Scotiabank Guyana’s net income for 2018 was $2.52 billion, which represented a decline of 10% when compared with the previous year.
According to the bank’s financials published in the February 20th edition of the Stabroek News, the bank’s income after tax fell from the $2.8 billion recorded in 2017.
Scotiabank last year announced that its operations in Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean were being sold to Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. That transaction is still to be finalised.
Total interest income for the bank was $5.38 billion in 2018 compared to $5.24 billion in 2017. Other income was down, however, resulting in the bank net interest before tax and other income totaling $7.6 billion in 2018 compared to $7.7 billion in 2017.
Salaries and benefits rose from $935 million in 2017 to $990 million last year. The loan loss expense fell from $278.8 million in 2017 to $162.3 million last year.
In its auditor’s report, Nizam Ali and Company drew attention to note 22 on the accounts which explained that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) had issued an additional assessment for Corporation Tax liability of $1.12 billion for the years of assessment 2011 to 2017. The note said that Scotiabank has appealed the GRA’s assessment and management believes that the bank will succeed and accordingly no provision has been made in the financial statement for the impact of the additional corporation tax assessment.
