Scotiabank Guyana registered a profit after tax of $1.335b for the financial year ended October 31, 2020, down 40.86% over the previous year.
In what might reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank also saw a huge rise in the net impairment loss on financial assets.
According to its financials published in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek, Scotia’s interest income fell from $5.2b in 2019 to $4.8B last year while its net interest expense climbed from 217.8m in 2019 to 229.9m last year. Its total revenue for 2020 was $6.89b compared to $7.38b in 2019.
Its net impairment loss on financial assets was $1.71b last year compared to $514m in 2019. Profit before taxation was $2.2b in 2020 compared to $4.12b in 2019.
Its income tax expense was $894m last year compared to $1.87b in 2019 translating into after tax profit for the year 2020 of $1.335b compared to $2.258 in the preceding year.
Scotiabank Guyana’s after-tax profit for 2019 of $2.258b was 10.57% below the figure for 2018 of $2.52b.
In late 2018, Scotiabank was the target of a planned takeover by Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago but this move was rejected by the Bank of Guyana in 2019.
Scotiabank subsequently announced that it would continue its business as normal while focusing on a long-term solution for its employees and customers.
“As a result of the decision communicated by the Bank of Guyana, the sale of Scotiabank’s operations in Guyana to Republic Bank will not move forward at this time. We will continue to deliver business as usual and focus on the best long-term solution for our employees and customers,” a statement from the bank had said.
Scotia would have exited Guyana following the deal with Republic Bank.
