Business
WEMA Bank Records N1.7bn Profit
The Managing Director,
WEMA Bank PLc, Segun Oloketuyi has revealed that the bank’s half year unaudited financial results for the period ended June 30, 2014 showed that its profit before tax appreciated by 266 per cent to N1.7bn as against the N464.7 million it was in June 2013.
According to him, the bank’s total assets also climbed to N334.2 billion as at the period under review as against the N330.9 billion recorded in December last year.
He said however, the bank’s customers deposits declined marginally to N216.3 billion as at June 2014 from the N217.7 billion it stood as at December 2013, while its operating income was N12.5 billion, up from the N10 billion it was as at June 2013.
He further said Wema’s interest income increased significantly by 81 per cent to N9.7 billion as at June 2014 from N5.3 billion in the comparative period of 2013.
Commenting further on the results, Oloketuyi said the bank was pleased with the progress even as he announced strong improvements in profitability and balance sheet efficiency in the first half of 2014.
He said the financial performance was a demonstration of the impact of the efficiency achieved in the last six months.
“We continue the process of redeploying our resources into higher yielding assets while keeping a close eye on operating expenses.
According to him, the bank was able to secure trade lines from foreign correspondent banks, development banks and development finance institutions to support its trade finance, the real estate and small and medium scale enterprises’ lending.
Project LEAP, he said as a strategic transformation agenda has continued to provide Wema Bank with efficiency gains which were intended to maintain the pace of improvements throughout the second half of 2014.
He said the process has put the bank on better performance and commensurate returns to shareholders by the end of 2014.
He said the goal was in continuation of the bank’s expansion programme and establish its presence in areas that have significant growth potential while making investment alternative and channelling and diversifying the bank’s product offering.
Oloketuyi noted that with continued focus on good corporate governance and improved risk management practice, Wema Bank was well positioned to continue the increase in its market share in the near future and deliver value to all stakeholders.