National Commercial Bank Limited (NCB) which is already the most profitable company in the banking sector, is likely to see improved results this year as Guardian Life, subsidiary of Guardian Holdings and the bank’s new affiliate pulled in a record haul of $4.8 billion in profit for 2015.

The almost one-third stake to be acquired by NCB in Guardian Holdings – pending regulatory approval – with total assets of TT$23.08 billion gives it a deeper stake in insurance and finance markets spanning the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.

In November 2015 the purchase of a 29.99 per cent stake in GHL was achieved through a private sale of shares owned by the Lok Jack and Ahamad families and the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank to NCB.

Guardian Life Limited, on Monday reported net profit of $4.8 Billion for the year ended December 31, 2015.

By year end, these results and others in the group are expected to impact earnings at NCB which reported a slight dip in net profit by $25 million to close the year at $12.3 billion.

Guardian Life’s results are an 87 per cent improvement on 2014 when $2.2 billion was earned.

Company President, Eric Hosin, said in company comments released Monday that the results were the outcome of ” strategic management of the company’s relationships with its stakeholders, the focus on new business growth, service excellence, liquidity and risk management and operational efficiency.”

Hosin pointed to an increase in domestic investments linked to the performance of the Jamaican Stock Exchange in 2015.

The company also benefitted from new corporate taxation set at 25 per cent for year of assessment 2015, replacing a gross premium tax levy at 3 per cent and investment income tax at 15 per cent.

For Guardian Life, net underwriting revenue of $9 billion increased by 7 per cent over 2014.

Parent company Guardian Holdings, a Trinidadian company formed in 1982 and listed on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) has 20 subsidiaries.