Sabrina Gordon, Business Reporter

GraceKennedy's top managers, CEO Douglas Orane (left) and his deputy, Don Wehby. GK's newest acquisition, ONE1 Financial of Trinidad, will be headed by Orane, with Wehby as deputy chair. - File

Grace Kennedy's First Global Bank has pushed back the opening date for the new Liguanea branch to November, citing the need for more time to prepare.

"The timing was not right in terms of having all the necessary facilities in place," said Radcliff Daley, vice-president of retail banking and marketing. "We have just open the Mandeville branch, so we are pacing ourselves and many of the contractors are being utilised elsewhere," he further added.

The new branch will be located in the Lane Plaza, in the busy Liguanea area where several existing shops are being reconfigured to create a branch similar to the Montego Bay outlet. "It is forecast to meet the short- to medium-term needs of the company, and having more of the customers being served by electronic means," said Daley.

The cost of setting up is estimatedat $16 million, with the expectation of making a return on investment within 18 to 24 months. Calvin Hunter, who has many years' experience in the banking sector, will head the new branch. Hunter previously worked at the National Commercial Bank before joinng First Global. It will be a full- service branch, with the added convenience of longer opening hours.

Four branches

First Global Bank currently has four branches, with the newest one opened in Mandeville on June 26.

"We are looking to build out our branch network with at least one more for the latter part of 2008," Daley told the Financial Gleaner. Feasibility studies are currently being done to identify the location of the intended branch.

On its financial statements for the period ending June 30, First Global's banking and investments portfolios recorded a good performance. Total revenue contribution of the investment and banking segment amounted to $2.6 billion, an 8.4 per cent increase over the corresponding period that ended June 2006.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com<