GuySuCo’s 2025 loss was $16.9b – annual report

-tax obligations unmet

GuySuCo’s 2025 annual report has revealed a whopping loss of $16.9b compared to $3.2b in 2024 and the auditing firm issued a disclaimer of opinion on the corporation’s accounts underscoring the grave questions that face the government on the sustainability of the sugar industry.

According to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) report, revenue in 2025 was $9.1b compared to $9.3b in 2024. The cost of sales was a massive $27.6b in 2025 compared to $22.5b in 2024. When administrative and other expenses were taken account of, GuySuCo’s operating loss for 2025 was $15.5b compared to $9b in 2024. With its finance cost and employees retirement benefits factored in, its loss before taxation was $23b in 2025 compared to $15.2b in 2024. The government’s $5.9b subsidy in 2025 helped to bring the sugar corporation’s total loss down to $16.9b. The government’s subsidy in 2024 was $11.9b.

The report of chartered accountants Parmesar described what led to the disclaimer of opinion. 

1. Included in property, plant and equipment are lands which have been transferred to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA). 
2. Included in receivables and prepayment is an amount of $1.7b as a receivable from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL). The auditor said that GPL is disputing the balance which refers to the period 2007 to 2017.
3. Included in payables and accruals are:

          -amounts received from NICIL during the period March 2015 to May 2015 totaling $4.1b as payment for land.

          -included in other payables and accruals is an amount of $15b received from the NICIL Special Purpose Unit during the period July to December 2020. “We have not been provided with any documentation to indicate the nature, accounting and presentation of this amount”, the auditor said.

         -the auditor also cited amounts received from the CH&PA totaling $10.6b as land sales deposit during the period February 2010 to September 2017 and said that no adequate and reliable documentation has been maintained for these amounts “and we cannot substantiate the nature of the payments and hence their proper accounting treatment and disclosure”.

 4. The auditor said that included in the current liabilities is the amount of $3.9b as taxation payable. The auditor said: “The Corporation has not discharged its statutory obligation to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the filing of tax returns and the payment of taxes, including Value-Added Tax, Employee’s income tax, withholding tax and Property Tax. The Corporation has also failed to meet its commitment agreed in 2018 to discharge its then outstanding tax liability over a period of years (2011-2018).

 5. The auditor also drew attention to the statement of financial position which indicated that the corporation has an accumulated deficit of $145b. The auditor added that the validity of the going concern basis on which the financial statements are constructed is dependent on continued support from the state which has provided $25.2b over the period 2015 to 2020.

In his statement in the annual report, GuySuCo chairman Paul Cheong addressed the poor production figures which have already been reported in Kiskadee Watch.

Operational

“The year 2025 was marked by both improved sugar production and significant operational challenges. GuySuCo produced 59,600 metric tonnes of sugar, representing an increase of approximately 26.5% over the 47,108 metric tonnes produced in 2024. Notwithstanding this improvement, production represented only 59.6% of the latest estimate of approximately 100,001 metric tonnes, resulting in a shortfall of 40,401 metric tonnes”. 

Cheong cited weather conditions as partly to blame.

“Average rainfall across the industry was 2,199.5 millimetres, compared with 1,774.8 millimetres in 2024 and the long-term mean of 2,037.3 millimetres. Although rainfall was unevenly distributed throughout the year, periods of intense rainfall resulted in prolonged water accumulation, placed pressure on drainage systems and adversely affected field accessibility, harvesting, tillage, planting and crop-husbandry activities. The industry recorded an average of only 39 opportunity days against an estimated 75 days”. 

He added that the performance of the 2025 crop also reflected the cumulative effects of several years of climatic extremes. 

A total of 932,536.9 metric tonnes of cane was harvested from 17,617.3 hectares, compared with an estimate of 1,284,141.6 metric tonnes. 

“This represented a shortfall of approximately 351,605 metric tonnes, or 27.4%. Average cane yield was 52.93 tonnes of cane per hectare, 2.05 tonnes below the estimate of 54.98 tonnes, but higher than the 50.69 tonnes recorded in 2024. Industry sugar recovery was 15.65 tonnes cane per tonne sugar, compared with a budget of 12.84”, he said in his statement.

He also homed in on low cane-harvester attendance which he said remained a major constraint, averaging 48% for the year. 

“This affected harvesting rates and the timely delivery of fresh cane to the factories. Factory performance was further affected by intermittent cane supply, poor-quality carry-over cane, factory downtime and extended Burning-to-Grind Intervals (BGI). Rose Hall and Blairmont recorded the lowest factory time efficiencies, while Rose Hall recorded the weakest BGI performance”.

Land preparation and planting were also substantially below programme. “The Estates completed 1,446.6 hectares of land preparation, representing 23.9% of the annual programme, and 2,052.6 hectares of planting, representing 31.3% of the programme. These shortfalls were influenced by wet conditions, labour shortages, machinery availability and the limited availability of land suitable for planting. Strengthening land preparation and planting performance will therefore remain a critical priority because of their direct effect on future cane supply and productivity”. 

Cheong said that private cane farmers recorded encouraging improvements during 2025. 

“Compared with 2024, hectares harvested increased by 44.2%, tonnes of cane reaped increased by 37.8% and sugar produced increased by 54.5%. Farmers nevertheless continued to face labour shortages, limited access to fertilisers and herbicides and a high dependence on estate resources and services”, Cheong said.

He also expressed appreciation for the government’s continuing support for the industry. “In 2025, $13.3 billion was received, comprising $7.4 billion in capital support and $5.9 billion in recurrent support”, Cheong stated.