The Nation Newspaper

Tag: earnings

  • Non-oil exporters’ earnings drop by 27%

    There has been a considerable decline in the performance of non-oil export sector in recent period as latest economic report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed double-digit declines in the earnings of non-oil exporters and the contribution of non-oil sector to total foreign exchange inflow.

    The latest economic report by the apex bank indicated that total non-oil export receipts by banks in the month of April 2016 fell by 27.3 per cent to $364.35 million compared to the previous month.

    The development was attributed mainly to the decline in most of its components except the minerals sector. A sectoral analysis showed that on a month-on-month basis, proceeds from food products, manufactured products, industrial and agricultural sectors fell by 26.0 per cent, 42.8 per cent, 17.6 per cent and 24.5 per cent to $16.9 million, $204.1 million, $24.2 million and $25.9 million, respectively, below the levels in March 2016. However, proceeds from minerals grew by 61.1per cent to $93.15 million.

    The shares of the various components in the non-oil export proceeds included manufactured products, 56.0 per cent; minerals, 25.6 per cent; agricultural, 7.1 per cent; industrial, 6.7 per cent; and food products, which accounted for 4.6 per cent.

    The apex bank’s economic report also indicated that a month-on-month drop of 40.5 per cent in non-oil receipts contributed to a marginal decline of 6.1 per cent decline in foreign exchange inflow during the month of April.

    The report showed that foreign exchange inflow through the CBN stood at $1.31 billion in April, a decline of 6.1 per cent from the previous month of March and 54.3 per cent drop from the comparable period of 2015.

    The report indicated that aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy was $4.78 billion in April 2016, indicating 3.1 per cent increase relative to the level at the end of the preceding month, but a decline of 42.2 per cent from the comparable period of 2015. Non-oil sector inflow of $0.48 billion accounted for 10 per cent of the total inflow and represented 40.5 per cent decline from the previous month.

    Also, analysis of sectoral utilisation of foreign exchange indicated that agricultural products accounted for the least utilisation at 0.8 per cent of the total forex disbursed in April 2016.

    The shares of the sectors in a descending order were invisible sector, 32.8 per cent;  industrial sector, 23.3 per cent; minerals and oil, 22.3 per cent; manufactured product, 11.8 per cent; food products, 6.8 per cent; and  transport sector, which accounted for 2.2 per cent.

     

  • Equities in free fall amidst mixed earnings

    There were nearly six losers for every gainer at the Nigerian stock market on Thursday as investors remained cautious and reluctant about the earnings outlooks of quoted companies. The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the All Share Index (ASI), dropped to a new low while market value of all quoted companies depreciated by N77 billion.

    The ASI declined by 0.79 per cent from 28,221.18 points to close at 27,997.29 points, depressing the average year-to-date return to -2.25 per cent. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities declined from N9.693 trillion to close at N9.693 trillion.

    All sectoral indices at the stock market closed in the red, underlining the widespread downtrend that saw 34 losers against six gainers. The NSE Banking Index dropped by 2.6 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 1.0 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.3 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index lost 0.2 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index slipped by 0.01 per cent.

    Nestle Nigeria, Nigeria’s highest-priced stock, led the losers with a loss of N15 to close at N835. Cadbury Nigeria followed with a loss of 89 kobo to close at N15.20. Guinness Nigeria dropped by 84 kobo to close at N95.95. Stanbic IBTC Holdings lost 71 kobo to close at N13.49 while Guaranty Trust Bank declined by 70 kobo to close at N21 per share.

    “We expect market performance to remain weak in the interim amid influx of poor second quarter 2016 earnings numbers,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

    Total turnover stood at 227.13 million shares valued at N1.80 billion in 3,426 deals. Skye Bank was the most active stock with 54 million shares valued at N45.89 million. United Bank for Africa followed with a turnover of 41.33 million shares worth N182 million while Zenith Bank recorded a turnover of 21.66 million shares valued at N332.55 million.

    On the other hand, Nigerian Breweries led the gainers with a gain of N1.90 to close at N137. CAP followed with a gain of N1 to close at N36. Tiger Branded Consumer Goods rose by 8.0 kobo to N3.93. Skye Bank added 7.0 kobo to close at 85 kobo. Wema Bank rose by 5.0 kobo to close at 78 kobo while AG Leventis inched up by 4.0 kobo to close at 97 kobo per share.

  • Fitch, Augusto rate GTBank, UBA high on strong earnings, asset quality

    Fitch International, one of the foremost global rating agencies, has again adjudged Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, and upgraded its ratings for the two Nigerian leading banks, citing the banks’ strong earnings and asset quality.

    In its latest Rating Report, Fitch indicated that GTBank remains one of the top two rated banks in Nigeria. Fitch revised the outlook on the GTBank’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from negative to stable, citing the bank’s continuing strong earnings, and stronger-than-expected liquidity as the reasons for the revised outlook.

    Fitch Ratings also affirmed GTBank’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘B+’ with a stable outlook and short-term IDR at ‘B’. In addition, the agency affirmed the bank’s viability rating (VR) at ‘b+’, support rating (SR) at ‘4’ and GTB Finance BV’s senior notes, guaranteed by GTBank was affirmed at ‘B+’/’RR4′. Fitch revised the bank’s support rating floor (SRF) to ‘B’ from ‘B+’ as a result of the sovereign’s weak foreign currency position.

    The IDR rating and outlook reflects Fitch’s opinion of the bank’s relative ability to meet its financial commitments and GTBank’s rating of B+ remains the highest credit rating in the industry. The viability rating (VR), which is a component of the IDR measures the bank’s intrinsic credit quality and capacity to maintain ongoing operations and to avoid failure.

    The report showed that despite the tough operating environment, GTBank remained strong and stable as indicated by its profitability track record, healthy liquidity state, strong asset quality and capital ratios.

    Also, Fitch affirmed UBA’s viability rating at “B” as the pan-African banking group continues to sustain its benchmark asset quality and strong profitability amidst industry and macroeconomic challenges. UBA is one of the few banks with strong risk management framework, which has helped keep non-performing loans ratio at a moderate level of 1.74 per cent as at the end of March 2016, as against industry average of more than six per cent, as reported by Fitch.

    Fitch also upgraded UBA’s outlook to stable from negative, thus reinforcing the strong outlook on the bank, especially as its diversified network across eighteen other African countries makes it relatively immune against the potential cyclical volatilities in any of its country of operations.

    The upgrade came as Nigeria’s foremost local rating agency, Agusto & Co,  upgraded UBA’s rating from “A+” to “Aa-”, with a stable outlook, citing the bank’s improved capitalisation, good liquidity and large pool of stable deposits, strong domestic presence supported by the bank’s extensive branch network and growing alternative banking channels.

     

  • Unity Bank posts N78.8b gross earnings

    Unity Bank posts N78.8b gross earnings

    Unity Bank Plc has announced its audited financial result, which showed gross earnings of N78.8 billion for the financial year ended December 31, last year, compared with N77 billion earned during same period of 2014.

    However, the Profit After Tax (PAT) dropped to N4.6 billion from N10.6 billion PAT recorded in 2014 financial year.

    The bank said 2015 performance was achieved in spite of the challenging operating environment characterised by a continued lull in the economic activities in the economy as well as major regulatory headwinds like the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) that cut earnings during the period.

    The bank said its new management inherited huge legacy of non-performing loans from the general commerce and manufacturing subsectors and believes that the impairment charge in Year 2015 was necessary in order to give new breath of life to the institution.

    It said the new management is embarking on enormous tasks to position the lender for proper clean-up and de-risking of its balance sheet, to create huge businesses that will help drive its growth and transformation initiatives.

    The bank also grew its assets by seven per cent from N413 billion in 2014 to N443 billion in 2015, amid shrinking economic indicators, measurement and regulatory policies that affected deposit portfolio during the year under review.

    While commenting on the result, its Managing Director/CEO, Tomi Somefun noted that “with the bank’s repositioning efforts and consistent focus to tap into the emerging opportunities in the enlarged economic space within Nigeria, it is committed to deliver quality banking service to emerging sectors in retail/Small and Medium Enterprises, commercial and the agricultural value chain.

    The bank, she said, is building strong infrastructure for retail banking and attracting youths for its sustainable banking business by developing customer-centric products to meet the needs of its esteemed customers and build new clientele base.

    “With the bank’s capital raising exercise, the year ahead is bright as the effects of the on-going transformation initiatives will surely consolidate  Unity Bank as “a retail bank of choice”,  culminating in superior financial performance and values to all stakeholders,” she said.

    She disclosed that the bank relocated its head office to Lagos from Abuja in March this year, a step that has led to positive impacts felt by its businesses nationwide.

    “The bank is now in a better position to tap into the core commercial hub of Lagos by leveraging on the huge retail spin-offs/opportunities and harness the diverse business potentials provided by population, port and patents for excellent service delivery to its esteemed customers.  It has started to witness increased businesses from the corporate, commercial and retail segments of the market with a strong resurgence,” a statement from the lender said.

  • Earnings from oil revenue down to 35 per cent, says AGF

    Earnings from oil revenue down to 35 per cent, says AGF

    Nigeria currently earns only 35 per cent of what it used to earn from oil, the Accountant General of the Federation (AFG), Alhaji Ahmed Idris, said yesterday.

    He regretted that although the nation depends largely on oil as its major revenue earning resource, the country is now confronted with lower oil price at the international market.

    He said:  “Nigeria is being inundated with lack of revenue, with lack of resources, in the present state of our history arising from our mono-nature economy, depending largely on oil as a main source of revenue.

    “And we all know that the price of oil at the international market has gone down and that Nigeria is only earning about 35% of what it hitherto earned from that source of revenue.”

    The AGF spoke at Abuja while receiving members of the Association of Financial Professional Women who paid him a visit to congratulate him on his appointment into the Membership Panel of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board Consultative Advisory Group (IPSASB CAG).

    Idris noted that the situation that the country has found itself requires facing the reality in line with the lean resources now available for meeting financial obligations.

    He implored the association and finance managers in the country to “be prudent in managing financial resources, to reduce cost as much as possible, and to be efficient in terms of delivery, in terms of spending, so that each kobo is justified, and can be accounted for and seen to have been spent for the benefits and purposes it is meant.”

    On his appointment, he said: “The appointment into the board is not about me. With all sense of humility, I believe that the appointment is in recognition of Nigeria as a country that is making a lot of giant strides in public finance management reform initiative.

    “So, we must appreciate the present political atmosphere that has given us the latitude to do what we are doing and to achieve what we have been able to achieve. And which makes not only at domestic front but also at international front-recognition to be conferred on our country.

    “The recognition is not  just about the reforms being made, yes the reforms being made is part of it, but more importantly-the atmosphere of change, the atmosphere of better leadership, the goodwill that Nigeria is enjoying outside there, our zeal and commitment to ensure good governance, to ensure public expenditure transparency and accountability in spending and management of public resources.

    “I think these are part of the issues that are making international community to recognise Nigeria is a very important member of the international community and to confer on Nigeria some of these appointments.”

  • First Bank awaits CBN’s approval on 2015 earnings

    First Bank awaits CBN’s approval on 2015 earnings

    The Board of Directors of FBN Holdings Plc, the holding company for First Bank of Nigeria and its former subsidiaries, has approved and transmitted the company’s audited annual report and accounts for the 2015 business year to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the apex bank’s review and approval.

    A regulatory filing at the weekend indicated that the company’s much-awaited results would be released soon. The CBN approval is the final stage of the approval process, after which the results will be submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for onward transmission to the general investing public.

    FBN Holdings’ share price dropped by 4.57 per cent at the weekend to close at N3.34 per share, underlining the anxiety of the investing public that the earnings may further lead to depreciation in the company’s valuation at the stock market.

    The board of FBN Holdings had recently issued a profit warning that its earnings for the year ended December 31, 2015 would fall significantly below targets.

    In a profit warning, FBN Holdings stated that preliminary review of its management account for the business year ended December 31, 2015 has shown that investors should expect “that earnings will be materially below that of the prior year”.

    The holding company said the reduction in earnings was due to the recognition of impairment charges on some specific accounts resulting from a reassessment of the loan portfolio within the group’s commercial banking business.

    It noted that the reassessment was driven by the challenging macro environment, coupled with fiscal and monetary headwinds which have resulted in marked reduction in domestic output.

    “This is a prudent measure being taken while the bank has commenced active remedial action on the specific impaired accounts. Our merchant banking and asset management as well as insurance business remain strong and resilient,” the group said.

    The management of the group however, reaffirmed that it would focus in 2016 on restoring shareholder value by driving improvements in underlying asset quality, cost efficiency, enhancing revenue generation and extracting synergies across the group, as well as growth through innovation.

    Audited report and accounts of FBN Holdings for the year ended December 31, 2014 had shown that gross earnings rose by 21.3 per cent to N480.6 billion in 2014 compared with N396.2 billion in 2013. Interest income had grown by 12 per cent from N323.6 billion to N362.6 billion. Net interest income rose to N243.9 billion in contrast with N230.1 billion recorded in previous year. Profit before tax rose marginally from N91.3 billion to N92.9 billion. Profit after tax also grew by 17.3 per cent from N70.6 billion to N82.8 billion.

    With these, earnings per share had improved from N2.16 in 2013 to N2.55 in 2014, representing an increase of 18 per cent. Total assets rose by 12.1 per cent from N3.87 trillion in 2013 to N4.34 trillion in 2014. Shareholders’ funds improved by 10.8 per cent from N471.78 billion to N522.89 billion.

    FBN Holdings distributed a bonus share of one new share for every 10 shares already held and a dividend per share of 10 kobo for the 2014 business year.

  • Skye Bank, Stanbic, five others miss earnings deadline

    Skye Bank, Stanbic, five others miss earnings deadline

    Seven companies have formally admitted their inability  to conclude the audit of their accounts for the immediate past business year in line with the regulatory timeline of three months after the end of the business year.

    Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit their earnings reports, not later than three months after the expiration of the period. Most quoted companies including banks, major manufacturers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar as their business year. The business year thus terminates on December 31.

    NSE’s regulatory filing calendar indicates that the deadline for submission of annual report for companies with Gregorian calendar business year, which ended on December 31, 2015, was Thursday, March 31.

    They have, therefore, filed regulatory notice that they were unable to meet the earnings deadline. The companies included Diamond Bank; Skye Bank; Stanbic IBTC Holdings; Learn Africa; Oando; NPF Microfinance Bank and Cadbury Nigeria.

    The management of Oando Plc at the weekend said it had worked diligently with its external auditor, Ernst & Young (EY) to ensure a swift conclusion of the audit process but after reviewing the financials, EY indicated that the accounts may likely need to be referred to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) pursuant to Rule 5 of the recently publicised FRC Rules.

    Oando stated that it expected the process to be concluded on or before May 31, this year though this is dependent on the completion of the external review process.

    “The company’s management would also like to bring to the attention of its shareholders and the investor community that the accounts of the company at full year 2015 will be in line with its third quarter 2015 performance. The expected decline is attributable to the industry’s downturn, prevalent economic headwinds, as well as fiscal and monetary restrictions driven by a challenging macro environment,” Oando stated.

    Diamond Bank stated that it had completed the auditing of its accounts and submitted the approved accounts and report to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The apex bank has not completed the review of the accounts.

    Learn Africa said the delay in the submission of its accounts was due to the need to manually verify a large part of the sales figure during the year due to a technical hitch in its book sales software package. Learn Africa plans to submit its report by April 12, 2016.

    Skye Bank said its earnings report was delayed by the additional external audit work that arose from its merger with Mainstreet Bank Limited in 2015.

    “Prior to the merger, the two banks operated as separate entities for five months of the financial year, each operating on different information technology platforms and firms of External Auditors. The foregoing has necessitated additional external audit work on the part of the surviving audit firm, being the first post–merger period,” Skye Bank stated.

    Besides monetary sanctions, NSE tags and applies fines on companies that fail to meet earnings reports’ deadline. The NSE however can grant waiver and extension of submission deadline to a company under special consideration.

    Under the corporate governance and rules compliance assessment report known as X-Compliance Report, NSE identified four different kinds of tags or symbols to alert investors about the status of each quoted company. These include below listings standard (BLS), the first degree alert level indicating a company that has not complied with post listing rules such as late submission of financial statements, unauthorized publication, management failures among others.

