Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) has registered an after tax profit of $1.7b for the year ended September 30, 2015, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year.
In its financial statements published in the November 7 edition of Stabroek News, the 21-year-old DBL said that its profit before taxes for the year was $2.6b which was an increase of 2.6% compared to the previous year. The after tax profit in 2014 was $1.67b.
The bank’s Chairman Yesu Persaud in his review said that Guyana’s economy is going through challenging times as a result of a sharp fall in commodity prices and that the coming financial year “may be very difficult for the economy and the financial sector”.
Interest income from loans and advances rose from $1.898b in 2014 to $2.174b this year. Investment income also increased from $1.363b in 2014 to $1.532b this year. Interest expense on savings deposits was up from $312m in 2014 to $320m this year and there was a significant rise in interest expense on term deposits from $226.6m in 2014 to $440.8m in 2015. Net interest income was interestingly less in 2015 than last year because of loan losses. In 2014, DBL recorded a net loan recovery of $183m whereas in this period it suffered a $145m loss.
Other income of $662m this year however lifted the net interest and other income this year to $3.445b compared to $3.351b in 2014 when the other income was $467m. Non interest expenses rose from $807.5m in 2014 to $846.1m this year. Taxation climbed from $872m last year to $909m this year.
Loans and advances rose in value from $22.4b in 2014 to $23.6b this year.
The earnings per share in dollars appreciated from 3.71 in 2014 to 3.78 this year.
Persaud said that the Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of $0.70 per share bringing the total annual dividend to $1 per share. This is subject to approval at its upcoming Annual General Meeting.
