By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Nigeria Police Force (NPF) Microfinance Bank Plc has expressed its intention to raise fresh capital through public offering.
This information was revealed at the lender’s 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Kano recently.
The bank said it intends to notify the capital market of its plan to do a public offer following due diligence on the financial landscape and bearing in mind the long tenor nature of capital market investment, while disclosing plans to navigate the effect of the challenging economy.
NPF Microfinance Bank Plc has grown its Profit After Tax, (PAT) by 14 per cent from N554.9 million in 2016 to N631.89 million in its financial year ended December 31, 2017.
Besides, the bank intends to notify the capital market of its plan to do a public offer following due diligence on the financial landscape and bearing in mind the long tenor nature of capital market investment, while disclosing plans to navigate the effect of the challenging economy.
Chairman of NPF Microfinance Bank, Mr Azubuko Udah, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), informed shareholders at the meeting that the bank’s non-performing loan ratio reduced to 2.7 percent in 2017 from 3.2 percent in 2016, which is below the regulatory threshold of five percent and the internal benchmark of three percent.
Also, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the financil institution, Mr Akin Lawal, said that in spite of the recession that prevailed in the greater part of 2017, coupled with other unstable macroeconomic indices, the bank’s turnover improved by 25 percent from N2.925 billion to N3.655 billion in the year under review.
The bank’s operating expense increased by 32 percent from N1.9 billion in 2016 to N2.5 billion in 2017 due to increased inflationary costs, increased number of staff and branches and rising cost of asset maintenance due to usage.
Mr Lawal said that the bank’s profit before tax marginally increased from N803.4 million in 2016 to N819.8 million in 2017 as a result of the full cost of the 10 branches opened in 2016, adding that the management has put plans in place to curtail the rising costs and to optimise services.
The bank however, expended N187.9 billion on tax, a reduction of 24.39 percent and N248.5 million.
Key extracts from the audited report showed that assets improved from N12.4 billion in 2016 to N15.95 billion in 2017, representing a 29.04 percent, while shareholders fund increased from N4.5 billion in 2016 to N4.8 billion in 2017.
“As we entered 2017 in the midst of worst depression in the last 24 years of existence, rising inflationary trend and worsening exchange rate exacerbated with oil price crisis, vandalisation of our economic mainstay- oil pipelines and loads of reported ethnic clashes across the federation, but our bank’s management ensured that the three-year strategic plan in operation was carefully reviewed to reflect economic realities and to ensure economic fundamentals of the bank.
“This we did with good dexterity, tenacity of purpose and adequate cost management policies which at the end have put smiles on all our faces today.
“With the technical exit of the country from depression in the second quarter of 2017, the economic fundamentals of the bank steadily continue in a positive trend,” the CEO said.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale