Citizens Bank Guyana Inc has recorded $478.4 million profit after tax in its interim report for the period ending March 31, 2021, but the financial institution is anticipating that its performance in the second half of this year would be affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Citizens’ Chairman, Clifford Reis, the bank’s 2021 mid-year performance represents an increase of $26.3 million or six per cent compared to the previous year. The bank recorded $452.1 million taxed profit in 2020.
On the other hand, the profit before tax also grew by $48 million to $808.1 million in the first six months of this year against $760 million recorded the previous year.
But despite this, Reis said in his Chairman’s Report that, “The economic and social uncertainty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose many challenges for Citizens Bank Guyana Inc which may impact the second six months of our financial year. We, however, remain optimistic that our strategies will result in a consistent performance and increased shareholder value.”
Nevertheless, Reis noted in his report that Interest Income at mid-year is $1.54 billion, while Interest Expense is $174.5 million, resulting in Net Interest Income of $1.4 billion, the same for the corresponding period last year. He added that other income stood at $327.7 million at the end of the six months, resulting in a surplus before Non-Interest Expenses of $1.7 billion, again, the same for the corresponding period last year.
Citizens Bank’s Operating Expenses, which were $827.2 million in the same period in 2020, has gone up to $818.7 million this year; while net impairment on financial assets was $70.5 million compared to $121.1 million for the corresponding period last year.
Further, the Chairman reported that at March 31, 2021, the net loans and advances balance was $32.3 billion, compared to $31.3 billion at the end of the same period in 2020. It was further noted that net investments have increased to $8 billion against $10.3 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Meanwhile, the total deposits balance for the reporting period this year is $63.3 billion, compared to $48.4 billion recorded in 2020.
According to Reis, the Board of Directors has approved an Interim Dividend of $0.90 per share, the same for the corresponding period in the previous year.
At the end of the September 2020 financial year, the revenue of Citizens Bank – a 51 per cent owned subsidiary of the Banks DIH Limited Group – was $3.749 billion compared with $3.422 billion generated in 2019, an increase of $327.0 million or 9.6 per cent.
The profit before tax was $1.673 billion compared to $1.599 billion in 2019, an increase of $74.0 million or 4.6 per cent, while profit after tax was $982.2 million compared to $955.3 million, an increase of $26.9 million or 2.8 per cent.
Net Interest Income at the end of the 2020 financial year was $2.835 billion. The earnings per share was $16.51 while the total asset base was $63.8 billion. Loan Assets were increased from $29.8 billion to $31.7 billion reflecting an increase of 6.4 per cent or $1.9 billion. [Guyana Times]
