NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) is putting a greater emphasis on the strength and resilience of the financial conglomerate as heightened market volatility continues to impact financial firms.

These comments came from NCBFG Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Almeida on Friday at NCBFG’s investor briefing. NCBFG declared a $0.50 dividend totalling $1.29 billion to be paid on June 9 to shareholders on record as of May 26. This dividend declaration comes after NCBFG skipped its dividend consideration last quarter (January to March), breaking a streak of five consecutive quarterly payments going back to December 2023. That was the end of a 2.5-year dry spell where NCBFG declared no dividends to its shareholders.

“There are a lot of moving parts. Obviously, the world is very turbulent and there are a lot of changes. A lot of geopolitical changes in the world; there are a lot of financial changes in the world starting late last year and definitely starting in January 2025. We have to look at a number of considerations. Our north star is always first and foremost, the strength and resilience of the group [and] the strength and resilience of the operating subsidiaries within the group,” Almeida added in his remarks.

January 2025 was the inauguration of United States President Donald J Trump whose new administration has enacted policies that has increased volatility in financial markets within the last two months. The S&P 500 Index in the United States had a 600-point swing during April and is currently down four per cent year to date at 5,659.91 points.

The NCBFG CEO noted that in order for NCBFG to return to paying a dividend of $1 per share, which was last seen in March 2020, that the cost to income ratio would need to decrease to the low 50’s region, return on equity (ROE) above 15 per cent and a dividend payout ratio closer to 50 per cent. NCBFG’s normalised cost to income ratio was 71.48 per cent with return on equity at 15.06 per cent for the six months.

NCBFG itself reported a consolidated net profit of $17.04 billion for its second quarter, a 121 per cent year on year improvement to the $7.72 billion in the prior year. That improvement was driven by the sale of Thoma Exploitatie BV by its subsidiary Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL), which translated to a gain on sale of $15.12 billion (TT$651 million) on its consolidated income statement. GHL sold Thoma for $17.78 billion (TT$888.01 million) on January 24 as part of the group’s overall capital reallocation strategy.

Thoma’s sale comes against the backdrop of NCBFG’s planned sales of NCB (Cayman) Limited and Clarien Group Limited not materialising after making the announcements last year. These sales were expected to support NCBFG’s plan to reduce its debt balance with the standalone holding company having $90.72 billion in debt with $62.99 billion listed as current for the ongoing 2025 financial year (October 2024 to September 2025).

“The sale of NCB (Cayman) did not complete, so we do other things. The sale of Clarien did not complete; we will do other things. The sale of Thoma by Guardian did complete and the proceeds there are actually greater than what would have been the sum of the proceeds of the sale of NCB (Cayman) and Clarien combined,” Almeida noted on the incomplete divestments.

He also added, “We will continue to de-lever prudently, but make no mistake about it, our gearing ratios are better, and our liquidity is higher, and our capital ratios are all stronger. So, that’s more important to us than a single metric of reduced debt.”

Without the sale of Thoma, NCBFG’s second quarter consolidated net profit would have been about $1.93 billion. Thoma contributed $457.08 million in revenue and $82.73 million net loss for the six months period.

NCBFG’s banking and investment activities saw a reduction in gains on foreign currency and investment activities along with an increase in credit impairment losses emanating mainly from its consumer and SME banking segment. The insurance service result, attributed mainly to GHL, was down 35 per cent from $3.11 billion to $2.04 billion. Also, NCBFG’s operating expenses grew 10 per cent from $21.75 billion to $24.07 billion largely due to one-off operational losses from its banking business.

For the overall six months, NCBFG’s net operating income increased by 25 per cent from $61.99 billion to $77.26 billion. After operating expenses and taxes, NCBFG’s consolidated net profit increased 108 per cent from $10.69 billion to $22.19 billion, with $13.34 billion attributable to shareholders. Earnings per share (EPS) for the six months was $5.53 with the trailing twelve-month EPS at $8.23.

NCBFG’s total consolidated assets grew two per cent over the six months to $2.35 trillion with investment securities at $928.44 billion, loans and advances at $623.11 billion and cash at $100.95 billion. Total liabilities closed the period at $2.12 trillion with deposits at $800.19 billion, insurance contract liabilities at $551.64 billion and repurchase agreements at $281.09 billion. Consolidated shareholder’s equity grew ten per cent to $230.38 billion, with $182.08 billion attributable to shareholders.

Despite the positive earnings, investors on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) weren’t as enthused as the stock price declined three per cent to close at $44.67, with an intraday low of $43. This leaves the stock down 12 per cent in 2025 with a market capitalisation of $115.45 billion. The Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) stock price closed Friday at TT$2.20 which leaves it down eight per cent in 2025.

“Our debt to stockholder’s equity continues to come down substantially and that is one the reasons I wanted to highlight my comments that the growth in the equity base of the company has made it tremendously stronger. There are a number of strategies that are all intended to increase the resilience of this important group to the Caribbean region,” Almeida closed.