Sep 2016 Financial News

Scotia improves profit for 3rd quarter

Sep 16, 2016

Scotia Group Jamaica Limited this week reported $3.4 billion in profit for the third quarter ending July 2016, or roughly $1.08 billion more than the profit posted a year earlier, due in part to higher gains on foreign currency activities.

Profit for the quarter improved by $38 million over the three months ending April 2016. Concurrently, Scotia showed improvement in customer deposits, which increased by $42.4 billion or 20.8 per cent year over year, while its loan portfolio after allowance for impairment losses grew by $15.2 billion or 10.2 per cent.

“We continue to show strong performance this year, resulting from the execution of our strategic initiatives to grow revenues and reduce operating costs. All business lines showed good volume growth year over year as we continue to meet our customers’ diverse needs,” president and CEO of the bank, Jackie Sharp, stated in adjoining statements of the company financials.

Scotia Group posted interest income for the quarter of $5.8 billion, $27 million above the same period in 2015. Meanwhile, net interest income after impairment losses for the month of July was $17.6 billion, $670 million above the same period in 2015 resulting from growth in loan volumes, particularly retail loans, residential mortgages and small business portfolios, coupled with lower levels of wholesale funding.

The financial institution, however, managed to keep expenses $15 million lower than the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

Sharp noted that during the quarter Scotia improved its Internet and mobile banking platform to allow customers the ability to transfer funds to accounts at any participating financial institution.

“Improving the customer experience through digitisation is an important investment for our bank. These have been well received by our customers; our efforts were also recognised with the 2016 award for Best Consumer Digital Bank by

Global Finance magazine,” the CEO told shareholders.

Total assets of Scotia Group Jamaica increased year over year by $48.2 billion or 11.4 per cent to $472.7 billion as at July 31, 2016. According to the company, the growth was primarily attributable to increases of $15.2 billion or 10.2 per cent in loans, improvements in cash resources, investments and pledged assets by $30.3 billion, or 12.7 per cent and $2.5 billion increase in other assets resulting from higher guarantees and retirement benefit asset on its defined benefit plan pension scheme.

Scotia Group is organised into six main business segments — Retail Banking, Corporate and Commercial Banking, Treasury, Investment Management Services, and Insurance Services. Other operations of the group comprise the parent company and non-trading subsidiaries. Of the six segments, Retail Banking contributed 46 per cent of revenues for the period ending July.

Source:
Jamaica Observer
Friday September 16, 2016    

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Scotia-improves-profit-for-3rd-quarter_74154