Basking in the glow of the July 24 commissioning of its $2.6 billion corporate complex, the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) simultaneously re-leased a report on its operations from January to June, 2010 that reflects an impressive climb in its status within the country’s commercial banking community. This year’s half yearly report declares an after-tax profit of $566.5 million, a return that exceeds by $29.7m (6%) its earnings for the first two quarters of 2009. Earnings per share for the first six months of this year reached $28.33, exceeding the $26.84 figure for the corresponding period last year and placing the bank in a position to declare a half year dividend of $3 per share. For the first six months of this year the bank declared earnings totalling $813.7 million, compared with $721.6 million for the corresponding period last year.
Evidence of the growing popularity of the Beharry Group of Companies majority-owned banking institution is reflected in a 24% growth in its loan portfolio to $3 billion and an 8% increase in the bank’s deposit base to $3.5 billion.
Board Chairman Robin Stoby has promised that enhanced levels of service resulting from last Saturday’s opening of its Kingston corporate office complex will position GBTI to at least match its half year performance during the second half of 2010. Last year, the bank declared pre-tax earnings of $1.4 billion, representing a marginal in-crease over 2008 pre-tax earnings of $1.1 billion while earnings after tax in 2009 reached $991.4 million compared with $940 million in the previous year.
GBTI’s consistent growth over the past five years is reflected in a sustained increase in after tax profits over that period which has almost trebled from $334.2 million in 2005 to $991.4 million last year. Last year, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer John Tracey had said that the GBTI’s success in generating a higher level of business had enabled the bank to continue to record good performances. Tracey said then that the various GBTI branches continued to be competitive locations.
Growth in the bank’s lending profile is also reflected in the fact that at the end of the first six months of this year the total value of its loans to customers stood at $15 billion compared with $12.1 billion for the corresponding period last year.
Interest on income for the first six months of 2010 totalled $1.5 billion compared with $1.4 billion at the end of June 2009.
In recent weeks, GBTI has been attracting more public attention following the launch of its Women of Worth (WOW) lending scheme which facilitates modest micro-business lending to single women in depressed circumstances. This scheme is facilitated by the recent passage in the National Assembly of the Financial Enactment (Amendment) Bill which waives taxes of interest accruing to the bank from lending under the scheme. The bank has already announced that other forms of affordable lending have now been made possible under the amended legislation.
