Property at the intersection of Hope Road and Liguanea Avenue, owned by JMMB Group, and which currently houses a standalone ATM, is being developed into new commercial centre which will house JMMB Group operations.

The full extent of the project and the development costs have not been disclosed, with the company stating that investment costs were confidential.

However, the new service centre will be located at 102 Hope Road and 1 Liguanea Avenue. The property is within a five mile radius of the company’s Haughton Avenue headquarters.

Currently JMMB has six service centres islandwide, so Liguanea, on completion, will be its seventh.

JMMB said operations at the new Liguanea location, currently under construction, is expected to begin by 2023, the same year in which completion of construction is anticipated. The location is expected to offer a range of client services and support services, as needed, in addition to a Smart ATM.

JMMB stated, “Further details about the facilities and services to be offered will be made available in due course and upon receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals.”

The company outlined, “JMMB Group is always looking at opportunities to better serve its clients by providing financial solutions in an easy and convenient way.” It added, “The company, in recognising the need to serve the communities in the Kingston 6 area and its surroundings, would have established an ATM in that vicinity to increase access to some services offered by JMMB Group and are expanding its operations and suite of offerings in this area to better serve its clients. This move is in keeping with the company’s strategy to increase its branch network.”

JMMB has operations in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic. Overall, for the financial year ended March 2021, JMMB Group posted a net profit of $7.72 billion and operating revenue of $22.44 billion, an increase of 4 per cent over the prior year.

In Jamaica, operating revenue totalled $15.9 billion, reflecting growth of $534 million or a 3 per cent increase over the prior period of $15.39B.

The company has one of the smallest branch footprints among commercial banks, but cites its operations as being among the fastest-growing banks in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

Management outlined that the group’s banking business line recorded year over year growth in terms of contribution to profit moving to 30 per cent from 26 per cent in the previous financial year (ended March 2020). The commercial bank in Jamaica recorded a loan portfolio growth rate of 37 per cent relative to the market’s 13 per cent, while the savings and loans bank in the Dominican Republic recorded a “stellar” loan portfolio growth rate of 54 per cent relative to the market’s 2 per cent, it was pointed out.

In the year under review there were two new business lines moving into profitability. The newest business line in Trinidad & Tobago, JMMB Express Finance (T&T) Limited, focusing on consumer finance, and the mutual funds business line in the Dominican Republic, JMMB SAFI.