Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, November 7, 2019: The Chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), Ronald F. deC. Harford announced today that the Group recorded profit attributable to equity holders of the parent of $1.58 billion for the year ended September 30, 2019, an increase of $258.3 million or 19.5% over the profit of $1.32 billion reported in the previous financial year.

Mr. Harford, in announcing the results said, “These results include two significant one-off items, the net impact of which increased profits by $83.5 million. Firstly, the bank in Trinidad and Tobago amended the terms of its post-retirement medical benefits plan in line with market, resulting in a write back net of deferred taxes of $275.3 million. Secondly, Barbados reduced its corporation tax rate from 30% to a range between 1% and 5%, which resulted in a charge to our income statement of $191.8 million due to the remeasurement of deferred tax assets at the lower tax rate. Excluding the impact of these items, the Group’s core profit was $1.50 billion, $174.8 million or 13.2% more than the prior period. The increase in core profit was driven mainly by Cayman National Corporation ($92.6 million) and the RBL Trinidad and Tobago Group ($39.2 million). Total assets stood at $87.5 billion at September 30, 2019, an increase of $17 billion or 24.2% over that of the prior year.”

The Board of Directors has declared a final dividend of $3.25 (2018: $3.15) per share, which brings the total dividend to $4.50 per share or $731.8 million (2018: $4.40 per share and $715.1 million in total) for the fiscal year. The dividend combined with the increase in the share price of $18.11 during the year means that the total RFHL shareholders’ return was 21.81%. The final dividend will be paid on December 2, 2019 to all shareholders of record on November 18, 2019.

Mr. Harford went onto say, “The Group continues to progress with its strategy of acquisition and diversification of income sources with two major acquisitions:

1. On March 13, 2019, Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago (Barbados) Limited (a subsidiary of RFHL), acquired 74.99% of the outstanding ordinary shares of Cayman National Corporation (CNC). This acquisition increased RFHL’s asset base by $11.1 billion and added $92.6 million in profits (after minority interest) for the seven months period under RFHL’s ownership.
2. On November 1, 2019, the Group completed the acquisition of Scotiabank’s banking operations in St. Maarten, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. On a pro-forma basis, the acquisition will add 350 team members to our staff complement $10.1 billion to total asset size and we anticipate net profits in the region of $133.6 million.

We are very pleased to welcome the new staff members and clients to the Republic family. The outlook for the economies in which we operate are generally positive and we expect continued growth in our subsidiaries in those territories. This combined with our recent acquisition of CNC and completion of the acquisition of Scotiabank’s operations in the Eastern Caribbean and St. Maarten, and the implementation of a number of efficiency initiatives will boost profitability over the coming years.

I take this opportunity to advise of my retirement from the Boards of Directors of Republic Bank Limited and Republic Financial Holdings Limited on December 31, 2019. I wish to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Vincent Pereira who was appointed to the Board of Republic Bank Limited on July 1, 2019 and is the Chairman designate for both companies in 2020. I thank my fellow directors, committed staff and faithful customers for their dedication over the past year and indeed for the last 57 years of my career with the bank, the last sixteen of which was spent as Chairman of this great organization.”