BSP shareholders meet

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
MORE than 100 shareholders attended the Bank South Pacific annual general meeting in Port Moresby on Friday.
They included shareholders from big and small companies plus individuals, some of them arriving from other provinces, according to BSP Group chief executive Robin Fleming.
During the meeting, the group board of directors presented the 2016 financial report plus the one for the first quarter of 2017.
BSP Group chairman Sir Kostas Constantinou said despite subdued economic conditions in PNG and other Pacific countries in which BSP operated, the Group recorded positive outcomes in 2016 with a net profit after tax of K643.5 million – an increase of K111.6 million on the 2015 result.
The board told the shareholders that they would receive their dividends on June 23.
The full-year dividend for distribution to shareholders is K486.016 million – compared to K399.718 million the previous year.
They also discussed the expansion of the bank into Asia, following the acquisition of Westpac’s assets in Vanuatu.
“We want to be the biggest bank and make a mark in Asia,” Sir Kostas said.
One of the things they are looking at is to set up asset financing in the Asian region.
“We had consultants who came on board, had a look and went through all the countries.
“The first country that we are doing a joint venture is Cambodia.”
The bank plans to look at Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam after Cambodia.