By Dipo Olowookere
The 2018 financial year was positive for Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank Group.
On Thursday, the company, which has presence in many African countries, released its financial statements for 2018.
A brief analysis of the results by Business Post showed that the company significantly grew both its topline and bottomline.
For example, the gross earnings of the lender slightly increased by one percent to N773.3 billion from N763.6 billion, while the revenue also rose by same margin to N567.4 billion from N560.8 billion.
However, the bank recorded a 1.2 percent decline in interest income to N475.2 billion from N480.9 billion, while net interest income dropped to N289 billion from N299.3 billion.
According to the statements, there was a 6 percent rise in the non-interest income, closing at N278.4 billion in FY 2018 against N261.5 billion in FY 2017.
Ecobank said during the year, its profit before tax went up by 53 percent to N135.5 billion from N88.3 billion, while the profit after tax appreciated by 46 percent to N102.2 billion from N70 billion.
In addition, total assets improve significantly by 20 percent to N8.2 trillion, while the loans and advances to customers rose by 17 percent to N3.3 trillion, with the deposits from customers increasing by 25 percent to N5.8 trillion.
During the year, the earnings per share improved to N3.30k from N2.22k in the previous year.
In the results, Ecobank said after due consideration of the impending regulatory capital requirements across the group, and the need to build its liquidity buffer, the board did not recommend the payment of dividends for the year ended December 31, 2018.
View the full results HERE
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale