March 15, 2018
Barita Investments Limited (BIL) 40th Annual General Meeting was held today, where Chairman, Mrs. Rita Humphries-Lewin, acknowledged the major milestone in the Company’s history.
With Jamaica responding positively to the stand by arrangement with the IMF, Mrs. Humphries-Lewin announced that it is against this background that BIL has refined their business model by converting to the unit trust market instead of repurchasing agreements. She however highlighted that repos still available but at a minimum of $1 million.
She emphasized that Barita continues to meet the needs of their clients through its diversified suites of unit trust products. As clients embrace the collective investment schemes, she was pleased to announce that their unit trust revenues increased from $327 million in FY2016 to $513 million for FY2017.
As BIL aims to boost the strength of their operations, The Chairman also announced that they’ve implemented an Enterprise Risk Management framework during this reported financial year. It was also underlined that the significant investment made in their internal platform, Barita Integrated Investment Management System, continues to pay off, as it allows BIL to respond to clients request at a faster rate. In fact the mining of client data has allowed them to achieve an 88% satisfaction rate with their clients.
Barita’s commitment to offering meaningful solutions has also led them to being recognised by the Jamaica Stock Exchange, being awarded the following:
- Best Website as a Member Dealer
- First runner up – Best Website as a Listed Company (Main Market)
- First runner up – Investor Relations
A review was given on the Company’s financial position, conducted by Company Secretary and Managing Director, Mr. Ian McNaughton. He highlighted “this financial year was an exciting year for Barita, it was a year that presented new opportunities, new challenges and new achievements.”
Mr. McNaughton highlighted that the company’s focus this past year has been on maintaining growth in their non-interest income revenue streams. In fact, as they strategized for this financial year, they were able to perform creditably creating value for shareholders.
Mr. MacNaughton emphasised that the success of their transformation from net interest income to non-interest income has allowed them to achieve net operating revenue of $1.1 billion, with net interest income of $$286 million (26%) and non-interest income of $822 million (74%)
Barita’s revenue diversification has been and continues to be the development of their unit trust fund. Against this background, Mr. MacNaughton was pleased to announce that in 2017FY their eight unit trust funds with $15 billion under management has generated $420 million revenue, a 600% increase from the $60 million reported in 2010FY. He also highlighted improvements in other revenue segments, such as asset trading which increased 45% year over year, cambio operations which provided $25 million in net revenue and increased revenue in their pension business and lending operations.
However despite all Barita’s improvements in their revenue streams and the management of their operating expenses, Mr. MacNaughton highlighted a prominent issue faced by BIL. He highlighted the disappointment of writing off $100 million in foreign investment made for a start-up company which did not reap the expected benefits. He highlighted that with this exception, BIL would have achieved its all-time best net profit of over $300 million. In closing however, he emphasised that such provision in write offs will not reoccur.
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