The Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) has reaffirmed its credit rating for the Development Bank of Jamaica Limited (DBJ) which is pushing digitisation to improve its service offerings to customers.

The development bank was reaffirmed at CariA (local currency rating) and CariA- (foreign currency rating) on the regional rating scale with its Jamaican rating at jmAA (local currency rating) and jmAA- (foreign currency rating) on the national scale. The outlook for the DBJ was maintained at stable.

“The stable outlook is based on the high likelihood that the bank will continue to display good profitability and capitalisation levels over the next 12-15 months. This is underpinned by the Bank’s plans to implement a new four-year (FY2026-FY2029) strategic plan and introduce new products and services aimed at boosting profitability and enhancing operational efficiency respectively,” CariCRIS stated in its release.

The DBJ appointed Dr David Lowe as its new managing director on March 3 and is working on launching its mobile application in the short term. This app will assist the DBJ in analysing customer trends and tailor its products and marketing strategies for its customers. The app will also allow customers to see the DBJ’s full suite of products and services, apply for loans or grants and monitor their loan payments.

The DBJ is also working on completing its transition to being a cashless institution in the coming months. This is part of the DBJ’s push to improve its internal processes while enhancing the service to its customers.

The DBJ grew its net interest income by seven per cent to $1.19 billion as it net loans and advances grew to a record $21.13 billion for the March 2025 financial year (FY). Total income marginally declined to $1.86 billion but remains above the $1.77 billion earned in FY 2023.

However, the DBJ’s profit before tax dipped 41 per cent from $487.27 million to $287.95 million due to a 14 per cent increase in operating expenses to $1.57 billion. This rise in operating expenses was largely attributed to higher staff costs as employee compensation was revamped to be in line with the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) regulations. Professional fees also increased due to costs associated with the DBJ’s annual strategic services retreat.

Despite this dip in earnings, the DBJ’s net profit moved from $415.90 million to $6.01 billion for the March 2025 FY. This was due to the $5.72 billion share of profit from its 50 per cent associate Harmonisation Limited which recognised a fair value gain on land which was revalued from US$45 million to US$105 million. Harmonisation is the company pushing the Harmony Cove tourism project in Trelawny. Harmonisation owns 49 per cent of Harmony Cove Limited while Tavistock Group Inc owns the remaining interest in the joint venture entity. The National Housing Trust owns the other 50 per cent of Harmonisation.

The DBJ is currently developing its blue green facility which is focused on promoting environmental sustainability. The DBJ recently submitted a concept note to the Green Climate Fund which is the world’s largest climate fund. The DBJ also secured an additional US$5 million from the French Development Bank and $2 billion in funding from the Ministry of Finance & Public Service (MOFPS) which should come on stream in FY 2026.

The DBJ is working on a medium-term plan to be reclassified from a category two to a category four institution under the categorisation and rationalisation of public bodies policy. Category two entities are government bodies that do not meet commercial criteria while category four entities engage in commercial transactions.

The state-owned entity strengthened its internal risk and governance frameworks during FY 2025 and improved its cybersecurity measures towards enhanced risk monitoring and threat detection. The DBJ will be updating its information technology governance framework and received board approval in June 2025 for its environmental, social and governance framework and implementation plan.

CariCRIS is projecting that the DBJ will grow total interest income to $2 billion for FY 2026 with profit before tax at $313.4 million. However, net profit is projected to decline to $263.2 million due to a projected loss from its associated companies.

The DBJ is set to service $3.3 billion in maturing debt between its internal cash and inflows from the MOFPS. The GOJ absorbs foreign exchange losses for the DBJ by way of reimbursement for its foreign exchange risk which currently has 54 per cent of its total debt denominated in United States dollars.

“In CariCRIS’s view, the business risk profile of DBJ remained good from the prior year, in line with our expectations, supported by DBJ’s ongoing digitalisation initiatives. Over the next 12-15 months, the bank intends to implement a new four-year strategic plan focused on sustainable development and improved operational efficiencies,” CariCRIS closed.