JMMB Group’s profit was cut in half last year. Yet customers added another $41.4 billion in deposits. Loans grew by $19.2 billion. And the group’s banking segment increased its operating contribution by 38 per cent to $6.24 billion.

At first glance, those numbers do not seem to belong in the same set of financial statements. One points to a business under pressure. The others point to a business that continued to grow. That gap helps explain a transformation that has been unfolding inside JMMB Group for more than a decade. Profit attributable to shareholders fell 56 per cent to $1.55 billion during the year ended March 31, 2026.

For years, many Jamaicans associated JMMB with fixed-income investments. But over the past decade, JMMB Group has expanded far beyond its brokerage roots, building banking operations across Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and more recently, in the Dominican Republic.

Management eventually concluded that relying too heavily on investment income left the group exposed to swings in financial markets and interest rates.

“We recognised that we needed diversification in earnings and that the investment business line is a little bit more subject to market movement and movement of interest rates and what we call market risk,” Group CEO Keith Duncan told the Jamaica Observer in an interview Thursday.

A major step in that shift came with the acquisition of Capital & Credit Financial Group in 2012, which gave JMMB Group a merchant bank. A commercial banking licence followed five years later, further expanding its ability to generate income from traditional banking activities. Last year put that strategy to the test.

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“When we started this journey, the objective was to build a more balanced business model where earnings would not be dependent on a single business line,” Duncan told BusinessWeek. “What you’re seeing now is the benefit of having multiple earnings streams contributing to the group.”

JMMB Group’s banking and related services segment generated a $6.24-billion operating contribution, up from $4.51 billion a year earlier. Its financial and related services segment — which includes securities brokering, investment management and advisory services — recorded a $2.05-billion loss.

Banking was not simply the group’s strongest business. It was effectively carrying the group while the division most closely associated with JMMB’s origins reported losses. Despite that, profit attributable to shareholders still fell sharply. A major reason was Sagicor Financial Company.

JMMB Group’s share of profit from Sagicor fell to $1.01 billion from $2.84 billion a year earlier. According to JMMB Group, Sagicor’s core operations remained profitable, generating US$25 million in core earnings during the quarter ended March 31. However, volatility in US and Canadian stock and bond markets contributed to a reported net loss attributable to shareholders of US$34.4 million.

As one of Sagicor’s major shareholders, JMMB Group records its share of the company’s earnings in its own results. That weaker performance therefore reduced JMMB Group’s profit as well.

The group also earned less from securities trading. Net gains from trading activities declined to $4.27 billion from $5.79 billion, while provisions for potential future losses on financial assets reached $1.61 billion.

DUNCAN…what investors should really focus on in our numbers is the fact that we’re achieving greater and greater diversification of revenues.

Meanwhile, the banking business continued to expand. Customers entrusted JMMB Group with an additional $41.4 billion during the year, pushing deposits to $267.8 billion. The loan portfolio grew by $19.2 billion to $236.4 billion.

Net interest income — the difference between what JMMB Group earns on loans and investments and what it pays on deposits and borrowings — climbed to $14.8 billion from $11.3 billion. Foreign exchange trading gains rose to $2.9 billion from $1.8 billion, helped largely by operations in Trinidad and Tobago while the Jamaican market faced disruption from Hurricane Melissa.

“The banking business continues to show strong momentum across the region,” Duncan said. “Those operations are providing a strong foundation for the group.”

“What investors should really focus on in our numbers is the fact that we’re achieving greater and greater diversification of revenues,” he added.

JMMB Group still manages investments, trades securities and earns fees from wealth management. Investment securities remain its largest asset category at $359.5 billion, and the company remains heavily exposed to financial markets.

Yet the results also show how much its earnings mix has changed. A decade ago, a year like this would have been driven almost entirely by the performance of its investment businesses. Today, banking is playing an increasingly important role in determining how the group performs when markets become volatile.

Interior shot of JMMB Bank in the Dominican Republic. Banking operations across Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic helped drive growth in deposits, loans and earnings, providing an important cushion against weaker investment-related results at JMMB Group..