Jamaica’s premier indigenous financial institution, National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB), continues to deliver a strong performance and accredits this to strategically paying attention to: customer, efficiency, employee and nation building. The group announced the end of year financial results at an Investors’ Briefing held at the NCB Wellness & Recreation Centre recently emphasizing the main factors that drive their performance; reporting a net profit of $11.07 billion for the year ended September 30, 2010 which represents a 8.1% increase ($827 million) year over year.
Dennis Cohen Group Deputy Managing Director, NCB and CEO NCB Capital Markets Limited in delivering the Business Overview, stated that the key drivers of NCB’s robust performance are due to the improvement in efficiencies in the operational framework involving proactive management actions and cooperation by the employees.
“Pro-active cost management continues to be a key focus in our business as we commit to ongoing reviews of our processes, people and technology,” stated Cohen. “We pride ourselves in being pro-active and forward thinking, within the context of our internal resources and the external operating environment. This type of management and governance structure helps us to plan carefully and seek out opportunities for sustained performance.”
Yvonne Clarke, Group Chief Financial Officer, presented on the bank’s overall performance demonstrating the strength of the group’s diversified portfolio. The Group’s strength continues to be reflected in their capital position, corporate social responsibility initiatives and the local and international business awards/recognitions they continue to receive.
- The Risk-Based Capital Adequacy Ratio for NCBJ improved to 16.5% from 14.6% which exceeds the minimum requirement of 10% stipulated by the Bank of Jamaica.
- The Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio for NCBCM was 97.8% which exceeds the minimum requirement of 10% stipulated by the Financial Services Commission (30 September 2010 – 23.2.3%).
- The Solvency Ratio for NCBIC was 26.5% which exceeds the minimum requirement of 10% stipulated by the Financial Services Commission (30 September 2009 – 23.2%).
Our Wealth Management segment contributed operating profits of $3.55 billion for the year ended 30 September 2010 and the result for this segment reflects a $1.3 billion or 55.2.% increase over the prior September 2009 period. The significant growth over the prior year’s results is due to two main factors: an increase in net interest income resulting from lower cost of funds and the non-recurrence of mark to market losses from trading activities undertaken in the prior year.
NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM), the main contributor to this segment provided 92% of the operating profits and achieved a net profit of $2.5billion for the year. NCB’s Insurance segment contributed operating profits of $1.99 billion for the period under review, representing a decrease of 4.2% or $87 million over the prior year’s results. NCB Insurance Company Limited (NCBIC) achieved a net profit of $1.7 billion, for the year.
Patrick Hylton, Group Managing Director wrapped up the conference and stoutly recognized and thanked NCB’s customers, employees and partners. In his opening he answered the question of –What drives NCB’s Performance in stating “As we acknowledge strong performance in a very difficult environment we also acknowledge that for us to sustain this performance we must change … because our environment has changed, the world has changed and the industry has changed.” This ahead of his introducing the bank’s new vision along with a Strategic Roadmap which highlighted the strategies used to mitigate the economic climate that impacted the financial services sector. He reiterated the urge to maintain the process of building the financial fortress so as to emit confidence and financial security for our stakeholders.
The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of $0.45 cents per share payable on 01 December 2010 for shareholders on record as at 18 November 2010.
|
Online Banking
