It is with a sense of pride that I report to you on behalf of the Board of Directors about the performance of our Bank in FY2021.

Despite the unrelenting pandemic, and the effects on the regional economy, CIBC FirstCaribbean was able to record a creditable performance, with a net income of $125.7 million. This represents a significant improvement on the net loss of $158.7 million we recorded in 2020.

Your Board of Directors is therefore pleased to announce that it has approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.010 per share to be paid on January 25, 2022 to shareholders of record on December 20, 2021.

The global economic recovery began in 2021. The improvement in performance was helped by the adaptation of economic activity to the COVID-19 environment and the efficacy of vaccines in preventing severe illness.

While the region’s major trading partners boasted a similar performance, renewed restrictions amid surging infections, relatively slower vaccine rollout and a measured tourism rebound stifled the Caribbean’s recovery during the year. The more contagious Delta variant proved to be a significant challenge with almost all markets battling an alarming rise in infections – largely in Q3 – that surpassed previous peaks and led to a tightening of restrictions on domestic traffic.

Further, with half of our markets having less than 50% of their populations fully vaccinated by the end of October 2021, some regional healthcare systems have come under pressure due to the increased level of hospitalisations.

Tourism dependent markets registered a marked improvement in arrivals in Q2 relative to Q2 2020 when borders were initially closed, but the weak Q1 performance kept stay-over arrivals to the region 26% below the 2020 level over the first half of the year. Since then, the growth in stay-over arrivals had begun to turn the corner with most markets posting expansions by the end of Q3, but remaining significantly below pre-crisis levels. Cruise tourism remained largely subdued as some markets only reopened to vessels in June, while others are yet to reopen. Meanwhile, mounting infections and operational challenges also led to a subdued performance for Trinidad and Tobago despite rising energy prices and improved demand.

Soaring international commodity prices and shipping costs, coupled with higher prices of food in some domestic markets, spawned an acceleration of regional consumer price inflation in 2021. Meanwhile, the lingering pandemic kept the region’s public finances under pressure.

A handful of markets were the exception – those that had strong fiscal positions pre-pandemic – but most markets continued to grapple with revenue shortfalls amid greater spending to shore up healthcare systems and to support affected individuals and sectors.

Even though the pandemic has displayed no sign of letting up, the IMF’s latest projections continue to suggest a strong rebound in global economic activity
to 5.9% in 2021, before more moderate but still robust 4.9% growth in 2022.

However, following only mild gains expected in 2021, the bulk of the Caribbean’s economic recovery would likely be concentrated in 2022, powered by increased vaccine rollout that is anticipated to curtail the pandemic’s adverse effects and a greater thrust in the rebound of commercial travel.

However, the road to full recovery remains long, with output in most markets not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels for a few years.

It has been an eventful year for CIBC FirstCaribbean.

The pandemic continues to shape how the Bank approaches its work and its client engagement. It is a tribute to the management of the bank that feedback from our clients continues to be encouraging.

In February of 2021, our parent bank, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced that the transaction that would have seen GNB Financial Group Limited acquire a majority stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited would not proceed, as the transaction did not receive approval from FirstCaribbean’s regulators.

The Bank has been conducting an ongoing strategic assessment of our business region-wide, and management concluded that some levels of adjustments were required in the way the Bank conducts its business in order to deliver on its corporate strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the need for the Bank to reshape its
business, and the challenge remains to make the business as cost-efficient and innovative as possible.

It is against this background that the Bank announced that it would be submitting applications to the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the Central Bank of Aruba for the sale of our client portfolios in St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Kitts and Dominica and Aruba. These transactions will help the Bank sharpen its focus and resources on clients and support profitable growth. We are confident, that, in the partners that we have chosen for these sales we are leaving our clients in excellent and competent hands.

Extracted from Message From The Chairman

David Ritch OBE, J.P
Chair of the Board