Republic Financial registers $58.4 million in profit

(BARBADOS TODAY) Republic Financial Holdings Ltd. (RFHL) has recorded a profit of US$58.4 million for the quarter ending December 31, 2020.

Announcing the results on Monday, Chairman of RFHL Vincent Pereira said he expected continued pressure on the Group’s performance, but he remained confident that the financial institution would be able to meet the challenges.

“The uncertainty over the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the timing of any economic recovery will continue to place downward pressure on our performance.

“However, we remain confident of the future as our strong capital base and our robust governance structure will provide the platform to meet the challenge.

“Our focus remains on building the Group’s resiliency through various initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, supporting our customers through these trying times, expanding our suite of electronic products and making it easier for clients to access these products remotely,” said Periera.

He said compared to the first quarter of 2020, last quarter’s results reflected the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic “since we experienced a reduction in both our net interest margins and fees and commissions”.

“This was off-set by the positive impact of our acquisition of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) operations in June 2020. The net result is an increase of US$2.6 million or 4.6 per cent over the corresponding period last year,” he added.

Total assets stood at US$15.6 billion at December 31, 2020, an increase of US$380.8 million or 2.5 per cent over the total assets at December 2019. This increase was mainly due to the BVI acquisition in June last year.

Pereira said “going forward, we will continue to work with our customers, provide a safe working environment for our employees and assist the communities we serve via our Power To Make a Difference Programme.”

The Power to Make a Difference Programme is a social investment initiative which generally seeks to enhance the quality of life of disadvantage individuals and groups in societies in which Republic Bank Limited and its subsidiaries operate.