Ecobank Returns to Profitability, Declares N70b Profit in 2017

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Good days are back to Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (Ecobank) as the lender has returned to profitability.

In 2016, the company declared a loss of N52.6 billion mainly caused by a harsh operating environment as a result of economic recession in Nigeria as well as forex issues, but in 2017, the bank posted a profit of N69.9 billion in its financial statements released yesterday on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Business Post reports that the lender generated N560.8 billion as revenue last year compared with N506.2 billion it raked two years ago.

The lender’s gross earnings as at December 31, 2017 was N763.6 billion against N665 billion as at December 31, 2016.

Furthermore, the bank’s total assets in 2017 stood at N6.9 trillion compared with NN6.3 trillion in 2016.

The total equity was N664.7 billion as at December 31, 2017, against N538 billion in the corresponding period of 2016.

Loans and advances to customers stood at N2.9 trillion in the period under review compared with N2.8 trillion in 2016, while deposits from customers stood at N4.7 trillion last year in contrast to N4.1 trillion two years ago.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, described the 2017 financial performance as “an encouraging improvement on 2016.”

He said “our actions to improve the firm’s efficiency were productive as will be our progressive moves to right-size and simplify our businesses, which have been designed to allow us to serve our customers better and create more sustainable value generation.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of Ecobank did not propose payment of dividend for the year ended December 31, 2017.