JMMB reports nearly $50m profit

FOREIGN exchange gains, fees and commissions, interest income and securities trades buoyed Jamaican financial services firm, JMMB Group, to a nearly J$1 billion (J$956.6 million or TT$47 million) profit for the first quarter (three months ending June 30), the company said in a release.

This is 56 per cent increase year-on-year. The group’s net operating revenue was (TT$233 million), or 15 per cent up from the same period last year. Foreign exchange trading gains increased by J$277.1 million (TT$13.7 million) to J$514.6 million (TT$25.4 million), as a result of increased trading activity and the faster pace of depreciation of the Jamaican dollar, over the period. Fees and commission income totalled J$481.6 million (TT$23.8 million), an increase of 32 per cent, over the corresponding prior period, driven by significant growth in managed funds and collective investment schemes, across the group. Net interest income for the reporting period stood at approximately J$2.1 billion (TT$104 million), reflecting growth of eight per cent, or J$155.9 million (TT$7.7 million), in the group’s loan and investment portfolios.

Keith Duncan, JMMB Group CEO, said the company’s positive performance reflected its “commitment build-out of its integrated regional financial strategy,” even as it intensified the consolidation and growth phases of its business model. The company has also added online services in the Dominican Republic; improved its online banking platform – JMMB Moneyline— with added features, in Jamaica; and standardised client experience across the group, implementing sales training tools and other initiatives.

Costs were largely associated with the further build-out of the integrated group sales support framework and continued roll-out of commercial banking operations in Jamaica, pushing up expenditure by 11 per cent J$3.34 billion (TT$165 million).