The New Building Society (NBS) ended last year with a surplus of $993 million compared to $813 million in the preceding year, a rise of 22%.
Chief Executive Officer, Ahmad M Khan in his report to the NBS AGM on April 26, said the $993 million surplus was the highest ever recorded in the institution’s history.
The NBS’s asset base has appreciated by 10% to $54 billion. He added that the demand for mortgages continued and the Society disbursed over $7.8 billion in mortgages last year compared to $6.8 billion in the previous year.
Total mortgage loans at the end of 2013 was $32.9 billion or 61% of total assets at the end of the year. While the mortgage portfolio has been growing, Khan said that the reserve for loan losses to gross loans ratio has been declining correspondingly.
“This is testimony that the Society’s Mortgage Portfolio is made up of quality loans. It is also a reflection of our mutuality of working with mortgagors in their time of difficulties to resolve their situations”, he asserted.
The institution’s overall portfolio increased by $3.7 billion to $44.7 billion at the end of last year.
Khan said that financial institutions in Guyana are facing an “uphill task” in conducting foreign currency business in light of Guyana being unable to amend its anti-money laundering legislation. He said that the Society remain optimistic that the major stakeholders will be able to resolve the stalemate. Nevertheless, he said that the NBS has taken steps to bolster its internal policies and procedures aimed at detecting money laundering.
The NBS’s accounts show that interest income on loan assets rose from $1.67 billion in 2012 to $1.9 billion last year. Income on investments declined from $457 million in 2012 to $290 million last year. The interest expense also fell from $924 million in 2012 to $894 million last year.
