By Dipo Olowookere
In the first half of 2021, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) reported a 29 per cent growth in profit after tax, which stood at N62.6 billion compared with the N48.5 billion achieved in the same period of 2020.
On Monday, the financial institution released its half-year results and it was disclosed that the pre-tax profit increased by 33 per cent to N85.3 billion from N64.1 billion.
On the top line, the lender recorded gross earnings of N442.9 billion compared with N392.0 billion, with revenue of N334.9 billion as against N290.3 billion reported a year ago.
Ecobank said it had a net interest income of N184.8 billion versus N161.4 billion in H1 2020, while the non-interest revenue grew to N150.1 billion from N128.9 billion.
At the end of H1 2021, Ecobank’s total assets increased to N11.02 trillion from N10.38 trillion in December 2020, while the loans and advances to its customers fell from N3.70 trillion in H1 2020 to N3.63 trillion in H1 2021, with customer deposits in all its operating locations rising by 7.38 per cent from N7.32 trillion to N7.86 trillion and the total equity going down by 1.06 per cent to N803.18 billion from N811.75 billion.
“We saw continued and sustained resilience in our performance, which is indicative of the success of our execution momentum drive.
“As a result, we generated a return on tangible equity of 16.1 per cent versus 15.2 per cent a year ago and increased diluted EPS and tangible book value per share by 19 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. In addition, profit before tax increased 23 per cent to $210 million,” the Group CEO of Ecobank, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, stated on the results.
He further stated that, “Group revenues rose 7 per cent to $825 million, despite the challenging operating environment with the third wave of coronavirus infections threatening economic recovery.
“Our diversified pan-African business model continued to rise to the challenge. Revenues grew 13 per cent and 6 per cent in our Commercial and Consumer businesses, while our focus on growing the trade business led to increased trade assets.
“The slowly increasing business and spend activity drove a 20 per cent rise in our Payments business’s revenue to $90 million. Deposits growth was strong, with total deposits now over $19 billion, an increase of $1.0 billion in the second quarter and $2.4 billion in a year, driven by our omnichannel strategy. Though loan growth remained flat, we are focused on providing support to MSMEs for growth.”
“I am proud of the team’s hard work in driving efficiency, which continues to reflect in our cost-to-income ratio of 58.7 per cent ahead of guidance and progressing well toward our medium-term goal of approximately 55 per cent.
“In addition, credit quality continued to be exceptionally strong. As a result, our NPL ratio of 7.4 per cent is a substantial improvement from the prior year’s 9.8 per cent, as we also build reserves to insulate the balance sheet with an NPL coverage ratio of 86.7 per cent and pushing towards our near-term target of 90 per cent,” Mr Ayeyemi further stated.
“We successfully raised $350 million Tier 2 Sustainability Notes in June, the first-ever by a financial institution in sub-Saharan Africa and first to have a Basel III-compliant 10-year non-call 5 structure outside South Africa in 144A/RegS format.
“The Bond was 3.6 times oversubscribed, demonstrating strong confidence in the Ecobank Group and our commitment to the sustainability of our communities and their social needs.
“I am deeply grateful to all stakeholders and must thank our clients for continuing to put their trust in Ecobank for their diverse banking needs,” the banker further stated.
Adedapo Adesanya