On January 29, Chorvelle Johnson completed her first year as head of Sagicor Bank, the banking outfit now known more for its friendly, personalised customer service and its efficiency, than for its chequered past as an amalgam of failed banks bought by Trinidad’s Republic Bank then acquired by conglomerate Sagicor Group Jamaica.
Johnson insists that the bank’s “mixed bag” history of positives and negatives will in no way constrain its growth as she ‘levels up’ the financial institution for greater profitability, market share and efficiency, in keeping with the Sagicor Group mantra for 2019.
The next level for Sagicor Bank involves a higher score than its current average customer experience rating, a significantly bigger loan book, a more secure technological platform, and growth in all key areas of its banking operations.
For 2019, too, several new products are said to be in the pipeline, some awaiting regulatory approval and others to hit the market as early as the first quarter. The bank will be seeking too, to better its 2018 top industry performance for loans to small and medium enterprises, SMEs, to which it lent $895 million last year.
Doing more for SMEs
Already, there are indications that Sagicor Bank will be rolling out new and bigger credit windows to SMEs as a retailer of loan funds from state-run Development Bank of Jamaica.
“There are new initiatives under way. We are continuing our ‘women in business’ segment this year and working closer with SMEs. The expectation is that we will be doing more with them,” Johnson said in an interview with the Financial Gleaner, but stopped short of giving specifics.
She added that the institution was on track to better its 2017 results in all areas, including revenues, asset growth, loans and profits. All segments are said to have contributed to improved 2018 financials, with corporate banking and SME business, payments and retail all expected to drive further growth this year.
In 2017, the bank grew revenues 18 per cent to $10.8 billion, on which it made $1.7 billion in net profit. Lending rose nine per cent to $27.3 billion and its balance sheet grew to $125.2 billion.
Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited, SBJL, holds the No. 4 slot among seven players in the commercial banking sector, both in terms of total assets and the crucial loans market, according to the most recent industry data published by the central bank. Measured by its retail banking assets, SBJL is about one-fifth the size of the largest bank, NCB.
Having commenced a thorough review of the bank’s operations in the first year, Johnson is still on the hunt for more areas that can benefit from changes to secure greater efficiency – the key mandate from her boss Christopher Zacca, the president and CEO of Sagicor Group, whose largest asset remains the flagship life insurance business.
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