    Also, financial services companies such as bank and insurance companies awaiting regulatory approval will carry the appropriate symbol of awaiting regulatory approval (ARA). Companies that are undergoing a capital reconstruction exercise including supplementary issue, share buyback, split, share reconstruction among others will be tagged with capital reconstruction exercise (CRE) while companies that have indicated that they will be delisting or companies that are being delisted at the instance of the regulator would be flagged with delisting in process (DIP) symbol.

  • Tough macro economy, impairments weigh down First Bank’s earnings

    Tough macro economy, impairments weigh down First Bank’s earnings

    The board of directors of FBN Holdings Plc, the holding company for First Bank of Nigeria and its former subsidiaries, yesterday alerted the investing public that the group could record significant decline in earnings in the immediate past business year ended December 31, 2015.

    In a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) signed by FBN Holdings’ company secretary, Tijjani Borodo, the holding company stated that preliminary review of its management account for the 2015 business year has shown that it should be “expected that earnings will be materially below that of the prior year”.

    FBN Holdings attributed the reduction in earning to the recognition of impairment charges on some specific accounts resulting from a reassessment of the loan portfolio within the group’s commercial banking business.

    “This reassessment was driven by the challenging macro environment, coupled with fiscal and monetary headwinds which have resulted in marked reduction in domestic output. This is a prudent measure being taken while the bank has commenced active remedial action on the specific impaired accounts. Our merchant banking and asset management as well as insurance business remain strong and resilient,” the group stated.

    The group however reiterated that its focus in the current business year remains restoring shareholder value by driving improvements in underlying asset quality, cost efficiency, enhancing revenue generation and extracting synergies across the group, as well as growth through innovation.

    FBN Holdings’ share price dropped by 4.41 per cent to close yesterday at the NSE at N3.47 per share.

    FBN Holdings had distributed a bonus share of one new share for every 10 shares already held and a dividend per share of 10 kobo for the 2014 business year. Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of FBN Holdings for the year ended December 31, 2014 showed that gross earnings rose by 21.3 per cent to N480.6 billion in 2014 compared with N396.2 billion in 2013. Interest income had grown by 12 per cent from N323.6 billion to N362.6 billion. Net interest income rose to N243.9 billion in contrast with N230.1 billion recorded in previous year. Profit before tax rose marginally from N91.3 billion to N92.9 billion. Profit after tax also grew by 17.3 per cent from N70.6 billion to N82.8 billion.

    With these, earnings per share had improved from N2.16 in 2013 to N2.55 in 2014, representing an increase of 18 per cent. Total assets rose by 12.1 per cent from N3.87 trillion in 2013 to N4.34 trillion in 2014. Shareholders’ funds improved by 10.8 per cent from N471.78 billion to N522.89 billion.

    FBN Holdings’ profit warning came on the heels of earlier profit warning by FCMB Group Plc, the holding company for First City Monument Bank and its former subsidiaries. FCMB Group stated that it would report lower earnings for 2015 financial year.

    In the profit warning, FCMB said its earnings in third quarter 2015 will be materially below earnings for the corresponding period in 2014. It added that the fourth quarter 2015 earnings also followed a similar trend with the third quarter 2015.

    Managing director, FCMB Group Plc, Mr. Peter Obaseki  said the slowdown in the third quarter continued in fourth quarter 2015 and largely emanated from wholesale banking activities, although retail banking showed greater resilience and earnings momentum.

    “Third quarter 2015 earnings as at September 2015, will be materially below earnings for the same period in 2014, due to two factors: a spike in impairments particularly in the energy sector and the significant reduction in trade finance-related revenues due to foreign exchange illiquidity,” Obaseki said.

  • FCMB eyes higher earnings for subsidiaries

    FCMB eyes higher earnings for subsidiaries

    FCMB Group Plc has projects that its subsidiaries are well positioned to grow strongly this year. The concerned firms are First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, FCMB Capital Markets Limited and CSL Stockbrokers Limited.

    In a statement, the holding company said its subsidiaries would also deepen the financial services support they provide to customers and the nation at large with their array of products and bespoke solutions to further enhance customer experience in their respective target markets.

