Ecobank Group Sees Sky-High Earnings Growth in 9 Months
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced N143.7 billion profit before tax in its audited nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of about 316 per cent from N34.5 billion reported in nine months ended September 30, 2020.
By the results filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the bank triple-digit growth has resulted in earnings per share of over N3.01 kobo during the period under review.
Profit after tax also grew by 916 per cent to N104.51billiion from N10.28billion reported in the prior nine months of 2020.
Growth in gross earnings, net investment income, other operating income and decline in operating expenses were major financial parameters that contributed to the Group’s significant increase in profits amid macroeconomy challenges where it has branches.
Gross Earnings for the period grew by 12 per cent to N686.8billion from N614.5billlion reported in 2020. As net investment income rose by 523 per cent to N5.56billion from a loss of N1.3billion in 2020; other operating income closed at N11.59billion from N3.3billion reported in 2020.
The group’s total assets grew by five per cent to N10.9 trillion as of September 30, 2021, from N10.38trillion in full-year ended December 31, 2020.
In his comment, Group CEO, Ecobank, Ade Ayeyemi said: “We reported strong results, reflecting the continued diligence of Ecobankers in putting our customers first and ensuring that we meet their respective needs.
“For the nine months period up to September 2021, we earned $352 million in pre-tax profit, a 41per cent increase compared to the prior year and revenues of $1.3 billion, a four per cent growth.
“Hence return on tangible equity increased to 17.9per cent, and we grew the per-share value of our shareholders’ equity by 11 per cent to 5.52 US dollar cents.
“These results also demonstrate the hard work invested in driving efficiency in all our businesses in line with our deliberate focus on driving down our cost-to-serve, sustaining improvement in the quality of our credit portfolio, and strengthening liquidity and capital buffers.”
“As a result, our cost-to-income ratio has been declining consistently quarter on quarter, currently 58.3 per cent. In addition, the stock of nonperforming loans as a percentage of loans outstanding is now at 6.9 per cent compared to 9.9per cent a year ago.
“We have boosted the firm’s liquidity profile, thanks to growing customer deposits fueled by an acceleration in digital channel adoption, partnerships with Fintechs, Telcos, and businesses in the Payments Ecosystem,” Ayeyemi added.
“Finally, we continue to invest in new digital and mobile capabilities to enhance customer experience, alongside the investments we are making in our people, processes, and controls, to ensure the continued resilience of our business and service delivery to our clients. I am deeply grateful to all our customers and the Ecobank team for the remarkable job,” Ayeyemi added.
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