BUSINESS Mainstreet Bank pays AMCON N6.25bn dividend, posts N13.2bn PBT

Board of Directors of Mainstreet Bank Limited has agreed to pay Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) the sum of N6.25 billion as dividend accrued to the corporation from the 2013 financial year.

The bank also announced a profit before tax (PBT) of N13.2 billion in its group financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2013.

Speaking at the bank’s second annual general meeting held in Lagos, Chairman of Board of Directors, Alhaji Gambo Ahmed, said: “That this result is the outcome of strategies we have put in place in the last two years to build confidence, optimise costs, improve operational efficiency and customer service delivery.”

The bank is also expected to pay 0.05 per cent of its total assets to AMCON as sinking fund. Mainstreet Bank is one of the three banks took over by AMCON in 2010 due to their inability to meet the new capital requirement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The bank’s published financial result showed growth in all key financial indices. Gross earnings grew to a new high of N49.6 billion in 2013. The growth was largely driven by increased interest income as the bank significantly grew its loan portfolio by 63 per cent from N34.9billion in 2012 to N57 billion in 2013. Despite the significant growth in risk assets, the nonperforming loan ratio (NPL Ratio) remained low at 3.66 per cent; well below the 5 per cent regulatory limit. The bank’s operational efficiency strategy yielded a 26.6 per cent growth in net interest margin.

Ahmed said: “We have achieved this result in spite of the socioeconomic challenges and increased competition in the Nigerian banking industry. The result clearly reaffirms that the bank is on the right track of becoming a top tier bank. “We are particularly encouraged by year-on-year growth in our customers’ deposit which shows their increasing confidence in the Mainstreet Brand.”

On the several initiatives the bank put in place to bring efficiency in its operations, the Group Managing/Chief Executive Officer Faith Tuedor-Matthews noted: “Within the period under review, we successfully migrated to the latest version of Finacle core banking application, which has significantly improved our ability to deliver service to our customers and introduce innovative products and services.