After-tax profit for the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) soared by 28% last year compared to 2020.
According to the bank’s audited financial statement published this month, profit after taxation for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $1.748b compared to $1.365b for 2020.
Interest income was up by 13.8% from $4.67b in 2020 to $5.31b last year. Interest expense dropped from $670.9m in 2020 to $636m last year.
Net interest income for 2021 was $4.68b compared to $3.99b in 2020.
Other income also rose sharply from $1.437b in 2020 to $1.962b last year.
Operating expenses rose slightly over the period but there was a huge hike in loan provisioning which went up by 98.6%. In 2020, loan provisioning net of recoveries was $228m while the figure for last year was $454.3m – a likely sign of distress faced by the business community during the pandemic year.
Profit before taxation was $2.239b in 2021 compared to $1.387b in 2020.
Basic earnings per share in dollars rose from 34.15 in 2020 to 43.72 last year.