The second largest bank, Scotia Group Jamaica Limited (SGJ), reported net income of $4.1 billion for its first quarter ended January 2026, a modest decline from the $4.2 billion posted in the same period a year earlier, as the full financial weight of Hurricane Melissa pressed on the bank’s bottom line through higher credit losses and swelling operating costs.
The results offer the clearest window into how SGJ absorbed last October’s Category 5 hurricane.
Expected credit losses climbed to $934.6 million for the quarter, up from $601.5 million a year earlier – a 55 per cent surge that analysts are likely to attribute in part to hurricane-related stress on borrowers. Operating expenses rose to $11.1 billion, a $1.4 billion or 14.7 per cent increase over the prior-year period. The bank’s productivity ratio deteriorated to 59 per cent, from 56.49 per cent a year ago, suggesting costs are outpacing revenue growth.
President and Chief Executive Audrey Tugwell Henry acknowledged the storm’s reach directly. “Our first-quarter 2026 results incorporated the full impact of Hurricane Melissa on the group’s operations,” she said in the release, adding that the bank extended its client assistance programme — which offers payment deferrals to hurricane-affected borrowers.
Total revenues, “excluding credit losses”, grew 9.9 per cent to $18.8 billion, driven largely by a 10.2 per cent rise in net interest income. But the headline profit figure, and the credit loss trajectory, tell a more cautious story. One notable line item: “other revenue” more than doubled year over year to $462.6 million, largely reflecting insurance proceeds received in connection with Hurricane Melissa – underscoring that the storm shaped the results on both sides of the ledger.
The bank’s balance sheet continued to expand, with total assets reaching $818.9 billion, up 10.8 per cent from a year earlier. The mortgage portfolio grew 19 per cent, consumer loans 16 per cent and deposits 11.5 per cent – signs that credit demand and household savings remain resilient even in the post-storm environment.
Credit quality held broadly steady, with non-accrual loans representing 1.5 per cent of gross loans, below the industry average of 2.7 per cent as of September 2025.
Scotia Group maintained its quarterly dividend at 45 cents per stock unit, payable April 14 to shareholders on record as of March 23 – a signal of management’s confidence in the group’s fundamentals, even as reconstruction costs across the Jamaican economy are only beginning to flow through corporate balance sheets.
SGJ is a 71.8 per cent subsidiary of Barbados based Scotiabank Caribbean Holdings Limited with Canada based Bank of Nova Scotia being its ultimate parent.
business@gleanerjm.com
