Diamond Bank Suffers 38% Profit Loss in 2016

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

One of the major financial institutions in Nigeria, Diamond Bank, has released its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016.

In the results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today and sighted by Business Post, it was observed that the profit of the lender dropped by 38 percent in the year under review.

This resulted from the harsh business environment the company operated in last year when Nigeria slumped into a deep recession, which affected many businesses in the country.

Diamond Bank, in the financial statements, declared a profit after tax of N3.5 billion in contrast to 5.7 billion it declared in the corresponding period of 2015.

Also, the financial institution suffered a drop in its gross revenue in 2016. While it recorded a turnover of N217.1 billion in 2015, a total of N212.4 billion was netted 12 months later.

In the same vein, the bank’s net operating income depreciated to N102.1 billion in 2016 from N104.6 billion in 2015.

The firm declared a pre-tax profit of N5.03 billion in the period under review compared with N7.09 billion it posted a year earlier.

The bank stated in the report that assets pledged as collateral included N145.65 billion for borrowings from financial institutions against N140.9 billion in December 2015, while as at December 31, 2016, it held no collateral which it was permitted to sell or repledge in the absence of default by the owner.

It further stated that there were no capitalised borrowing costs related to the acquisition of property and equipment during the year and that the amount of contractual commitments for the acquisition of property and equipment as at December 31, 2016 stood at N5.11 billion versus N8.33 billion a year earlier.