Despite the tough operating business environment, Diamond Bank’s half year (H1) results demonstrated its ability to sustain growth in the top lines. Accordingly, the Bank posted a 6% YoY growth in gross revenue from N96.8bn in H1 2014 to N103.0bn in the six months period ended June 30, 2015.
This is as reported in the Bank’s Unaudited H1 Results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and made available to financial and capital market correspondents in Lagos, Nigeria.
Speaking from the Bank’s Corporate Head Office in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, said that the Bank’s continued success in spite of regulatory headwinds, is hinged on implementing strategies that promote sustainable growth and profitability in the long term.
A review of the financial results for the period indicates that although, its PAT of N12.2 billion was lower than its 2014 position of N13.8bn, the Bank’s capital adequacy ratio surged to 18.6 per cent, in excess of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) required minimum, signposting the bank’s preparedness for profitable business expansion. According to the Bank’s CEO, “our innovative, customer friendly services, and retail banking strategy are showing positive results and will enable us to sustain low cost of funds. In the quarters ahead, we will focus on driving non-interest income, as we continue to explore opportunities to grow our market share responsibly. We shall expand customer relationships, enhanced by our elaborate channels and excellent service delivery”
The Group continues to deploy new technologies and digital applications to drive financial inclusion and convenient banking amidst a decline in the pace of economic activities and weak economic fundamentals. Although loans to customers increased by N2.6 billion, customer deposits, however, declined from N1.5 trillion to N1.4 trillion, reflecting the impact of the bank’s deliberate decision to improve the efficiency of its funding structure, and effect of implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Bank’s focus remains on retail banking and providing convenient and easy banking to the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) segment. The bank has, however, continued to grow its corporate and mid-tier business segments. According to the CEO, the concept of value chain management helps us to provide end-to-end solution to the distributors of our corporate clients and ultimately improve value for both us and the customers.
