First Citizens profits increase by 19.6%

FIRST Citizens Group reported $435.8 million in profits after tax for the six-month period ending March 31, a 19.6 per cent increase in profits compared to the corresponding period the year before, when it earned $364.2 million.

The numbers were revealed by First Citizens' chairman Anthony Isidore Smart in his statements in the group’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements released on May 6.

According to the statement, the group garnered over $1 billion in income for the six-month period, as compared to $867 million for the same period the year before. Profit before taxation stood at $602.2 million for this year, as compared to $510.1 million last year.

For the quarter ending March 31, the group earned $198.7 million in profit after tax, as compared to $164.7 million for the same period the year before.

Smart said the group’s total assets as at March 31 amounted to $45 billion with $1 billion in growth in the loan portfolio.

“The successful performance of our interest-bearing assets, coupled with our effective funding strategies, resulted in a 16.1 per cent growth in net interest income relative to the same period in the last financial year,” Smart said. “We continue to diligently advance our work on policies to drive our environmental, social and governance framework.”