Scotiabank makes $287M from sale of King Street branch

Scotiabank has finalised the sale of its now closed King Street branch in Downtown Kingston, a transaction that has brought in gains of $287 million to the financial institution.

The King Street location served as the bank’s oldest branch in Jamaica, but was closed in May 2019 as part of a restructuring exercise undertaken by the bank between 2018 and 2020.

Its business was consolidated into the operations of the nearby Scotia Centre, a multi-storey edifice overlooking the Kingston waterfront that also serves as the banking group’s headquarters.

The company spent $1.5 billion transforming the Duke Street location into a “new, ultra-modern banking facility”, which featured new Premium and Corporate & Commercial Banking Centres – located on the second floor – to meet the needs of the combined customer base.

Details around the new owner of the King Street property and the precise date the building was sold were not discussed.

The announcement of the sale was made during Scotia’s media briefing on its third quarter 2022 results on Friday.

“The cumulative proceeds to date is approximately $334 million from November 2021 to July 2022 as it relates to the disposals we have had so far. Of that $334 million, approximately $287 million relates to the gain on sale of our King Street location,” Scotiabank’s CFO Michelle Wright said.

Earlier this year, Scotiabank closed some of its rural branches and transformed six branches into digital operations in continuation of its digitisation drive.

More details on the sale of its assets are expected to be released in the company’s upcoming audited results.

– Karena Bennett

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