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Businessuite 2022 Top Caribbean Company – US$ Profit After Tax |
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CR |
CR |
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US$000 |
US$000 |
2021 |
2022 |
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Company |
2022/2021 |
2021/2020 |
2 |
1 |
TT |
Republic Financial Holdings Limited |
$214,669 |
$149,710 |
Chairman
Vincent A. Pereira, BSc (Chem.), MBA, Dip. (Petroleum Eng.)
President And Chief Executive Officer
Nigel M. Baptiste, BSc (Hons.) (Econ.), MSc (Econ.), ACIB
Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) is the registered owner of all of the Banks in the Republic Group:
• Republic Bank Limited
• Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited
• Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited
• Republic Bank (Grenada) Limited
• Republic Bank (Suriname) N.V.
• Republic Bank (Ghana) Plc.
• Republic Bank (BVI) Limited
• Republic Bank (Cayman) Limited
• Cayman National Corporation
• Republic Bank (EC) Limited
and other subsidiaries.
In keeping with international best practice, this holding company was formed with the aim of offering increased operational efficiencies and optimum management of the Republic Group; ultimately leading to greater value for our shareholders and clients while enabling greater strategic focus and diversification.
Chairman’s Report
2021 was indeed an extraordinary year, defined in many ways by the deepening of the COVID-19 pandemic which has impacted every jurisdiction that the Group operates within and has had significant consequences on the lives and livelihoods of so many people across the regions – our customers, our colleagues, our shareholders and the communities we serve.
As the year unfurled, the benefit of the vaccines, now broadly available in all our regions, has brought people hope and created a sense of hopefulness for economic recovery across the globe. However, vaccine hesitancy has also emerged as a great threat to a successful recovery. There is still much for us to do.
During this continued period of great uncertainty, our primary focus at Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) was on what our Group could do to serve our many stakeholders.
Our priorities have remained clear: ensure that from a financial and operational standpoint, our Group remained resilient in order to play a key role in mitigating the consequences of the pandemic, whilst at the same time ensuring readiness for the role we must play in the recovery.
Everywhere we operate, Republic Bank was at the forefront, helping our clients and customers through the difficulties they faced, working with regulators and governments to help chart a pathway to recovery and future growth and working with communities to provide much needed assistance and hope.
Our resilience was the cornerstone that enabled us to support our colleagues, customers, clients and communities, not only ensuring they were supported through the period, but also ensuring they were ready for recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.
Our ability to navigate these challenging times was due to our people – the extraordinary women and men of RFHL. It is through their commitment, resilience and dedication that we were able to accomplish all that we did. Our team truly rose to the occasion, working in a tireless yet committed manner and demonstrating enormous professionalism and care in support of our clients and customers.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to say how proud I am of the Republic Team and to express my deepest thanks to them all for the exceptional way they have and continue to respond to these most challenging of circumstances.
Results
It is against the above backdrop that RFHL demonstrated a creditable level of performance. For the year ended September 30, 2021, RFHL reported profit attributable to equity holders of the Parent of $1.308 billion. This represents an increase of $404.3 million or 44.7% compared to the 2020 reported profits of $904.1 million, but $272.8 million or 17.3% below the 2019 profits of $1.58 billion.
While the improved performance over 2020 was generally attributable to lower provisions for loan losses, it also reflects the positive impact of the Group’s acquisition and diversification strategy. During the fiscal, the Group continued to support our clients through maintenance of the various concessions granted to customers on loan payments, reduced interest rates and discounted fees while also supporting various national initiatives to promote higher vaccination rates and support for those adversely impacted by COVID-19. Notwithstanding these activities, our performance was positively impacted by the contribution from the British Virgin Islands (BVI) operations which were acquired in June 2020, and improved efficiency in most territories, with Ghana and the Cayman Islands being stand outs.
A full discussion of the Group’s financial performance can be found in the President’s Discussion and Analysis contained the Annual Report.
The Board of Directors has declared a final dividend of $3.00 (2020: $2.10) per share, which brings the total dividend to $653.1 million or $4.00 (2020: $2.70) per share for the fiscal year. This represents an increase of 48.2% in total dividend payment, reflective of the increase in profitability in the current fiscal year. At a closing share price of $136.31, this dividend represents a dividend yield of 2.93% (2020: 1.90%).
The Group’s capital adequacy ratios across all territories and at the Parent level remains quite robust.
The final dividend will be paid on December 1, 2021, to all Shareholders of record on November 18, 2021.
Chairman
Vincent A. Pereira, BSc (Chem.), MBA, Dip. (Petroleum Eng.)
https://rfhl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/RFHL-AR-2021.pdf