Stationary and Office Supplies – Montego Bay offices.
Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) purchase of equipment used to manufacture various types of writing books as well as the brand name SEEK.
“This purchase will allow SOS to enter the manufacturing industry in Jamaica starting with books and a plan to continue to manufacture other stationery products in the future”, SOS states.
Machinery purchased includes the following: Ruling machines, Guillotines, Gluing Machines, Stapling Machines and Book Presses.
The total value of the purchase is $60 million and is being financed through a bond with Jamaica National amounting to $80 million at an interest rate of 8 percent, and a duration for repayment of 7 years. The company expects that the total investment including machinery, raw materials and renovations will exceed $80 million. The Company said with this expansion, SOS initially be employing an additional 25 persons with production expected to start during the first week of May 2018. Prior to the acquisition a compliment of 40 persons were employed with a mixture of full time and part timers. Revenues expected in the first twelve months is estimated at $130 million but could rise beyond this, as the business maintains most of the customers for books and SOS leverage their existing customers base and others for more business. According to 
Allan McDaniel, Deputy Managing Director & Director of Warehousing and Logistics, the previous owner operated for about six months per year, but SOS will be able to operate full time and at less cost. The operation will be housed in the adjoining building they acquired last year and effectively fills out the space with their expanded inventories occupying about half. Profit margin is attractive and will almost ensure that the company will profit from it, this year, with growth estimated by them to likely be in the 30 percent region coming from both local and export sales. The new operation could deliver around $40 million to profit in 2018 and around $70 million in 2019, IC Insider.com estimates. Speaking about SOS operations, McDaniel would only say they are happy with the first quarter, that was helped by an increased inventory, now around $170 million compared to $117 million in March last year, just ahead of the public share offer. McDaniel said that while some of the fellow businesspersons are talking about a weak first quarter, SOS expects to report continued growth.
The company’s stock ended at a record close of $6 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Tuesday gaining 200 percent since it was listed in August last year.
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