DEMERARA Bank Limited has recorded a profit after tax of $907M for the first half of its financial year, representing a 17 per cent increase, compared to the corresponding period last year.

Chairman of Demerara Bank, Dr. Yesu Persaud, in presenting the bank’s Interim Financial Statements, said though the global and local operating environment remained challenging during the period October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, the bank still managed to increase its profit.

“I am pleased to report to shareholders that the Profit after Taxation for the half year ended March 31, 2018 was recorded at $907M compared to $774M for the corresponding period of 2017. This reflects an increase of 17 per cent over the previous half year,” Dr. Persaud said in the bank’s financial statement published in local newspapers on Wednesday.

It was explained that deposits of the bank increased from $55.4B to $59.4B, an increase of seven per cent while Loans and Advances moved from $24B to $25B.
The figures presented were unaudited and were approved by the board of directors at a meeting on April 18, 2018.

“The performance of the bank is excellent, considering the slowing down in the local economy,” Dr. Persaud said.
Based on the financial performance for the first six months of the year, the board of directors has recommended an Interim dividend of $0.35 per share. Last year, the bank paid $0.30 per share as interim dividend.

It is anticipated that global economy will project to about 3.4 per cent in 2018. Guyana’s real growth was 2.1 per cent in 2017, and according to Dr. Persaud, it may remain below three per cent in 2018.
He explained that the economy has slowed down with the exception of the rice and mining sectors.