Sabrina Gordon, Business Reporter

Keith Duncan, chief executive officer of Jamaica Money Market Brokers, says IBL was a small investment that came with no baggage. - File

Intercommercial Bank Limited (IBL), a small commercial bank in Trinidad co-owned by JMMB and the Mittal Group, will be setting up three new branches and 13 sales outlets as it attempts to build out a national network comparable to other operations in the sector.

The first new branch, supported by two or three sales outlets, will open later this year, but IBL says the full programme won't be rolled out until 2010.

The sales outlets will concentrate on non-cash transactions, including loan applications and opening of new accounts.

"The bank is presently seen as more of a community bank because it has only two branches unlike the other commercial banks which have ten or more," said marketing manager Ana-Marie Metivier. The two branches are based in Chaguanas and Marabella.

IBL had 6,500 customer accounts up to March 2007. The idea is to double its client base, thereby deepening market share.

Targeting loan growth

In the year ahead, the bank whose loan portfolio stands at TT$370 million is targeting loan growth of 30 per cent.

IBL was cagey about the size of the capital investment to be made in its expansion, but Metvier did indicate that nine-year-old IBL was unlikely to acquire real estate to site the branches, saying the bank would be investing more in staffing and information technology over physical infrastructure.

Keith Duncan, chief executive of Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited (JMMB), which bought 50 per cent of the bank in 2005, also told the Financial Gleaner that IBL would finance the expansion from its own resources.

Good investment

"IBL represents a good investment, a great regional diversified opportunity that will afford them the opportunity to grow their business," said Duncan who sits on the board. JMMB has management control of the operation; its CEO is Hugh Duncan who was seconded from JMMB in Kingston. The IBL board now comprises Dr. Noel Lyon (chairman), Keith and Hugh Duncan and Wayne Sutherland of JMMB, as well as John Kuriyan, E. S. Mohan, Muni T. Reddy, Selby Wilson and Ganace Ramdial.

"We have bought a small bank with two branches and without the excess baggage," said Keith Duncan.

Last year, IBL net profit grew to TT$9.4 million, an increase of TT$6.3 million or 203 per cent.

"We are beginning to see dividend," said Duncan.

Operating income grew 76 per cent to TT$58.6 million. And total assets climbed 37 per cent to TT$860 million. Six months ago, IBL established an electronic banking unit to facilitate its credit and debit card operation, ATM services and telephone banking.

Also this year, the company began offering a co-branded Visa debit card.

The IBL group also comprises a merchant bank established in 2001, but relocated in February 2006 to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

JMMB, through IBL has been targeting a wider corporate market to structure financing deals, but the two companies alsoprovide structured cross-border treasury products and short and medium term financing to a wider client base than their individual operations would have allowed.

"It is in line with JMMB's 2010 vision to build out a full service financial house regionally and we hope to bring that capability to Jamaica," said Duncan, adding that synergies could be created from treasury and asset trade.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com