September 23, 2019

“The future looks really excellent” stated by the Chairman, Lascelles Chin as he commented on a challenging year. The Chairman also noted that, we have now been able to implement all the necessary procedures and we are ready for rolling,” after acquiring Credit Scotia last year.

Mrs. Jacinth Hall-Tracey, the managing director gave a brief report of 2018/2019 significant events. She highlighted that, in:

• Quarter 1: Merger of the Loan portfolio of Lasco Financial Services with the acquired portfolio of Credit Scotia.
• Quarter 2: Initiation of Enterprise Risk Management Framework to assess the foundation of the business for future growth.
• Quarter 3: Moneygram deferred prosecution agreement. “Moneygram was fined in the U.S. and had to agree to a prosecution agreement because of the scamming activity that happens out of the U.S.” Furthermore, “Moneygram adjusted its processes and became very risk averse therefore started blocking a significant number of customer which reduces the number of transaction that we received.”
• Quarter 4:
  • Phase 1 of Loan Management System.
  • Approved RIA Money transfer
  • Corporated Governance framework introduced
  • Significant appreciation of JMD

Mrs. Jacinth Hall-Tracey, gave a brief overview of the company’s financial performance. The Company’s total revenues increased 36% from $1.62 billion to $2.21 billion for the financial year ended March 2019. Net profits for the said period increased by 11% to $281.76 million (2018: $254.28 million). Mrs. Hall-Tracey added that “revenue for the first quarter rose by 18% to $654.47 million, resulting in a net profit of $91.09 million, a 9% decrease”.

Mrs. Hall- Tracey highlighted, “one of our strategies, was to reduce the relative dependency on remittance being such a significant contributor to income. The acquisition of the loan company has helped to mitigate that risk.” As such, “ in 2019 financial year the Loans Division contributed 33% increase relative to the previous year’s 23%.

Furthermore, Mrs. Hall- Tracey stated that, “ he remission of taxes will end in October 2020 at that point we will move from 50% tax to 100%, so this means we are going to have to be prepared to adjust our business model significantly to grow revenue or manage our expenses a lot more aggressively so that we can continue to deliver shareholder value.” She added, “some of the preparation for growing our revenue for 2020 includes new services such as:

• Lasco Pay:
  • A Prepaid Mastercard targeted at the unbanked
  • Electronic retail payment regulations has now allowed more companies to apply for electronic services to enable financial inclusion
  • Remittance customers are encouraged to become cashless
  • Assist Ecommerce
• RIA Monthly transfer: 3^rd Largest Money Transfer company with a competitive advantage of receiving transfers directly.”

She also highlighted the strategies that:

• “Reach out to the companies that pay out cash to employers to convert to paying their employees in card
• Partner with the remittance competitor (Western Union)”

Outlook

LASF plans to focus on:

• improvement and efficiencies in processes supported by the appropriate technology
• fostering the deep rooted relationships with our agents, staff and customers.

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