Diamond Bank has reported a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N2.2 billion in its second quarter unaudited financial report for the period ended June 30, 2018 to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
This is even as the lender re-emphasised its strong focus on the Nigerian market, especially the retail business segment through its digital penetration strategy.
The report showed that the Bank’s digital strategy is paying off as the institution recorded a milestone figure of three million digital customers as well as a significant increase in its mobile platform transaction fees.
A further analysis of the lender’s half-year unaudited financial report showed that its non-interest income grew by 6.4 percent to N18.8 billion on higher fees from retail transactions on mobile platform while customers loan volume decreased by 3.6 percent to N728.7 billion as maturities exceeded new loans during the period while the bank’s investments in fixed income securities rose by 8.0 percent to N241.7 billion over the same period.
Although the Bank’s net interest income reduced year-on-year by 14.4 percent to N46.2 billion due to lower interest income from loans and investments, and higher interest expense on deposits.
Commenting on the result, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uzoma Dozie said: “At a macro level the Nigerian economy continued to record improvements because of stable, higher than anticipated oil prices. We have witnessed 15 months of expansion reflected in monthly PMI data, but investor sentiment has remained mixed caused in part by the election season factor.
“We have capitalised on the positive macro environment to sustain interest income in the short run with positive prospects for growth and have made progress in growing non-interest income.
“Importantly, we have continued to build awareness of Diamond Bank in the wider financial ecosystem to develop new frontiers in retail banking. Amongst this activity were the Beauty Souk and TechFest events, targeted at entrepreneurs and emerging businesses in the fashion and technology sectors respectively.
“Our partnership with Lagos Business School’s Enterprise Development Center to support young entrepreneurs continued with the seventh season of the Building Entrepreneurs Today programme”, Dozie added.
According to him, in addition to retail banking, the bank is also investing more resources in mid-market business banking services to seize the opportunities emerging in that segment.
He projected that in the second half of 2018, the investments would improve the lender’s profitability.
The banking expert assured that despite a tough six months being reported, the outlook for 2018 remained bright for the bank as the management continues to focus on a return to strong profitability and improvement in other KPIs.
