NCB Financial Group Limited

What it is

NCB Financial Group is one of the Caribbean’s largest financial institutions, operating across 20-plus territories and offering personal and commercial banking, wealth management, life and general insurance, and fintech services.

The holding company is incorporated in Jamaica, licensed to operate under the Banking Services Act, 2014. Its commercial banking roots trace to 1977, when the Jamaican government acquired Barclays Bank of Jamaica and renamed it National Commercial Bank Jamaica; a holding structure was added in 1985.

Who owns it

AIC (Barbados) Limited holds 46.25% of NCBFG and, through that stake, Portland Holdings Inc. of Canada holds a majority controlling interest in the company.

The chairman of NCBFG, the Hon. Michael A.

Lee-Chin, O.J., holds a controlling interest in Portland Holdings Inc. — meaning Lee-Chin, a Jamaican-born Canadian billionaire, is the ultimate decision-maker, even though AIC’s direct stake has slipped from 48.70% a year earlier as the company has issued new shares. The remaining shares trade freely on the JSE and TTSE.

Who runs it

The Group Chief Executive Officer is Malcolm Sadler and the Chief Financial Officer is Gary Brown.

Chairman of the board is the Hon. Michael Lee-Chin, O.J.

In January 2025, Mrs. Arvinder Bharath joined the board, bringing over 30 years of experience across banking, regulation, and technology.

The money, in plain words

For the year ended 30 September 2024, operating income — the group’s total revenue from banking and investment activities — rose 4% to JMD 120 billion (USD 765.8 million, our calculation).

Consolidated net profit — what the whole group kept after all costs and taxes — came in at JMD 23.3 billion (USD 148.7 million, our calculation), a 174% jump over the prior year. That works out to about 12.5 cents of profit kept from every dollar of operating income — a net margin of roughly 12.5%, unusually strong for a group that was barely breaking even two years earlier (our calculation).

Return on equity — how much the group earned for each dollar its owners have invested — improved to 9.47% from just 2.54% the prior year. That is still modest by regional banking standards, but the direction is sharply upward.

Efficiency improved markedly: operating expenses fell 11% as staff costs dropped 18% following the prior year’s restructuring. At a share price of around JMD 52, the stock trades at roughly 8.5 times attributable earnings — inexpensive if profits keep growing (our calculation).

What it is doing now

In the nine months to June 2025, the group’s consolidated net profit surged 68% to JMD 30.5 billion, with profit attributable to parent stockholders up 60% to JMD 19.0 billion — already comfortably above the full-year FY2024 figure, a signal that FY2025 will set a new record.

The June 2025 quarter included a one-off JMD 15.1 billion gain from disposing of a subsidiary — that disposal was the sale of a 30.20% stake in Bermuda-based Clarien Group to Cornerstone Financial Holdings, with NCBFG retaining a 19.9% stake after the deal. The move signals a deliberate narrowing of the group’s geographic sprawl.

What to watch

• Profit quality: Strip out the Clarien one-off and underlying earnings growth remains strong — but investors should track recurring return on equity closing in on 10–12% to confirm the recovery is structural, not cosmetic.
• Ownership drift: AIC (Barbados)’s stake has fallen from 52.68% in 2022 to 46.25% today as new shares are issued; further dilution could shift governance dynamics.
• Portfolio simplification: The Clarien disposal suggests management is shedding peripheral assets; watch for further exits or acquisitions as the group redefines its Caribbean perimeter.
• Dividend consistency: The board declared an interim dividend of JMD $0.50 per share for FY2024, but the track record of cuts in prior years means income investors should watch whether the payout holds or grows.

This is news, not investment advice.