Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has reported a 53 per cent increase in Profit Before Tax (PBT) to N135.5 billion in 2018 financial submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday.
The pan-African financial institution had reported N88.3 billion PBT in the 2017 financial year.
According to the audited result and accounts of 2018, the lender reported 46 per cent increase in profit to N102.2 billion as against N69 billion despite reporting one per cent increase in gross earnings to N773.3 billion in 2018 as against N763.6 billion reported in 2017.
The group operating profit before impairment losses rose by two per cent to N218 billion as against N214.28 billion reported in 2017.
From the balance sheet position, total assets rose by 20 per cent to N8.2trillion from N6.86 trillion reported in 2017, driven by 25 per cent and 17 per cent increase in deposits from customers and loans and advances to customers respectively.
Loans and advances to customers moved from N2.86 trillion in 2017 to N3.33 trillion in 2018 while deposits from customers closed 2018 at N5.8 trillion from N4.65 trillion.
The Group CEO, ETI, Mr. Ade Ayeyemi said, “Our financial performance in 2018 was remarkable in many ways and reflected the meaningful and significant progress that we have made against the priorities that we set in our ‘Roadmap to Leadership’ strategy.
“We delivered a 51 per cent growth in profit before tax to $436 million and generated a return on tangible equity of 21 per cent.
Our cost-of-risk of 2.4 per cent was an improvement on 2017 and demonstrated the progress that we have made addressing credit quality issues and enhancing internal control processes.
“In Francophone and Anglophone West Africa regions we delivered sustainable growth and value for shareholders. While in Nigeria, and the Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, regions we are spurred on by the gradual progress being made.
Our businesses continued to serve customers diligently and with purpose and all delivered profit growth in 2018, with Commercial Bank overturning the loss before tax made in 2017.
“We continued to invest in the technology platforms to accelerate our shift from ‘physical’ to ‘digital’ and we are supporting our customers with digitally innovative products to enrich their engagements with Ecobank.
To meet a key goal of expanding financial services to the unbanked, we have increased the number of Xpress Points, our agency network, to about 14,000 and we plan to grow this number.
Our cash management and trade finance products, such as Omni and e-Trade, are providing our customers with the convenience and efficiency of executing their cross-border transactions across Africa.”
