to our strategies.  I have already begun to see the benefits of the Sector Advisory Councils which were created toward the end of 2021, and look forward to the members challenging and stress testing our business plans, systems and processes.

 Finally, I wish to thank our Board of directors for their insight and constant support, our leadership teams for their relentless pursuit of excellence, our dedicated employees, loyal customers, suppliers and you our shareholders for the continued trust you place in us to deliver value now and in the future. We are committed to engaging with all our key stakeholders and living up to ANSA McAL’s purpose:
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“Inspiring Better Choices for a Better World”.
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Anthony N. Sabga III
Group Chief Executive Officer

© 2022 ANSA McAL