VM Group $3b in moratorium affect profit

VM Group placed $3 billion in loans under moratorium following Hurricane Melissa, absorbing a short-term hit to fee income, as it balanced member relief over near-term profit

Group Chief Financial Officer Frederick Williams said members had to apply for the moratorium rather than have it applied automatically. He did not immediately have figures on how many took up the offer or the breakdown of loan types deferred. The moratorium was offered for up to six months, and select fees were also suspended for affected members.

The group holds $135 billion in loans to December, of which $105 billion represents conventional mortgages. During the year, it wrote off $129 million in loans, compared to nil a year earlier.

The relief was delivered through the VM Disaster Recovery Loan, a facility the building society said it “rapidly repositioned” after first launching it in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in 2024.

VM Group’s fiscal year ends December 31, meaning the annual report captures only the storm’s first two months of impact. The company said recovery and rebuilding efforts will continue into 2026.

Chairman Michael McMorris told the Financial Gleaner that the group remains confident. “We take the approach that the future always has unseen and unknown risks. That doesn’t mean we are not bullish about the future. We are playing the long game,” he said. “It requires a bit of prudence and the ability to see around corners.”

The group deployed more than $4 million in immediate relief, including care packages for roughly 3,000 residents across 24 communities, and committed a further $5.2 million to long-term recovery, including rebuilding homes and replacing educational materials at 21 schools.

VM Group’s underlying profitability dipped in 2025 to $523.7 million for the year ended December, down from $823.45 million in 2024, but the prior year’s result included non-recurring gains. Excluding those, underlying earnings rose 17.84 per cent.

Total assets increased to $255.6 billion, and members’ savings balances rose by $18.49 billion to $171.45 billion.

The group’s two main subsidiaries diverged sharply. VM Building Society posted pre-tax profit of $1.32 billion, up 69.11 per cent, driven by growth in its credit card portfolio and a newly launched Business Services Unit. VM Investments Limited, by contrast, reported net profit of $165.97 million, down 70 per cent from $555.7 million, which the company attributed partly to the hurricane and cautious investor sentiment.

CAPITAL MARKETS MILESTONES

VM Financial Group secured its first investment-grade rating from CariCRIS, received approval for a United Kingdom-based special-purpose vehicle to support real estate lending, and launched VM Wealth Management in Barbados. VM Investments raised $5.43 billion through the first bond IPO listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2025 and earned a Grade A Corporate Governance Index rating with a score of 89.98 per cent.

The group also completed the first phase of its efficiency programme in November, with benefits expected to become more evident in 2026.

The board also acknowledged the deaths of directors Phillip Silvera and Matthew Wright during the period.

carolyn.guniss@rjrgleaner.com