An uptick in customer deposits across subsidiaries of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) in the Caribbean is behind the half-year profits of some $728.7 million, announced today by Chairman, Vincent Pereira.
An official statement issued by the company points to 5.8 per cent growth of total assets held by RHFL, notwithstanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years.
However, Mr Pereira intimated the developing situation with the Ukraine/Russia war is being closely monitored, as it is having some impact on inflation and supply chains.
The following is the full text of the RFHL statement…
Port-of-Spain, (RFHL) — The Chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), Vincent Pereira, announced today a profit attributable to its equity holders of $728.7 million for the half-year ended March 31, 2022. Total assets stood at $113.3 billion at March 31, 2022, an increase of $6.2 billion or 5.8% over the total assets at March 2021. This increase was mainly due to growth in customer deposits across subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands, BVI, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago.
In announcing the results, Mr. Pereira said:
“This represents an increase of $41.4 million or 6.02% over the $687.3 million reported in the corresponding period of the last financial year. While this performance remains 7% below our pre-COVID 2019 half year performance, it continues a satisfying upward trend in the Group’s performance reflecting our efforts towards better cost management and increased support of our clients across the Group.”
He went on to say:
“During the first half of the Group’s financial year all territories in which we operate continued to relax most COVID related protocols. While many countries retained some travel related protections as well as public mask mandates, most removed curfews and restrictions on gatherings, re-opened schools and permitted almost all commercial activities. The tourism dependent territories benefitted the most from this easing of restrictions as these have all experienced increased activity in this sector. This buoyancy was somewhat offset by continued supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures, originally due to the COVID pandemic and now exacerbated by the uncertainty, destruction and disruption as a result of the Russia/Ukraine war.”
Mr. Pereira concluded:
“I would like to express my gratitude to each and every member of the Republic Team as it is their commitment every-day to serve our clients and communities with excellence that has enabled this outcome for the RFHL Group.”
The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of $1.05 (2021: $1.00) per share payable on May 31, 2022.