Ansa Merchant Bank

May 15, 2023

05/15/2023 | 08:35am EDT Message : CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT ANSA Merchant Bank Limited and its subsidiaries generated a significant increase of 49% in Revenue to $256 million, compared to prior year of $172 million. As we expected, this resulted in an increase in the consolidated Profit Before Tax of 252% to $59 million for the first quarter ended 31st March 2023 versus a negative result of $40 million for the corresponding period of 2022. Earnings per share for Q1 2023 also increased substantially to $0.61 from ($0.46) in Q1 2022. Total Assets also grew from $9.6 billion to $9.9 billion compared to Q1 2022 representing an increase of 3% over prior year. The Banking Division, which comprises ANSA Merchant Bank Limited, ANSA Merchant Bank (Barbados) Limited and ANSA Bank Limited delivered a substantial improvement in Profit Before Tax to $21.2 million, an increase of 1956% over the prior period. Total Banking Assets also increased by 7% year over year. Banking benefitted from robust trading activities, continued growth in loans, and positive mark-to-market valuations on investments in Q1. We are on the cusp of launching the first phase of our digital banking platform which will bring end-to-end digital banking functionality to our retail customers at ANSA Bank, creating significant growth opportunities in the future. The Bank also continues to deepen its commitment to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principles as part of its Natural Capital Hub, which was launched in 2022. We continued to strengthen our partnership with the Cropper Foundation and the global Capitals Coalition with the launch of the Natural Capital Grant Challenge 2023, which will provide small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) with the opportunity to be awarded grants to invest in sustainable business initiatives. The Insurance Division has begun the year with a Profit Before Tax of $40M, up from a negative result of $49M in the corresponding period of 2022, a significant improvement of 181% over the prior period. Total Insurance Assets also increased by 6% year over year. This stellar performance was achieved as a result of growth in premiums and positive mark-to-market valuations on its investment portfolios. Our technical results also improved in both our General and Life Companies. In Barbados, Trident is on the way to producing much better results than 2022. In addition, TATIL's acquisition of COLFIRE on February 7th, 2023, marks the addition of a well-established institution and brand to our group of companies that is expected to create tremendous growth in value to our shareholders. In the "TATILs", we have made substantial investments in new talent, and our new information technology systems are at the early stages of implementation. We expect these investments to drive future growth and prosperity of our Insurance businesses. The ANSA Merchant Bank Group continues to be focused on driving growth through performance and investment, and our stellar results in Q1 2023 are already evidence of this, which we are confident will continue during the year. We are well poised to capture increased market share through customer acquisition, as we continue to invest in people and technology to deliver world-class customer service and value creation to all our stakeholders. A. Norman Sabga