Few Jamaican bankers have earned the stature of Patrick Hylton, CEO of National Commercial Bank. Hylton, one of the few corporate titans to make the list every year since its inception, ranks at No. 9  on The List based on the strength of  his company’s total operating income of $27.1 billion in 2009, up 10 percent over the 2008. That financial performance represents the group’s highest level ever. The group’s net interest income of $18.9 billion for the 2009 financial year grew by $3.1 billion or 19 percent, which resulted from growth in its total interest earning assets, NCB’s loan portfolio increased by $6 billion or 7 percent to $88.2 billion when compared to the prior year. However, during the same period, the group experienced a decline in interest rate income yields. This was caused mostly by a change in the portfolio’s currency mix of US dollars increasing to 57 percent (43 percent – Jamaican dollars) when compared to the prior year’s mix of 52 percent.

The group’s investment securities portfolio grew by $13.1 billion or 9 percent to $167.7 billion over the prior year, and increases in the open market interest rates on government instruments resulted in a higher income yield on this portfolio when compared to the prior year. The group’s funding portfolio also increased over the prior year, increasing by $14.5 billion or 6 percent, and the average interest paid to customers also increased over the prior year, in line with the increases in open market interest rates.

Our business model proved effective as greater flexibility was required based on proactive environmental assessment during this challenging period,” said Hylton in an interview with the Gleaner after NCB was named Bank of the Year in December 2009. “Mindful of these difficulties, our focus has been on strongly serving our customers and supporting them during the time when it matters most.”

Hylton credits the NCB Group’s continued strong performance during this period on skillfully managing liabilities, compressing costs and holding on to cash rather than expanding. More cost cutting mandates may be in the pipeline.

“Given the limited external opportunities, we were obliged to take an introspective approach to our business during the year, focusing on internal controls, efficiencies and synergies,” Hylton said in the company’s year end financial statement. “The centralization of key support functions such as human resources, marketing and operations led to more effective execution of activities across the Bank and subsidiaries, as fewer resources were expended, while employee expertise in these areas were leveraged. No doubt, this contributed to the improvement in our cost to income ratio to 47.7 percent.”

Hylton speaks from a wealth of experience. He worked at both Scotiabank and Citizens Bank. He was briefly general manager of the ill-fated Blaise Trust and Merchant Bank before it became insolvent. Later he joined Financial Institutions Services Limited, the forerunner to FINSAC, shortly after the agency was created to address the country’s financial sector woes. Hylton then shunned job offers at home and abroad to join the NCB Group. After a brief stint as deputy managing director, he was put in charge of the bank in December 2004. His vision calls for the 172-year-old institution to continuing establishing its brand both domestically and regionally.

“I want NCB to be recognised in this society as the pre-eminent financial institution and then we also have visions and ambitions for NCB to take on a larger regional presence and, within that context, to perform at a very high level within the Caribbean region,” Hylton said.