Wema Bank Grows Profit by 99% in First Half
Wema Bank Plc doubled down on its earnings performance in the first half of the financial year 2023, details from its unaudited financial statement filed with regulators showed that its profit surged by more than 99% year on year.
Despite a tough economic outing in the period, the bank pushed its after-tax profit to about N10.5 billion. This represents a 99.05% year-on-year increase when compared with N5.275 billion the bank reported in the equivalent period in 2022.
The tier-2 lender drove momentum with a boost in non-interest income-related income line with support from interest yielding assets. Its top line grew to N89.63 billion, which represents a 48.65% increase from N60.295 billion it reported in the comparable period in 2022.
The growth in gross earnings was also supported by higher net interest income, stronger net fee income, and the reversal of the net trading loss it sustained 12 months earlier., MarketForces Africa analysts said in their review.
Wema Bank results showed that net interest income rose to N32.87 billion in the first half of the year amidst a high-interest rate environment ushered in by the Central Bank in May 2022. This has strengthened the net interest margin.
The monetary policy tightening which happened to favour local banks came in a bid to fight Nigeria’s hydra-headed hot red inflation rate. In the period, Wema Bank’s net fees and commission income came stronger in the period, settling at N10.02 billion from N7.477 billion in the comparable period in 2022.
Then, operating profit settled 15% above N32.434 billion reported in the first half of 2022 to N4.457 billion at the end of the first half of 2023.
Wema Bank Plc’s total assets expanded to N1.881 trillion, supported by an increased appetite that boosted the size of loans portfolio, from N1.44 trillion at the beginning of the year.
Wema Bank’s loan portfolio crossed N627 billion from N521.4 billion at the year-end of 2022. Its deposit collection also spiked to about N1.4 trillion from N1.165 trillion in December 2022. The bank recorded about N21 billion AT-1 capital proceeds in the first six months of the year. Nigerian Treasury Bills Yield Rises to 7%
