NCB lumps $12 billion as one-off costs led by separation
Published:Wednesday | November 22, 2023 | 5:27 PM
Jamaica's largest financial conglomerate, NCB Financial, booked roughly $12 billion in costs related to separations, redundancies and other one-off costs in the financial year, but stopped short of formally disclosing the payouts to departing executives at this time.
“It includes a number of non-recurring expenses including separation costs, redundancy costs, and a number of one-time provisions as well as reductions in annual expenses in 2023 and not in 2024,” said interim CEO at NCB Robert Almedia at a press conference on Wednesday.
NCB Financial made $7.6 billion in annual profit for shareholders in its financial year ending September 2023, which reflected a two-thirds reduction from its $24 billion profit a year earlier.
The unaudited results were released on Tuesday but did not contain notes outlining the separation of executives.
The details of the payouts will become known when the audited results are released, said Almedia.
Usually audited results are released within two months of the release of unaudited results.
After adjusting for non-recurring expenses, the 2023 annual profit moves closer to $20 billion, stated Almedia who is the longstanding advisor and playmaker for Michael Lee-Chin at his wider group of companies.
Chairman Lee-Chin owns 51 per cent of NCB Financial largely through AIC Barbados.
Lee-Chin took a more active role in NCB Financial in 2023 following the separation of executive directors Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen along with some six other longstanding executives as part of plans to cut costs and start afresh.
One-off costs are up some $12 billion this year, but going forward the group will save some $8 billion annually from cost savings from various cuts.
“The group begins the new fiscal year in a strong position given the actions taken in the fourth quarter, which will result in significantly reduced operating expenses, improved operational efficiency and effectiveness as well as a stronger more efficient capital position,” according to statements within the unaudited results.
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