CHAIRMAN of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), Ronald F. deC. Harford, has announced that the group recorded profit attributable to shareholders of US$52.3 million for the quarter ending December 31, 2018.

This represents an increase of US$1.6 million or 3.1 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous financial year, the bank said in a statement. At December 31, 2018, total assets stood at US$10.8 billion, an increase of 3.6 per cent over the total assets at December, 2017 and 2.9 per cent over September, 2018.

Mr. Harford, in announcing the results said, “The increase in profitability continues to be driven by our overseas subsidiaries, mainly Guyana. RFHL previously announced the potential acquisition of up to 74.99 per cent of the ordinary shares of Cayman National Corporation Limited (CNC), the parent company of Cayman National Bank and the agreement to acquire Scotiabank’s banking operations in Guyana, St. Maarten and the Eastern Caribbean (including Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines).

The current position is that the CNC acquisition is at an advanced stage of the regulatory approval process and we have recently commenced this process for the Scotiabank transaction, in addition to engaging all other relevant stakeholders. Although there are economic challenges in several of our key markets, we believe that the solid performance achieved in this quarter will continue for the remainder of the year.” Mr. Harford expressed his appreciation for the continued support of management, staff and customers of the Republic Group.