Optimus Bank Limited Records First Profit in 2023
Optimus Bank Limited returned to profitability in the financial year 2023, its audited financial report by MarketForces Africa revealed. The bank’s posted net loss of more than N405 million in the first 10 months of operation as a fully licensed national commercial bank.
According to KPMG, its auditor, the current period amounts are not entirely comparable with the prior year (30 March 2022 to 31 December 2022) because prior year relates to the period before commencement of banking operations.
Details from its audited report showed that the bank’s net interest income surged to N3.590 billion in 2023, from N1.242 billion posted in the first 10 months to Dec 2022.
The bank reported that its net fees and commission witnessed significant growth to about N299 million from N9,000 in the first 10 months in business, as provided in its report. It also recorded N263 million as net trading income in 2023, in addition to more than N40 billion from other income generating sources.
As of Dec. 2023, Optimus Bank Limited’s impairment losses on financial instruments have bloated to N112.949 million from its clean balance sheet for the first time, amidst efforts to attract more business activities.
The bank’s personnel expenses surged in folds, from N622,000 in the first 10 months of operation, which ended in Dec 2022 to N1.806 billion at the end of 2023.
Other expenses grew moderately from N947,000 to about N971,000 in the financial year ending in 2023. In sum, Optimus Bank Limited’s total operating expenses settled at N3.505 billion in FY2023, up from N1.641 billion in the first 10 months.
The bank reversed from a loss before tax of N405,000 to a pretax profit of about N575,000 in 2023. This reversed its 2 kobo negative earnings per share on 10-results to 2 kobo earnings per share at the end of the financial year 2023.
The bank has N25 billion in share capital, which suggests that the management would need to raise the amount by N175 billion for the national banking licence. Optimus Bank Limited also has the choice to regionalize the bank with an additional N25 billion capital injection in less than two years.
The bank commenced operation on January 16, 2023, according to details from its website. British Firm Calls for Resilient Leadership among Nigerian Executives
