Flow Jamaica revenue slips to US$103m as Hurricane Melissa weighs on subscribers

The telecoms provider Flow Jamaica posted revenue of US$103.2 million for the first quarter of 2026, or 2.0 per cent lower than a year earlier. 

It comes as the lingering effects of Hurricane Melissa kept tens of thousands of subscribers offline and depressed the top line for a second consecutive year of hurricane disruption.

The result was reported within the first-quarter earnings of Flow's ultimate parent, Liberty Latin America Ltd (LLA), which operates the Flow brand across the Caribbean. The Nasdaq-listed group posted broadly flat consolidated revenue of US$1.08 billion for the three months ended March 2026, against US$1.08 billion a year earlier.

LLA President and Chief Executive Balan Nair said the Jamaica recovery was nonetheless tracking ahead of internal expectations. 

"Our recovery in Jamaica is proceeding ahead of prior expectations and we are accelerating our ambition for fixed home reconnections this year, all within our anticipated capex envelope," Nair said. "Our Jamaican mobile operation continues to scale at pace, successfully leveraging off our satellite initiatives both during and following Hurricane Melissa."

The company's filings show that as of March 2026, some 50,000 revenue-generating units (RGUs) — comprising 25,000 broadband Internet, 19,000 fixed-line telephony, and 6,000 video subscribers — remained offline in Jamaica and were generating no revenue. That figure represented an improvement of roughly 36,000 RGUs from the roughly 86,000 offline at December 31, 2025, when the full brunt of Melissa's October landfall was still being absorbed. Also, mobile subscribers dipped by some 37,000 from December to 1.14 million by March.

"As a result of the impact of Hurricane Melissa, we incurred lower revenue during the first quarter of 2026 and expect to incur lower revenue during the remainder of 2026 relative to the 2025 pre-hurricane period," the company said in its filing. "This decrease is predominantly due to lower fixed connectivity that has been offline for a period of time together with the impact of subscriber losses."

The prior-year comparable period was itself affected by Hurricane Beryl, which struck Jamaica in July 2024, meaning both quarters carry hurricane-related suppression — a two-year streak of storm disruption for the island operation.

Cable & Wireless Jamaica Limited, the legal entity through which LLA holds its Jamaica operations, is a 92 per cent-owned subsidiary of C&W, itself a subsidiary of LLA. Jamaica is reported within LLA's Liberty Caribbean segment, which posted revenue of US$354.5 million in the quarter, down from US$363.9 million, and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization,OIBDA, of US$163.4 million, against US$173.3 million a year earlier.

At the group level, Nair characterised the first quarter as a strong start to the year, citing 50,000 postpaid net additions across all segments. "Key metrics such as adjusted OIBDA and adjusted free cash flow came in ahead of our own expectations, which had reflected the tougher year-over-year comparables due to the impact of Hurricane Melissa," he said, adding that "year-over-year headwinds will ease through the remainder of the year and be supported by revenue growth and ongoing cost reduction initiatives."

business@gleanerjm.com