Green Light: Barita, Cornerstone to proceed on new scheme of arrangement

 




The Cornerstone Group is embarking on a corporate reorganization to comply with the Banking Services Act of 2014 (BSA).

Barita Investments Limited has advised of the preliminary results of the votes cast by the shareholders of Barita at its Extraordinary General Meeting which was held in-person on Monday, January 20, regarding the proposed court sanctioned composite Scheme of Arrangement for the Cornerstone Group is an approval.

The approved scheme, it is noted will result in Cornerstone Trust & Merchant Bank Limited Barita, and Barita’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Barita Unit Trusts Management Company Limited, becoming subsidiaries of Barita Financial Group Limited , the proposed financial holding company.

The Banking Services Act and related regulations provide a standardised legal framework for the operations of the licensed deposit-taking intermediaries and provide the statutory principles on which supervision is conducted.

 The preliminary results  announced on January 21, 2025 indicate the approval of Barita’s shareholders by a majority in number present in person or by proxy (representing 81.87 per cent in value) in favour of the composite Scheme of Arrangement.

The company also indicates that \, at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Cornerstone United Holdings Jamaica Limited (the parent company of the merchant bank, CTMB),  the majority in number of its shareholders present in person or by proxy (representing over 95 per cent in value) voted in favour of the composite Scheme of Arrangement.

Barita Investments Limited  is a limited liability company incorporated and domiciled in Jamaica. The registered office of the company is 15 St. Lucia Way, Kingston 5.  The controlling party of the company is Cornerstone Financial Holdings Limited with a 75 per cent ownership as at year end.  The registered office of Cornerstone Financial Holdings is located at Suite I, Ground Floor, The Financial Services Centre, Bishop’s Court Hill, Barbados.

It is licensed under the Securities Act and regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
The principal activities of the company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Barita Unit Trusts Management Company Limited (BUTM), are securities brokerage, money market activities, cambio operations, investment banking and funds management. The company acquired 20 per cent of the shareholding of Derrimon Trading Company Limited (DTC)

 

Performance

Barita tripled its net profit in the final quarter ending September 2024 (FY24), with net profit after tax for Q4 FY24 increasing by 200 percent to $999 million. This brought NPAT for FY 2024 to $3.9 billion, 14 percent ahead of 2023.

The company’s revenue for Q4 FY24 totaled $3.0 billion, $1.2 billion or 72% higher than Q4 FY23. This growth was driven by a strong performance within the Treasury, Trading, and Brokerage business lines. Net Interest Income (NII): NII reflected increases of $62 million (11%) and $5 million (3%) for the YTD and quarterly periods, respectively. Additionally, Non-Interest Income reflected an increase year-over-year (YoY), rising 10% or $839 million, primarily fueled by growth in gains from investment activities, fees, and commission income.

Revenue growth in Q4 FY24 was primarily attributed to the performance in the group’s Treasury, Trading, and Brokerage business lines, which accounted for 56 percent of the company’s total revenue. This improvement was further supported by a three percent rise in net interest income, reaching $164 million compared to the same quarter in fiscal year 2023.

For the financial year 2024, total assets surged by an impressive $14.6 billion, reaching a substantial $142.8 billion, compared to $128.2 billion in September 2023. During this period, total shareholders' equity demonstrated a net increase of $716 million, culminating at $35.5 billion. This growth was primarily attributed to a recovery in the fair value reserve, which improved from a deficit of $4.5 billion in FY23 to $3.8 billion this fiscal year.

At the close of FY24, liabilities rose by $14.5 billion, reflecting a 16% increase to $107.3 billion. Shareholders' equity concluded the year at $35.5 billion, marking an increase of $71 million, slightly surpassing the $35.4 billion recorded at the end of FY23. This rise in equity was driven mainly by a $734 million improvement in the fair value reserve, which helped mitigate the decline in retained earnings attributed to dividends declared and paid throughout the year.

 Photo: Paul Simpson, founder, Cornerstone.

Caribbean Money Daily

Caribbeanmoney.blogspot.com

Follow us for breaking news

Email austanny@yahoo.com

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kintyre makes US$300,000 investment in Sevens Ice

Image
  Tyrone Wilson Chairman, President and CEO Kintyre Holdings (JA) Limited (KHL) and Seven Kingston Limited, owners of the Seven Ultra Lounge and Restaurant, on January 14 announced a joint venture to launch Sevens Ice. Kintyre Holdings has made an investment in excess of US$300,000 in acquiring an associate stake in Seven and also establishing the start-up for the ice venture. "This initiative addresses Jamaica’s growing demand for high-quality ice, with operations set to begin in Q1 2025," Wilson stated. Additionally, the venture has acquired a cold storage facility to manage its start-up capacity and is exploring the importation of ice to bridge the gap between demand and supply, ensuring a consistent and reliable market presence. Distribution Expansion Wilson said that Sevens Ice has secured a distribution point in Kingston and is in the process of setting up another in St. Catherine to serve the western and central parts of the island. This expansion will ensure broade...
Read more

BCMG increases risk management oversight: Launches surveys-as-a -service

Image
Insurance brokers in Jamaica often send underwriters themselves to survey risks; however, they frequently do not have the technical knowledge required to produce the best results. BCMG Insurance Brokers Limited (BCMG) in response, introduced - in support of the wider brokerage industry - an updated surveys-as-a service product which has been embraced by the wider community as groundbreaking. Senior Risk Manager on the New Business Team of BCMG David Lazarus explains, “We saw where the technical details and in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of business operations were not always being taken into consideration. This was seen as an opportunity to expand into this space.” In 2020, Billy Craig Insurance Brokers and Maritime General Insurance Brokers, MGI, signed an agreement to merge their operations to form BCMG Insurance Brokers Limited. Following the union, the new company has been exploring options to expand the service capability of the brokerage and increase value for clients...
Read more

Wish List: University Hospital CEO seeks top-flight CFO for turnaround miracle

Image
  It's a puzzling end of year for the finance team at the University Hospital of the West Indies where, despite an ongoing plan to quadruple plant size and service centres for the teaching institution, its current state is one of insolvency, with CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell wishing for a new Chief Financial Officer with a touch of genius to help in turning things around. Medium term, the government is aiming to significantly update this, the Caribbean's premium medical hospital and teaching school. At last report, the price tag on the project was $4.9 billion. In the works are plans for a new 6-storey, 120,000 square feet medical facility, which will accommodate an additional 40 medical and surgical beds, improvements to outpatient or ambulatory surgery, lecture rooms, conference rooms, and upgrading of the cardiology hybrid interventional surgery room and the neonatal intensive care and administrative departments. However, the institution is currently struggling to become solvent ...
Read more