Wema Bank Profit Grows by 80% to N9.67bn in Q1
Nigerian lender, Wema Bank Plc, profit rose by about 80% year on year in the first three months of financial year 2024, details from its regulatory filing showed.
The bank’s net interest income surged significantly in the first three months of the year to settle at N26.097 billion, up by more than 80% year on year from N14.45 billion posted in the comparable period in 2023.
The surge in the financial services company’s net interest income was spurred by the high interest rate environment following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) monetary policy tightening.
In Q1, bank non-interest income supported the bottom-line growth. Details from Wema Bank’s unaudited financial statement for the period showed that net fees and commission income grew more than double to N10.851 billion from N4.934 billion in Q1-2023.
Its net trading income also witnessed a strong year-on-year increase to N608 million from N245 million 12 months ago, according to the financial scorecard released.
The bank’s unaudited financial statement for the first three months of 2024 revealed that operating income accelerated to N36.845 billion, up by 84% per year from N20.059 billion in Q1-2023.
On the back of a sustained increase in the inflation rate, the bank’s operating expenses advanced in the first quarter versus previous period. Specific details from the bank results showed that personal expenses rose to N9.942 billion from N5.533 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 79.68%.
Other operating expenses line spiked significantly, from N7.085 billion to N13.903 billion in the period. This caused pretax profit to settle at N11.149 billion in Q1-2024, representing more than 80% year-on-year growth from N6.187 billion posted in Q1-2023.
Moderation in Wema Bank’s tax burden in Q1 caused net profit to settle higher at N9.670 billion versus N5.380 billion in the comparable period in 2023. G7 Tasks IRENA to Monitor Group’s Renewable Energy Progress
