Scotia Group outlines plans to grow business

Amid a marginal decline in first quarter profit, Bruce Bowen, president and chief executive officer of Scotia Group Jamaica, said the bank would prioritise expense control, sustained revenue growth and robust management of risk.

"As we look forward to the rest of the financial year, we will continue to focus on growing our business," Bowen told shareholders gathered at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel for company's annual general meeting on Friday.

The bank's profits dipped negligibly by 0.78 per cent J$10.6 billion in at yearend October 2011, and continued the trend into its first quarter.

For the January 2012 quarter, Scotia Group made J$2.65 billion in net profit, down 1.5 per cent year on year.

CCFG profit up 27%

The Capital and Credit Financial Group grew net profit by 27 per cent to J$364 million in 2011, attributed to a sharp rise in income from the trading of securities and reduced cost of doing business.

"The group's cost-containment strategy achieved its objective," said CCFG Chairman Ryland Campbell in market filings of the financial results.

Non-interest expense fell six per cent to J$1.2 billion while interest expense declined by 30 per cent to J$1.6 billion from J$2.3 billion in the previous year.

The group made J$529 million from securities trading, up from J$195 million.

Capital and Credit's banking group, CCMB, also made a modest profit of J$2.2 million.