Third quarter results released by local firms over the past few weeks are, in some instances, beyond impressive when viewed in the context of a global recession that has crippled the economies of many countries and thrown hundreds of thousands of people out of work.

Of the 27 listed companies that have reported so far, 23 have posted profits and of the 23, a total of 15 had increased earnings compared with the same period a year ago.

Pan Caribbean Financial Services, for instance, reported gross operating revenues of $6.9 billion compared with $5 billion for the same period last year. The company saw a 33 per cent increase in net interest income on the $1.45 billion registered for the corresponding period in 2008, while interest income from loans grew from $588 million last year to $835 million this year, and securities brought in $5.4 billion against $3.8 billion for the same period last year.

National Commercial Bank (NCB), for its part, reported a net profit of $10.2 billion for the nine months ending September 2009, an 18 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.

The bank’s wealth management arm – NCB Capital Markets – recorded a net profit of $1.7 billion, or an increase of 121 per cent over last year, while its insurance subsidiary – NCB Insurance Company – more than doubled its net profits to $1.8 billion for the period under review.

We found very instructive, NCB Group Managing Director Patrick Hylton’s comments in relation to the performance:

“We have been busy building what we would like to describe as a fortress of a financial institution – a fortress which is underpinned by strong capital, strong liquidity, strong management, strong and robust governance and a highly motivated, highly competent and highly committed staff,” he is reported as telling an investors’ briefing earlier this month.

Mr Hylton’s concept of a fortress is even more evident in the Group’s cost to income ratio performance which, we were told, was 47.7 per cent, the first time in NCB’s history that it went below 50 per cent.

In the telecoms sector, mobile phone giant, Digicel reported a 10 per cent increase in its half-year profit to US$364 million on revenues of US$857 million. The company has also seen its subscriber base grow from 7.6 million at September 30, 2008 to 10.3 million at September 30, 2009, an increase of 35 per cent.

In the case of LIME – formerly Cable & Wireless – while it posted a 10 per cent decline in revenues the company has seen growth in its Internet and data businesses, while maintaining market share in its mobile division. Of note is the fact that LIME has invested $670 million this financial year to expand its mobile network and further improve coverage across the island.

A mixture of good and bad news also came out of Jamaica Money Market Brokers which, while reporting a decrease in operating profit, saw its core profit grow from $51 million to $194 million.

It is obvious that these companies – and others which, we expect, will report robust performances over the next few days – are employing the right strategies in order to keep themselves afloat in this difficult environment.

A close look at their methodologies would not, we propose, hurt the Government, as this country can do with all the help it can get.

The administration, too, should not be bashful in trying to have highly skilled and talented professionals work with the Government in areas where their skills are needed. In this case, the country would not quibble about the size of their salary packages, as long as the litmus test of performance is the value they give for money.

Clearly, there are areas of our economy where we are beating the recession, by taking advantage of the opportunities in the midst of the adversities.