The Bank of Industry (BOI) has announced N39.33 billion as profit before tax in 2019 after creating a one million jobs in the year.
The bank added that the profit realised before tax in the year under review was 7.2 per cent higher than the N36.66 billion recorded after completing its financial accounts in 2018.
Also, BOI revealed that at the end of 2019 financial year, ₦293.09 billion was recorded as total equity, showing a 13.4 per cent increase as against what the bank recorded in 2018 which was ₦258.24 billion.
In a statement made available to newsmen, BOI attributed the increase in profit to improvement in loan book, as well as the efficient management of the group’s other assets and liabilities within the year under review.
While stating that the improvements recorded indicates a strong alignment with the strategic objectives of the Federal Government, especially in the areas of industrial growth and job creation, the bank argued that the strategy aided improvement on all fronts in spite of the general elections hurdle.
Explaining improvements recorded, BOI said: “The group’s Total Equity as at year ended 2019 was ₦293.09 billion showing a 13.4 per cent increase over 2018 position of ₦258.24 billion.
“In the same vein, Profit Before Tax of the group grew to ₦39.33 billion marking a year-on-year growth of 7.2 per cent over ₦36.66 billion of 2018. The increase in profitability is as a result of improvement in loan book, as well as the efficient management of the group’s other assets and liabilities.
“Despite a slow start in the first quarter of the year due to the build-up to the 2019 general elections, Loans and Advances grew by 16.7 per cent from ₦634.11 billion in 2018 to ₦740.03 billion in 2019. Interest Income and Interest Expense increased by 20 per cent and 54 per cent on a year-on-year basis respectively due to increase in loan book as well as the impact of borrowings (full year impact on the interest expense in 2019, while 2018 impact was for 6months).”
On employment, BOI explained that the one million jobs were created within the year after disbursing ₦234 billion to 10,145 enterprises that created 1 million direct and indirect jobs.
According to the bank, the disbursement to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) segment increased from ₦33.9billion in 2018 to ₦53.0 billion in 2019, representing a remarkable 56.3 per cent year-on-year growth.
As managing partner in the country’s Social Investment Programmes, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), the group disbursed the sum of ₦8.2 billion to beneficiaries within the year under review.
BOI stressed that the fund increased total disbursement since inception to ₦36.9 billion to 2.3 million beneficiaries in the country
“In light of this outstanding performance, GEEP was recognised by the Desmond Tutu Fellowship for its role in driving financial inclusion. The programme also won the African Development Bank’s African Bankers’ Award as the most impactful Financial Inclusion programme in Africa”, the bank added.
To ensure creation of more jobs in the country, the bank also raised €1 billion from 24 international financial institutions, “to catalyse domestic production and job creation on a transformational scale, enhance local industry competitiveness, attract domestic and foreign investments, integrate local industries into domestic, regional and global value chains, grow export earnings and positively impact the overall economic development of the country”.
