National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCB) reported record profits of $5.87 billion for its second quarter to March 2017, up two-thirds over a year earlier.
That equates to earnings per share of $2.39 from $1.47 a year earlier and represents the initial fruits of NCB’s growth strategy, which includes regional expansion and efficiency measures.
“We recorded our highest ever net profit performance,” said NCB deputy managing director Dennis Cohen at an investor briefing at NCB’s Wellness Centre, St. Andrew on Friday. “We are encouraged by the performance,” he added.
The group gained more than $822 million over three months from associated company profits, mainly from its 29.9 per cent acquisition of Guardian Holdings. In addition, the Group benefited from a 34 per cent rise in net fees and commissions during the quarter at $3.5 billion, up from $2.6 billion a year earlier.
Group managing director Patrick Hylton revealed that the institution hired a cost “tsar” tasked with reviewing key spending within the group.
“What we have done is essentially started the process of creating a framework for a more rigorous assessment of all the areas of spend across the group,” he said. “We have given that responsibility to one person to create a plan, the major areas of which have been defined to create governance structure around spending in order to ensure that we get the best value for money,” said Hylton on its new tsar, without revealing the name of the individual. “It really is a simple thing: it’s about revisiting some of the major areas of spending to ensure that we are getting the best value for money.”
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