(Trinidad Guardian) Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) announced yesterday a profit attributable to shareholders of the parent of $774 million for the nine-month period ended June 30, 2020.
This profit represented a decline of $458 million or 37.2 per cent below the corresponding period last year.
In release the bank noted: “These results reflect the financial impact so far of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the Group, mainly resulting from decreased economic activity, narrower margins due to reduced lending interest rates, waiver of fees and commissions and the setting aside of additional credit provisions to cover potential future losses.”
RFHL said that the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the current and potential impacts of the pandemic demands that the Group continues to exercise prudence as it navigates the way forward in the best interest of all its stakeholders.
In announcing the results RFHL Chairman Vincent Pereira said, “Total assets stood at $105.3 billion at June 30, 2020, an increase of $19.9 billion or 23.2 per cent over the total assets at June 30, 2019.”
Pereira explained that the increase was, in the main, due to the acquisition of Scotiabank’s banking operations in St. Maarten and the Eastern Caribbean (Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) on November 1, 2019.
The chairman noted that the acquisition added $12.7 billion, while the other acquisition of Scotiabank’s operations in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) on June 1, 2020 added a further $ 3.1 billion to the Group’s asset base.
Pereira went on to say that the bank remains committed to its clients during this difficult time.
In addition to the measures already instituted by the Group, Pereira said it is working closely with all its business clients to identify appropriate financing structures to facilitate the continued success of their respective businesses.
He said RFHL is also working with its retail clients to agree to suitable loan repayment structures.
Pereira concluded, “Republic Financial Holdings Limited remains committed to balancing the interests of all our stakeholders in the territories in which we operate and to assisting in the recovery of the economies of these territories.”
