NCB Gobal Holdings Limited Gains Licence under T & T Foreign Investments Act

NCB Global Holdings Limited (NCBGHL), a subsidiary company of NCB Financial Group (JSE: $NCBGF; TTSE:$NCBFG) has been granted a licence under the Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Investments Act. The licence was granted as part of NCBGHL attempt to acquire the majority shareholding in Guardian Holdings Limited. NCB acquired a 29.99% shareholding in GHL in May of 2016 and has steadily been improving its position in the company.

In December of 2018, NCBGH issued an offer to acquire seventy four million, two hundred and thirty thousand, seven hundred and fifty (74,230,750) shares in Guardian Holdings Limited. Guardian Holdings Limited (TTSE: $GHL) is the parent company of the Guardian Group. The company offers financial services, primarily insurance in the Caribbean. The offer is subject to a number of approvals, the grants for which have been slow to say the least.
Sponsored

Offer Deadline Extended

The deadline for the offer had to be extended on numerous occasions since it was first announced. The latest release associated with the offer included another notification of extension of the closing date. This is due to the fact that some of the approvals required under applicable legislation in Trinidad and Tobago remain outstanding. One such approval is that of a Controlling Shareholder Permit. NCB is prohibited from taking up any of the GHL shares until all the approvals have been granted. For this reason, NCB has elected to extend the closing date. The new extended closing date is May 03, 2019.

The successful acquisition would auger well for NCBFG which is has been employing a very effective growth strategy involving both acquisitions and organic growth through improved efficiency.  NCBFG reported J$ 12.5 billion in net profits for the 6 month period ended March 31, 2019 with the insurance segment of the business accounting for 24%. The company also saw a 9% increase in operating income to 38.9 billion. Improvement in interest income which was boosted by a 15% increase in the company’s loan portfolio was credited for the increase. Operating expenses increased by 14% to 28.3 billion and included ammortisation cost of intangibles associated with the Clarien acquisition. Other costs included upfront expenses for the digitisation  and increased credit impairment losses.

New Initiatives

The company recently launched their mobile app and a new platform dubbed GoIPO. The mobile applications has been well received as evidenced by numerous commendations on Twitter. GoIPO increases the speed with which persons can apply for shares in companies that are being brought to the JSE.

NCBFG is one of the largest companies in the Caribbean and is listed on both the Jamaica Stock Exchange and the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange. The company has declared J$ 1.80 in dividends so far for 2019.