Despite regulatory constraints, Diamond Bank Plc, in its half year (H1) performance scorecard,demonstrated its ability to continue to sustain growth by posting 9% increase in its profit after tax (PAT) for the half business year (HBY) ended 30 June 2014.
This is as reported in the Bank’s Unaudited H1 Results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and made available to financial correspondents in Lagos, Nigeria.
Speaking from the Bank’s Corporate Head Office in Lagos, Dr. Alex Otti, Group Managing Director/CEO, said that the Bank maintained its business focus to deliver and surpass set targets. “We are pleased to release the latest set of results which demonstrate the Bank’s ability to improve on our success in the previous years despite regulatory headwinds”, he stated.
A review of the financial result for the period indicates that Diamond Bank recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N13.8 billion compared to N12.6 billion reported in the same period of last year.
In the same period, the Bank grew its total income from N11.9 billion in 2013 to N14.1 billion in the current business year (BY), representing 19% increase.
According to Dr. Otti, “We continued to report healthy asset growth (up 15% from Dec. 2013) and have maintained strong deposit growth especially from the retail segment of the market.”
The Bank showed good appetite in funding the real sector as loans and advances to customers were upped by 10% to N756 billion from N689 billion in the previous year.
Total Assets of the Bank now stand at N1.7 trillion up 15% from N1.5 trillion in December 2013, while deposits from customers rose to N1.3 trillion up 8% from N1.2 trillion in December 2013.
“Our cost profile remains efficient as we continue our expansion drive; and our risk indicators continue to show sustainable asset quality ratios that adequately support the bank to deliver on the target returns by year end,” noted the GMD
Although the Bank’s business focus is sharpened on Corporate, Retail and Public Sector businesses, the Bank has continued to grow and maintain leading position in the Retail Banking segment of the economy.