REGIONAL FINANCIER CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) has earned $222 million in profits so far this year. It included a “strong” third quarter performance, highlighted by $76 million in profits.
However, Gary Brown, chief executive officer (CEO) of the institution, which has its headquarters in Barbados, said regional taxes “continue to hurt results”.
FirstCaribbean recently released its consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended July 31.
“The bank reported net income of [$76 million] for the third quarter of the fiscal, up [$6.4] million or nine per cent from the third quarter’s net income of [$69.6] million a year ago,” Brown said.
“The bank continues to deliver strong results and show profitable growth. For the nine months ended July 31, 2016, the bank reported net income of [$222] million, up [$48] million or 28 per cent, a significant improvement in performance when compared with net income of [$174] million for the corresponding period last year.”
The CEO added: “Although revenues continue to grow, the impact of higher taxes being imposed by various jurisdictions as well as other operating costs continue to hurt results. Better loan loss performance contributed significantly to the improvement in net income.”
Brown also said that “given the strength in quality of our loan portfolio and continued reduction in the non-productive loan balances, the opportunities for loan recoveries will reduce over time”.
“Total revenue for the period was [$806.2] million, up [$24.8] million or three per cent compared with the same period last year primarily due to lower funding costs and higher non-interest income,” he noted.
“Productive loans, a key performance driver, have continued along a growth path registering three per cent year-over-year growth. Regional economies are still recovering slowly and yet economic outlooks generally reflect marginal growth along with uneven investment activity.” (SC)
