Scotia Group Jamaica continued to deliver on its imperatives of increasing shareholder value despite a slight dip in its net profit for financial year 2025.

The financial entity reported total profit for the year ended October 31, 2025, amounted to of $19.9 billion, representing a decrease of $256.3 million or 1.3 per cent when compared to 2024.

Notwithstanding a 9.5 per cent jump in total operating income to $64.71 billion, Scotia Group recorded non-recurring expenses totalling $817 million dollars, which included charges related to efficiency efforts, a write-down of physical assets and credit provisions related to Hurricane Melissa.

With the impact of Hurricane Melissa at the tail end of the financial year, the financial group increased its provisions for related losses.

In addition, the group reported inflation-related increases in staff costs and expenses related to its digital transformation.

For the 12 months, Scotia Group grew its asset base by $68.8 billion or 9.8 per cent to $773.8 billion as at October 2025, with the commercial and corporate banking segment achieving growth in its loan portfolio.

“The Group delivered strong financial results for the full year 2025, as we continued to execute on our strategic imperatives, which are centred on client primacy and the ongoing streamlining of our operations to deliver quality financial services to our clients. All business lines delivered consistently strong performances during the quarter and throughout the year, resulting in total revenues of $67.6 billion, a 6.8 per cent increase over prior year,” a release from Scotia Group outlined.

“Aligning with our objective to return value to our shareholders, the Board of Directors has approved a dividend of 45 cents per stock unit in respect of the fourth quarter, which is payable on January 21, 2026, to stockholders on record as at December 30, 2025,” it continued.

Overall operations

For the year, total deposits increased to $529.8 billion, reflecting a significant year-over-year growth of 11.3 per cent, while its Scotia Plan Loan portfolio expanded by 16 per cent and the mortgage portfolio recorded a 20 per cent growth over the previous year.

According to Scotia Group, these results are “demonstrating our strength in meeting our clients needs to finance the acquisition of key assets. The commercial segment continues to advance on our strategic objective to grow primary client relationships. This approach has delivered steady growth in deposits, which increased by 10 per cent year-over-year, underpinned by rising transaction volumes through our secure digital channels.

“Additionally, our commercial loan growth year-over-year reflects our ongoing support for the business sector, with capital deployed to facilitate investments in the productive economy.”

At the same time, Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited (SIJL) delivered 12 per cent year-on-year growth in Assets Under Management, crediting this achievement to improved account accessibility through the Scotia Caribbean Banking App and online banking platform.

For its part, Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance Company (SJLIC) reported a 33 per cent rise in net insurance business revenue, as it increased Gross Written Premiums by 8 per cent over the prior year. Scotia General Insurance Agency (SGIA) also improved its Gross Written Premiums by 59 per cent, and policy sales increased by 54 per cent.