Chris Williams, managing director of NCB Capital Markets. His company reported net profits of $1.6 billion for 2007. - File

NCB Capital Markets Limited reported depressed revenues for its year ending 2007, but the investment company managed to tweak slight growth in net interest income, which rose $46 million to of $1.56 million, by keeping reins on interest expense.

Interest income fell from $6.5 billion to just under $6.2 billion at year end September 2007.

Its preference stock, NCBCAPMARKT 11.75 per cent, traded firm at $3 mid-week after the results were released.

Gains on asset trading and other income pushed the company's operating income almost $300 million higher to $2.8 billion.

But the Chris Williams-led operation, whose impairments on structured deals was almost a quarter of a billion dollars last year, managed to contain its writedowns to $30 million in the current period, in the process growing its pretax profits by half a billion or 31 per cent to just over $2 billion.

Net profit

Its net profit after tax was up by 27 per cent to $1.57 billion (2006: $1.2 billion) or $1.30 per share.

NCB Capital Markets, the wealth management arm of the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica Group, ended the year with a lighter balance sheet, having shed more that $11 billion from its reverse repurchase portfolio.

But gains of eight billion were recorded under available-for-sale investment securities - rising to $51.7 billion - to contain the fall in total assets.

At balance sheet date, September 30, the investment company's assets were audited at $57.9 billion, down five per cent from $60.9 billion a year ago.

Its capital base, however, broadened to $8.08 billion, up from $6.8 billion, with the full addition of net profit to retained earnings.

business@gleanerjm.com