Diamond Bank earns N157bn in nine months

Despite the regulatory headwinds that impacted business operations in third quarter, Diamond Bank Plc stayed focused on strategy implementation showing strong resilience against the tide.

Showcasing its nine months performance scorecard, released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the bank reported growth in total revenue, which jumped from N151.6 billion recorded during the same period in 2014 to N156.5 billion, representing 3.2 per cent increase over the previous year. Also, the bank’s net interest income increased to N85.2 billion against N82.6 billion in the first nine months of 2014.

However, the impact

of new regulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Government, especially the change in Cash Reserve Ration (CRR) to 31 per cent and later 25 per cent as well as implementation of the Treasury Single Account continued to be felt at the bank this partly caused a decline in deposits by about N226 billion and consequently led to a drop in total assets by 8.5 per cent year on year.

In his comments, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, highlighted the transformation the bank was going through and remained positive that reliance on innovation, technology and lifestyle priorities will drive banking in the future and Diamond is well positioned to take advantage of this.