NOVA Bank Grows Profit 125% to N1.2bn in 2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

NOVA Merchant Bank Limited is beginning to reap benefits of its investments in its operations, technology and people, going by the 125 percent rise in the profit after tax achieved by the company in the 2018 financial year.

In the year ended December 31, 2018, the lender declared a profit after tax of N1.15 billion compared with the N510.6 million posted in 2017.

The impressive result demonstrates the bank’s growth trajectory which is expected to accelerate as it scales its business and grows its client base.

NOVA achieved strong growth across all parameters, recording a 54.10 percent growth in gross earnings from N1.22 billion in 2017 to N1.88 billion.

The firm further grew the total assets by 38.89 percent from N18 billion to N25 billion between 2017 and 2018, marking a very successful year for the newly licensed merchant bank which recently deployed a state of the art and fully digital core banking application.

Also, the financial institution recorded remarkable growth in customer acquisition and in line with its objective to be the employer of choice, promoted about a third of its workforce.

The bank assured to continue to strive to deliver profitable, responsible and sustainable growth, adding that it remains dedicated to its core values of Uniqueness, Passion, Leadership, Integrity, Fairness and Teamwork (UPLIFT), believing that these ethos will enable it to surpass the expectations of its clients and stakeholders.

Chairman of NOVA Merchant Bank, Mr Phillips Oduoza, stated that, “We have been able to build a strong foundation for the success of the bank and approach the future with confidence and optimism in our business model, value proposition, clients and employees.

“We remain committed to the implementation of our over-arching philosophy of ‘New Thinking, New Opportunities’ to create value for all our stakeholders.”

On his part, MD/CEO of the bank, Mr Anya Duroha, said, “Our stellar results are a culmination of the hardwork, commitment, resilience, discipline and resourcefulness of all our employees. We have been able to drive strong customer acquisition and deploy leading edge technology whilst optimising our costs.

“We will continue to focus on growing our business, providing solutions tailored to our clients’ needs, building a high performance culture, motivating our employees and creating sustainable value for our shareholders.”