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CIBC Caribbean Bank Jamaica Ltd made $45.9 million profit for its October 2025 year end or four-fifths less than a year earlier, as the bank grappled with the impact of Hurricane Melissa.
It also forecasts that the credit quality of its borrowers could worsen threefold, but, even if that materialised, it would still remain well below the regulated ceiling for problem loans set by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).
“It is generally understood that the full impact from Hurricane Melissa will become more apparent over the next several quarters, and we will continue to closely monitor the situation and update expected credit losses during the future provisioning cycles,” the financial statement said.
Earnings per share dropped to $0.05 from $0.54. The profit, however, translated into a comprehensive loss of $113 million when including remeasurement losses on retirement benefit plans.
The Jamaica operation is a subsidiary of CIBC Caribbean Bank Limited, which in turn is controlled by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
The decline in earnings came amid a rise in operating income to $11.3 billion or 4.4 per cent higher than $10.8 billion a year earlier. The bank’s performance was weighed down by a 62 per cent increase in credit loss expenses to $555.4 million from $343.6 million, reflecting higher provisions for potential defaults.
The bank evaluated expected credit losses under accounting standards, considering the hurricane’s impact on its loan portfolio and existing assumptions.
“The bank will be offering financial support arrangements to affected clients,” according to the financial statements.
The bank assesses its customers on an Early Warning List. During the year, vulnerable customer profiles more than tripled to $1.84 billion worth of loans from $528.9 million in 2024. The Early Warning List represents 1.5 per cent of total loans.
“Early Warning List characteristics include borrowers exhibiting a significant decline in revenue, income, or cash flow or where the Bank has doubts as to the continuing viability of the business,” the bank said in its financial statements. “Early Warning List customers are often, but not always, also delinquent.”
Non-performing loans (NPLs) which are a key metric of credit quality also remain manageable for the bank. NPLs which are unserviced loans for 90 days or more, jumped 51 per cent to $1.43 billion from $947.4 million, representing 1.2 per cent of the bank’s $119.8 billion loan book.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in western Jamaica on October 28, 2025, three days before the bank’s fiscal year-end, resulting in “physical damage to branches and “temporary disruption to the bank’s operations”. Branches in the Eastern region reopened by October 31, while full resumption of all branch operations occurred by November 12.
The bank conducted a preliminary damage assessment shortly after the hurricane and determined “no material damage” to its network. No provisions for asset write-downs, repairs or restoration were required as of October 31, and insurance claims are not expected to materialise as damages fell below policy deductibles.
Earlier this month, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), which regulates the banking sector, signalled that NPLs across the industry could double from pre-Melissa levels of $42.9 billion. NPLs were already hovering near 25-year highs, because of, in part, capital market uncertainty, and will rise towards $86 billion, based on forecasts.
Looking at the CIBC Jamaica’s balance sheet, total assets grew 9.6 per cent to $201.4 billion from $183.7 billion, driven by a rise in loans and advances. Customer deposits expanded 15.5 per cent to $165.3 billion. Overall capital stood at $19.6 billion compared to $19.7 billion a year earlier.
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