Gains on sale of investment declined 55% to J$300.79 million

There was a marginal growth in Barita Investments’ net profit for the December 2021 first quarter, which amounted to J$1.1 billion, up from J$1 billion in the previous 12-month period.

Profit before tax amounted to J$1.38 billion relative to a profit before taxation of J$1.31 billion in 2020. At the same time, interest income rose by 29 per cent to J$472.69 million relative to J$367.38 million for the comparable quarter in 2020.

Barita’s Chairman, Mark Myers reports that, “this increase was driven focused on expanding the Group’s credit and fixed income portfolios through the efficient deployment of on-balance sheet funds under management”.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING

Dividend Income fell 15 per cent to total $381,000 compared to the $449,000 earned for the first three months ended December 31, 2020.

Gains on sale of investment declined 55 per cent to J$300.79 million, down fromJ$669.36 million in 2020, while Fees & Commissions Income rose nine per cent to close at J$505.53 million, up from the 2020 posting of J$465.62 million. Foreign exchange trading and translation amounted to a gain of J$784.38 million compared to a gain of J$485.76 million recorded in the previous year.

Other income amounted to J$7.92 million, 61 per cent up from J$4.92 million booked in 2020. As such, net operating revenue amounted to J$2.07 billion relative to J$1.99 billion recorded for the comparable period in 2020.

11% in admin expenses

Administrative expenses for the first period amounted to J$364.50 million, increasing 11 per cent from J$327.42 million in 2020. Staff costs for the quarter rose 11 per cent from J$279.19 million booked in 2020 to J$310.93 million in 2021.

During the quarter under review Barita reported J$53.03 million for impairment, relative to the J$72.72 million reported a year prior. As at December 31, 2021, total assets amounted J$91.98 billion (2020: J$69.94 billion), a $22.04 billion improvement.

As a result the growth in “Marketable Securities”  increased by $12.97 billion to a total of J$22.41 billion (2020: J$9.43 billion) and “Pledged Assets” which rose by J$11.44 billion to J$49.06 billion (2020: J$37.62 billion).

Shareholders’ Equity amounted to J$36.79 billion relative to J$28.50 billion in 2020 resulting in a book value per share of J$44.72 relative to J$34.55 in 2020.