Scotia Group reports record profit
Published:Sunday | December 1, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Scotia Group Jamaica hit a new high with annual net profit of $11.92 billion, eclipsing its previous record of $11.6 billion set four years ago in 2009.
The banking group barely moved the needle on its core revenue - interest income, which was basically flat at just under $30 billion at yearend October - but still clawed its way to higher profits from gains in other revenue streams.
In 2012, Scotia Group made a profit of $10.6 billion.
Group President and CEO Jacqueline Sharp said this year's performance is the result of "prudently managing risk and improving operating efficiencies across business lines".
Predecessor Bruce Bowen passed the baton to Sharp on September 1 - two months shy of the bank's yearend period - and is back working directly with parent Scotiabank Canada in Toronto, as senior vice-president with oversight of the Caribbean region. Bowen ran Scotia Group for about five years, since November 1, 2008.
Sharp, who was chief financial officer before she scored the top job, delivered $3.2 billion of profit in the fourth quarter ending October, up about $600 million year on year, despite a slight dip in net revenue for the quarter.
Net revenue for the year was up by $3 billion to $34 billion. Just about $5.8 billion of net revenue came from fees and commissions, compared to $5.2 billion in 2012.
The bank also reported a $31 billion addition to its asset base, which closed the year at $389 billion.
Declared dividend
Its loan book improved from $122.5 billion to $134.8 billion. Non-performing loans decelerate by $60 million to $4.49 billion.
The banking group has declared dividend of 40 cents per share, which will amount to distributions of $1.24 billion payable to shareholders on January 13.
Scotia Group's profits have outperformed that of chief rival National Commercial Bank Jamaica for the past two years, however, NCB holds the record for largest annual profit of $13.88 billion set in 2011.
NCB has lost substantial ground since then, with net profit performance this year hitting a five-year low at $8.5 billion.