NCB profit nearly doubles for quarter, falls for year, ahead of Mair handover

NCB Financial Group Limited reported net profit of $7.33 billion for the September quarter, nearly double the restated $3.81 billion of a year earlier, in the final set of results before Julian Mair becomes group chief executive on Tuesday.

“The group maintained positive momentum across its core banking and insurance businesses, benefiting from the diversity of its operations and continued discipline in managing expenses,” stated the group in its financials released on Thursday. “While investment results were affected by market volatility, the strength of the underlying businesses continued to support earnings resilience and position the group for sustainable growth and long-term value creation.”

For the full year, the group generated profit of $25.9 billion, or 24 per cent less than the restated $34.26 billion earned a year earlier. The fall reflects a one-off $15.1 billion gain booked in the prior year on the sale of the group’s Netherlands insurance brokerage business.

“Excluding this gain, net profit for the current period would have increased by $6.8 billion or 35 per cent,” stated the group in the financials, adding that the profit rise improved 58 per cent for shareholders, once removing non-controlling interest.

Earnings per stock unit came in at $2.45 for the quarter and $7.91 for the full year. The board approved an interim dividend of $0.55 per stock unit, payable on 11 December to stockholders on record at 27 November.

The quarter closed on 30 September, the day Robert Almeida’s term as group chief executive ended. Dave Garcia, appointed group chief operating officer on 1 September, has acted as group chief executive since 1 October and presents these results, though the quarter itself ran under Almeida. Garcia previously served as group general counsel and chief administrative officer, and was replaced as corporate secretary by Ky-Ann Taylor on 1 September.

Mair takes office on 17 November. He resigned as chief investment strategist at JMMB Group in September and chaired the Jamaica Stock Exchange from 2020 to 2024. Chairman Michael Lee-Chin said when the appointment was announced that “strong institutions prepare their next generation of leadership well in advance”. Sheree Martin was confirmed as chief executive of the banking subsidiary, National Commercial Bank Jamaica, on 1 September, the first woman to hold that post.

Five of Seven Segments Grew

All five banking and investment segments raised operating profit while both insurance segments fell. Combined banking and investment operating profit reached $41.33 billion against $32.26 billion, up 28 per cent. The two insurance segments fell to $28.47 billion from $46.97 billion — though the bulk of the gap related to the one-off disposal gain.

Non-performing loans declined 19 per cent to $23.2 billion, cutting the ratio to 3.75 per cent from 4.54 per cent. Deposits grew 9 per cent to $878.7 billion. Total assets reached $2.42 trillion and equity attributable to stockholders rose 8 per cent to $211.2 billion.

Return on equity was 9.45 per cent against 11.7 per cent, and the cost-to-income ratio widened to 69.5 per cent from 65.54 per cent.

business@gleanerjm.com