Camilo Thame, Business Reporter

Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago's (RBTT) Jamaican assets yielded the highest returns for the financial conglomerate last year, its annual report for the period ending March 31, 2006 shows.

The 10.6 per cent growth in net profit for its Jamaican operations, from TT$142 million (J$1.5 billion) to TT$157 million (J$1.65 billion), meant that RBTT's banking network here contributed the second largest share of profits for the year - 17.1 per cent - next to its headquarter operations in Trinidad (68.9 per cent).

RBTT Jamaica made 3.2 per cent return on average assets (ROA) during the year to make it the banks largest asset earner.

It's T&T operation made 2.7 per cent ROA, while its operations in the Dutch Caribbean made 1.3 per cent and Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and Suriname together made 0.2 per cent ROA.

Net margin

The bank's net margin were the second highest in Jamaica at 20.4 per cent just behind Trinidad which was 24.2 per cent. Barbados, the EC and Suriname made two per cent, while the Dutch Carib-bean operations made net margin of 20.4 per cent.

The improvement in Jamaica was driven mainly by the bank's growth in investment securities which increased by nearly 35 per cent during the year, to TT$2.56 billion (J$26.8 billion).

Regionally, RBTT focused less on security growth.

For Trinidad and Barbados, investment securities both fell by 12.4 per cent and 29.8 per cent respectively, while in the Dutch Caribbean securities grew by 6.9 per cent.

Alternately, all regional operations grew their loan portfolios - Trinidad, 13.4 per cent; Barbados, the EC and Suriname, 34.8 per cent; the Dutch Caribbean, 14.8 per cent; and Jamaica, 12.1 per cent.

Ultimately, net profit was flat for Trinidad, which made TT$636 million (J$6.68 billion), and dropped dramatically for Barbados from TT$52 million (J$546 million) to TT$11 million (J$116 million).

For RBTT's Dutch operations, which it acquired five years ago, around the same time it entered Jamaica, net profit jumped by 31.2 per cent to TT$90 million.

RBTT had entered the Jamaican market when in 2001 it bought Union Bank, the bank formed from the merger of four local commercial banks - Eagle, Workers, Island Victoria and Citizens - following their collapse in the financial crisis of the late 1990s.

Email: camilo.thame@gleaner jm.com