Diamond Bank Profit Surges 2.8 Per cent

In its H1 2017 financial results released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos, Diamond Bank Plc showcased strong growth in core financial parameters surpassing analysts’ projections for the period.

The interim report and accounts for the Bank’s operations for the first six months of the business year obtained by our correspondent, show significant growth in all key financial parameters as profit before tax surged year-on-year by 2.8 per cent to N10.8 billion, this followed the leapfrogging of gross income over total expenses during the period under review.

Most significantly and against industry expectations, the Bank’s gross earnings jumped by 16.1 per cent over the previous year to N114.1 billion while interest income also increased astronomically by 31.5 per cent to N89.1 billion, reflecting the success of the management’s strategic efforts targeted at improving and boosting this income line.

Although the impairment charge increased mildly by 6.9 per cent, which is in tandem with the Bank’s continuation of prudent provisioning, its total asset grew by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to N2.065 trillion, making Diamond Bank one of the top six biggest banks in the country.

Despite the fact that loans to customers shrunk by 1.8 per cent from N1.4 trillion to N1.3 trillion, reflecting the cautious optimism employed by the management to manage and stabilise risk assets as the economy waddles through and out of recession, the Bank’s retail customers grew exponentially with over 6 million Diamond Y’ello customers opening accounts in the last two years.

Although customer deposit base shrunk by 1.8 per cent from N1.4 trillion to N1.3 trillion within the period, reflecting the effect of the inflationary spiral on savings, deposit from other banks surged by 31.9 per cent to N136.4 billion from N103.4 billion, reflecting strong confidence and trust on Diamond Bank as one of the systemically important banks in the economy.