    Managing Director of FCMB Group Plc, Peter Obaseki, said, ‘’2016 will be characterised by continued growth in retail contribution, stabilisation of wholesale banking revenues and increased focus on cost efficiencies’’.

    He added that the retail banking business of the Group, which is driven by First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, has continued to ‘’show greater resilience and earnings momentum over the years’’.

    He disclosed that FCMB Group Plc would in the fourth week of January this year announce the completion of the banking subsidiary’s interim audit, which should pave way for the release of the 3Q15 earnings results of FCMB Group Plc.

    He said third quarter 2015 earnings will fall below earnings for the same period in 2014, due to a spike in impairments particularly in the energy sector and the significant reduction in trade finance-related revenues due to foreign exchange illiquidity. This trend, he added, will continue December 2015 and largely emanated from wholesale banking activities’.

    The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Ladi Balogun, said: ‘’we will continue to do the things we are doing well; driving low cost deposit growth, in order to bring down the cost of funds, through increased acquisition and collections.  We will also continue to raise our performance in customer service by building a vibrant, credible and relevant banking brand that everyone wants to bank with. Overall, we are confident this progress and momentum will be sustained, as we continue to grow our market share through service excellence while improving our efficiency ratios’’.

  • Ecobank warns of lower profit as Naira depreciation boosts earnings

    Ecobank warns of lower profit as Naira depreciation boosts earnings

    The management of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) Plc has said there were looming headwinds ahead and the profit of the financial services holding group might come in lower than expected.

    Against the background of mixed performance in the third quarter where the group recorded decline in dollar terms but considerable growth in Naira terms, group chief executive officer, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) Plc, Mr. Ade Ayeyemi, said the group see further headwinds looming across and profits could come in lower than expected or in the most optimistic scenario flat.

    “We see looming headwinds ahead and as a result expect reported 2015 profits to come in lower than expected, but relatively flat in constant dollars,” Ayeyemi said.

    The Group CEO spoke on the background of the third quarter earnings of the financial services group, which showed declines across the key performance indicators in dollar terms but these were masked by depreciation in Naira, which lifted the figures filed in Nigerian currency with substantial growths.

    The nine-month report for the period ended September 30, 2015 showed that gross earnings, in dollar terms, depreciated by three per cent from $1.65 billion to $1.6 billion. Profit before tax slipped by two per cent from $408.05 million in third quarter 2014 to $398 million in third quarter 2015. Profit after tax dropped by five per cent to $305.67 million as against $322.1 million. Total assets dropped marginally from $23.42 billion to $23.37 billion while deposits dropped by four per cent from $16.84 billion to $16.09 billion. Total equity however rose by 10 per cent from $2.41 billion in third quarter 2014 to $2.65 billion in third quarter 2015.

    When presented in Naira, all the key items showed double-digit growths. Gross earnings grew by 17 per cent from N268.95 billion to N315.83 billion. Profit before tax rose by 18 per cent to N78.67 billion in 2015 as against N66.5 billion recorded in comparable period of 2014. After taxes, net profit for the period grew by 15 per cent from N52.49 billion to N60.42 billion. Total assets rose by 21 per cent to N4.65 trillion in third quarter 2015 compared with N3.84 trillion in third quarter 2014. Deposits also increased from N2.76 trillion to N3.20 trillion, representing an increase of 16 per cent. Total equity funds grew by 34 per cent from N394.28 billion to N528.18 billion.

    Ayeyemi said operating environment in Middle Africa was challenging during the period noting that the decline in pre-tax profit was largely due to adverse currency movements and operational and impairment losses in the third quarter.

    He added that while the financial results were impacted by various factors, the strength of the group’s diversified pan-African business model ensured a balanced outcome.

    “We had decent loan growth in our corporate bank business. And despite a decrease in domestic bank deposits, we increased the share of stable deposits within the deposit mix. With revenue growth challenged in the current environment, we would focus more on cost efficiency and invest in key initiatives in our transaction banking, cards, and ebanking businesses. Also, we are simplifying our operating model to better serve our customers and position the company for long term success,” Ayeyemi said.

    He pointed out that the group closed the third quarter with healthy capital levels with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 20.6% and Total Capital Adequacy ratio of 22.8% under Basel