Republic Bank’s parent company records US$184.5M profit

Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), the parent company of the Republic Bank Limited (RBL) Group, and its subsidiaries have recorded profits to the tune of US$184.5 million for the nine-month period, which ended June 30, 2019.
This figure represents an increase of US$35.8 million or 24.1 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year.
According to RFHL Chairman Ronald Harford, it was reported at the end of March 31, 2019, that there were two significant one-off items— the net impact of which increased profits by US13.9 million. Excluding the impact of these items, he noted that the Group’s core profit was US$170.6 million, that is, US$21.9 million or 14.7 per cent more than the prior period.
Apart from RBL Barbados, Harford said there was a general improvement in profitability across the Group, with the RBL Trinidad and Tobago Group earning US$9.8 million and Cayman National Corporation bringing in US$8.6 million— being the main contributors to the significant increase in core profitability. He added too that approximately one-third of RFHL’s core profits are generated from overseas operations.
Meanwhile, the Group’s Chairman outlined that the total assets stood at US$12.8 billion at June 30, 2019, representing an increase of US$2.4 billion or 22.4 per cent over the corresponding period in June last year.
“This was mainly due to the acquisition of Cayman National Corporation on March 13, 2019, which added US$1.7 billion to the Group’s asset base,” he noted.
Furthermore, Harford mentioned RFHL’s previous announcement of the commencement of the process to acquire Scotiabank’s banking operations in Guyana, Sint Maarten and the Eastern Caribbean (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), saying, “we continue to engage the various regulators, whose approvals are required for the acquisition, through meetings/and or providing information”.
Nevertheless, the RFHL Chairman posited that he expects the Group’s performance to continue for the remainder of the year.
In its previous financial report, the RFHL Group reported a profit after taxation and non-controlling interest of $1.3 billion for the year that ended September 30, 2018.
The directors had declared a dividend of $3.15 per share for that financial year. A half-year dividend of $1.25 per share was paid on June 1, 2018, making a total dividend on each share $4.40 (2017: $4.40).