FirstCaribbean Interna-tional Bank (FCIB) has recorded a 27 per cent jump in its quarterly profits to July 31, pushing earnings to US$43 million (J$2.84 billion).

The Barbadian bank also increased its net interest income by 21 per cent to US$95 million (J$6.3 billion) and grew its non-proprietary income stream by 31 per cent to US$34 million (J$2.2 billion), compared with the July 2005 quarter.

Its acquisition of Netherland Antilles bank, ABN Amro, effective February 1 of this year, earned FCIB US$2.8 million (J$185 million) operating profit during the quarter.

ABN Amro's contribution to the bank's 42 per cent growth in operating profit, which increased from US$38 million (J$2.56 billion) to US$59 million (J$3.64 billion), was relatively small.

FCIB's Jamaican subsidiary, FCIBJ, which is listed as a separate entity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, saw a 60 per cent increase in net profit during the quarter, largely reflecting significant growth in its loan portfolio and resulting improvement in its interest spread.

Loan portfolio increased

During the three months, FCIBJ increased its loan portfolio from 16.83 billion as at April 30 to 21.1 billion at the end of the July quarter, a 25 per cent increase over the three months.

The loan growth during the quarter was facilitated by a 14 per cent increase in customer deposits, which moved from $21.5 billion at the beginning of the quarter under review to $24.43 billion as at July 31.

Those outcomes helped push profits up from $98 million in the 2005 quarter to $157 million during the period under review.

Overall, the banking network, which stretches across several countries in the Caribbean, has a total asset base of US$10.76 billion (J$710 billion), larger than Jamaica's gross domestic product (GDP) and making it the largest bank by this measure in the region.

FCIB, which was created from the merger of Barclays Bank Plc and CIBC of Canada's regional operations in 2002, is awaiting regulatory approval for the finalisation of the purchase of Barclays' 43.7 per cent shareholdings for US$1.08 billion, which will push CIBC's shareholding to 87.4 per cent.

The other 12.6 per cent of the bank is publicly held.

It is expected that the deal will be concluded by the end of the year.

business@gleanerjm.com