REPUBLIC Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), parent company of Republic Bank Ltd., has recorded a profit of US$102.9 million for the first half of the financial year, which ended on March 31, 2021. This figure represents an increase of US$21.6 million or 26.5 per cent when calculated against the US$81.3 million recorded for the corresponding period of the last financial year. In a statement published in sections of the media, the company said that even through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has managed to perform considerably well. Chairman of RFHL, Vincent Pereira, was quoted in the statement as saying: “These positive developments were partially offset by a reduction in the net interest margins, fees and commission income across the group. Lower interest rates, fees and commissions reflect the group’s decisions to maintain many of the concessions granted to our customers at the inception of the pandemic.”

Contrary to RFHL’s performance, the local subsidiary, Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd., recorded a decrease in profits of $248 million in the first half of the financial year, when calculated against the corresponding period last year. It was reported that the company recorded an after-tax profit of $1.7 billion.
The decrease, the bank recognised, is as a result of reductions in net interest and other income, due to reduced levels of economic activity and the non-recurrence of certain one-off events along with an increase in its provisions for loan loss. At the end of September last year, RFHL also recorded a 42.8 per cent decrease in revenues, when compared to the same period in 2019. In a press release issued then, Chairman of the company, Vincent Pereira had attributed the decline to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and related challenges that it brought on. “…. decreased economic activity, lower margins due to reduced interest rates; waiver of fees and commissions under the COVID-19 relief initiatives; increased provisioning to cover potential future losses on the loan and investments portfolios, and impairment of the remaining Goodwill held in our Barbados subsidiary,” Pereira was quoted as saying.

Despite the results recorded last year, the group, at the end of the first half of this financial year, recorded total assets at US$16.0 billion, an increase of US$1.3 billion or 8.8 per cent when compared to the total assets at the end of March, 2020. The company noted that this was due mainly to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) acquisition and the growth in customer deposits across most subsidiaries. Additionally, the company’s stabilization of the credit portfolio resulted in lower provisions for loan losses. Further, the company said it is committed to supporting the recovery efforts of the economies in which it operates, even though there is uncertainty as it relates to the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pereira pledged the organisation’s support for its staff and customers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who continue to work tirelessly dealing with the effects of the recent volcanic eruption. The Chairman related: “We want to assure you that the Republic Bank Group is fully committed to assisting in the recovery efforts. I am confident that, as in 1979, they and the economy will emerge stronger.”