FirstCaribbean reports improved quarterly results
(CNS Business): CIBC FirstCaribbean is reporting a net income of $26.6 million for the three months ended 31 January 2015, its best quarterly financial performance in four years. However, the bank also says it had a decrease in total revenue of $7.3 million year-over-year. Commenting on the quarterly results, Rik Parkhill, CEO for CIBC FirstCaribbean, stated in a release, “Our results were driven by lower loan loss impairment expenses and lower operating expenses. This is a solid improvement in our performance when compared with net income of $15.4 million for the same period last year.â€
Parkhill said the year-over-year decrease was primarily due to lower loan earnings and lower gains from investment security sales. He added that operating expenses were down by $4.0 million compared with the same period last year, as the bank continues to benefit from expense control initiatives and savings from the ongoing restructuring of its operations.
According to the release, the challenges being faced by regional economies continue to have an effect on the Bank’s performance, and this is consistent with the industry region-wide. Another factor in the Bank’s performance the CEO noted is the challenging credit environment which continues to affect some of the markets CIBC FirstCaribbean operates in.
CIBC along with other financial institutions in the Caribbean were forced to initiate restructuring plans with the common denominator being the reduction of expenses since revenues were not growing as a result of the Caribbean economy and the impact from the global financial crisis.
Three years ago, the bank embarked on a comprehensive programme of remediating its operations to achieve its goal of improved performance. That programme comes to an end in October of 2015, but Parkhill said the bank would continue to follow this in order to return to consistent levels of profitability.
“To ensure that we deliver consistent, sustainable results, CIBC FirstCaribbean’s focus remains on deepening our relationships with our clients and being their leading bank,†he said.
Category: Finance, Financial Services
