RFHL records US$0.24B in profits
Chairman of RFHL, Ronald Harford
Chairman of RFHL, Ronald Harford

REPUBLIC Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), the Parent Company of Republic Bank Limited, recorded a profit of US$0.24 billion for the year ending September 30, 2019.
This is according to Chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), Ronald Harford, in a press statement, on Thursday.

According to Harford, the profit reflected an increase of US$38.66 million or 19.5 per cent over the profit of US$0.20 billion reported in the previous financial year.
“These results include two significant one-off items, the net impact of which increased profits by US$12.5 million. Firstly, the bank in Trinidad and Tobago amended the terms of its post-retirement medical benefits plan in line with market, resulting in a write back net of deferred taxes of US$41.21 million.

“Secondly, Barbados reduced its corporation tax rate from 30 per cent to a range between 1 per cent and 5 per cent, which resulted in a charge to our income statement of US$28.71 million due to the re-measurement of deferred tax assets at the lower tax rate,” he said.
Excluding the impact of these items, the Group’s core profit was US$0.22 billion, US$26.17 million or 13.2 per cent more than the prior period. The increase in core profit was driven mainly by Cayman National Corporation (US$13.86 million) and the RBL Trinidad and Tobago Group (US$5.87 million).

Total assets stood at US$13.1 billion at September 30, 2019, an increase of US$2.54 billion or 24.2 per cent over that of the prior year.

The Board of Directors has declared a final dividend of US$0.49 (2018: US$0.47) per share, which brings the total dividend to US$0.67 per share or US$109.54 million (2018: US$0.66 per share and US$107.04 million in total) for the fiscal year.

The dividend combined with the increase in the share price of US$2.71 during the year means that the total RFHL shareholders’ return was 21.81 per cent. The final dividend will be paid on December 2, 2019 to all shareholders on record on November 18, 2019.

“The Group continues to progress with its strategy of acquisition and diversification of income sources with two major acquisitions: 1. On March 13, 2019, Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago (Barbados) Limited (a subsidiary of RFHL), acquired 74.99 per cent of the outstanding ordinary shares of Cayman National Corporation (CNC). This acquisition increased RFHL’s asset base by US$1.66 billion and added US$13.86 million in profits (after minority interest) for the seven months period under RFHL’s ownership,” said Harford.
On November 1, 2019, the Group completed the acquisition of Scotiabank’s banking operations in St. Maarten, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

On a pro-forma basis, the acquisition will add 350 team members to the company’s staff complement and US$1.51 billion to total asset size so the company anticipates net profits in the region of US$20 million.

“We are very pleased to welcome the new staff members and clients to the Republic family. The outlook for the economies in which we operate are generally positive and we expect continued growth in our subsidiaries in those territories,” he said.

This combined with the recent acquisition of CNC and completion of the acquisition of Scotiabank’s operations in the Eastern Caribbean and St. Maarten, and the implementation of a number of efficiency initiatives will boost profitability over the coming years.

Harford in his statement used the opportunity to announce his retirement from the Boards of Directors of Republic Bank Limited and RFHL on December 31, 2019.

“I wish to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Vincent Pereira who was appointed to the Board of Republic Bank Limited on July 1, 2019 and is the Chairman designate for both companies in 2020,” said Harford.

Harford spent 57 years in the banking industry and 16 of those years as the Chairman of the organisation.

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