Dolla Financial Services Limited now has consolidated total assets of about $5.47 billion — a 535 per cent increase since the end of 2021 when it had $861.09 million in assets — after it recently completed a $1.9-billion bond offering.

The company made the disclosure on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) yesterday where it noted that it garnered $1.9 billion in subscriptions for its four-year secured bond with a 12 per cent interest rate. The secured bond had an initial target of $1 billion with an upsize potential to $1.5 billion. The proceeds of this bond will be used to further expand its loan portfolio which had a net balance of $3.15 billion at the end of September for the company whose consolidated assets stood at $3.57 billion.

With the successful closure of the bond, the company will now apply to list its bond on the JSE Bond Market which currently has six listings which are evenly split between Mayberry Investments Limited and Mayberry Jamaican Equities Limited (MJE), both under the control of Mayberry Group Limited. The JSE Bond Market is open for any investor to buy into compared to the JSE Private Market which is only open for accredited investors. Dolla raised a $1.17-billion bond across two tranches in October 2022 relative to its $1.5 billion upsize target. Tranche 1 with a face value of $572.12 million and interest rate of 10.50 per cent will mature in October 2025.

Dolla’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Trevene McKenzie told investors at the company’s May 31 annual general meeting (AGM) that the company had set a target of $2 billion in new capital to be raised this year. Dolla raised $725.17 million in new loans/debt funding during its third quarter (July to September) and disbursed a net balance of $409.57 million to its clients who were seeking financing. For the overall nine months, Dolla has received $1 billion in new loans and disbursed a net figure of $478.25 million to its clients.

The combination of reinvesting and that source of debt funding allowed the company to grow its net loan balance by 28 per cent over the nine months from $2.45 billion to $3.15 billion. This loan growth has been facilitated not only the organic growth of Dolla’s core business which now stands at 11 branches after the opening of its St Thomas branch in July, but also the growth of Ultra Financier Limited which now boasts a loan book over $1 billion. Dolla is continuing to collect its remaining loans through its Guyana subsidiary which it expects to wind up by Q2 2025.

Its unknown what the next horizon will be for Dolla, but it has expressed an interest in listing Ultra on the JSE to further grow that subsidiary. Ultra began operations in November 2022 but had a 41 per cent operating profit margin on $316.40 million in interest income during 2023. These business lines have helped fuel Dolla’s interest income from $379.0 million in 2021 to $1.10 billion in September 2024 with profit before tax moving from $129.55 million in all of 2021 to $339.64 million for the first nine months of 2024. Dolla listed on the JSE Junior Market in June 2022.

Dolla is now amongst the largest licensed microcredit providers in Jamaica. Access Financial Services Limited (AFS), another Junior Market company, was the first company to be licensed under the Microcredit Act in August 2022. There were 21 licensed firms in October 2023, but that figure now stands at 65 firms which represent over 85 per cent of aggregate loans in Jamaica. AFS’ consolidated net loan balance moved from $3.41 billion in March 2019 to $6.02 billion in September 2024 with total assets moving from $4.51 billion to $7.77 billion over the same time frame.

The bond announcement comes days before December 10, which is the record date for the company’s $0.008 dividend totalling $20 million. This will benefit Mayberry Group’s Widebase and MJE subsidiaries which should collect about $5.14 million while Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) will collect $3 million. Gary Peart is the CEO of Mayberry Group and executive chairman of SVL. Patrick Bataille is the newly appointed CEO of Mayberry Investments.

Walter Scott, KC, a director of Mayberry Group and Mayberry Investments, now chairs the Dolla and Ultra boards since November 15 while Ryan Reid is now the vice-chairman of both boards. Dolla’s fourth-quarter earnings report should be published by February 14.