NBS secures record $993M in profits in 2013

May 03, 2014 News

…Chairman laments non passage of AML/CFT

The New Building Society (NBS) at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) to consider the financial affairs of the business for 2013 reported to shareholders that the profit earned last year was $993M.
Investments reached more than $17B and some $7.8B were disbursed by way of mortgage loans.
Total assets at the end of the year stood at $54B and represented an increase of $5B over the previous year.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Moen Mc Doom

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Moen Mc Doom, in his report to the shareholders noted, that in 2013 the demand for mortgages continued as a result of the many new housing schemes that were developed across the country by the aggressive housing programme.
“This has contributed to the persistent growth of our mortgage portfolio over the years…In 2013 we disbursed over $7.8B in mortgages to several qualified home-owners.”
He noted, too, that as a responsible mortgage provider, “we ensure our borrowers can afford their mortgages, not just now, but also in the future.”
The Society, he said, has continued in its efforts to minimize mortgage arrears and to help borrowers in difficulties to resolve their situations.
“The Society adopts a consultative approach with its borrowers who experience payment difficulties. It is believed that this has resulted in a more encouraging arrears position.”
He said that the number of accounts in arrears at the end of 2013 was 1,393 with a default value of $58M.
“This is an area that will always be under our focus.”
He said, too, that the Society recognizes that it is inefficient to hold significantly more liquidity than is required, as excess liquidity earns less than it costs to acquire.
As a result, Mc Doom said that the focus of NBS has been to ensure that “we have, or have access to, sufficient liquidity rather than on maximizing the absolute liquidity levels.”
NBS liquid assets at the end of 2013 were $16.4B.
“As is revealed, our liquidity position still exceeded the minimum statutory requirements.”
Commenting on the outlook for the future, Mc Doom said NBS anticipates that the scale of Government’s housing programme across Guyana would continue this year and “this will no doubt provide real opportunities for the Society to increase the scale of its mortgage lending, within our agreed risk policy, bringing the benefits of our affordable mortgage financing to a growing number of customers and members.”
He noted that though the financial services sector continues to be saddled with high liquidity, compounded further with the fact that the Society can only invest in a limited number of instruments, “we began to see increased yields on Treasury Bills.”
The Chairman told shareholders, “We are particularly hopeful that this positive trend will continue in 2014 and beyond, but will aggressively continue in our mortgage drive.”
He observed, too, that Guyana is at risk of being blacklisted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) for having been unable to amend its present legislation on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.
“This will certainly have a disastrous effect on the financial services sector and many businesses.”
He said that the Society, nevertheless, remains hopeful that a consensus can soon be forthcoming between the Government of Guyana and other major stakeholders including the political parties, to ensure the amendments to the present legislation on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, as recommended by CFATF can be passed and assented into law.
Mc Doom said that they look forward to 2014 being the year when the Society’s profit would exceed the $1B mark.

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