Diamond Bank Plc has continued on the path of excellent financial performance, delivering a double digit return on equity as it announced a 16.7% increase in profit before tax to N32.1billion for the full year ended December 31, 2013. On the back of the very good performance, the bank has proposed a dividend of 30k per 50k ordinary shares.
In a statement released from its head office in Lagos, Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Dr. Alex Otti, stated “We are pleased to announce that Diamond Bank has exceeded its N30 billion profit guidance to return a profit before tax of N32 billion in 2013. This result is rooted in our strength to attract low-cost deposits and deploy these into various assets at profitable yet acceptable risk levels”.
While the bank achieved a net interest income of N104.6billion (up 17.1% from N89.3billion recorded in 2012), it generated interest and similar income of N143.1 billion (up 27.3% from N112.4billion earned in 2012). Diamond Bank also achieved a 46.2% increase in other income from N23.8billion it recorded in the preceding year to an impressive to N34.8billion in 2013.
Diamond Bank’s 2013financial results also show improvement in various areas of the Group balance sheet with loans and advances to customers increasing by 17.8% to N689.2 billion; deposits from customers increasing by 32.5% to N1,206.0 billion.
In 2013, Diamond Bank extended its frontiers to the United Kingdom when it opened its UK Subsidiary – Diamond Bank UK Plc. The group has enjoyed significant synergy from the expansion into the UK market.
Diamond Bank is regarded as the leading bank in SME and retail business in Nigeria. The bank, which has banking subsidiaries in Republic of Benin, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal has deployed the retail model across these West African Countries and this has expedited its earnings and strengthened its balance sheet with capacity to generate significant low-cost deposit across the West African coast.
The GMD added: “Despite the challenging operating environment, we continue to advance our competitive advantage with above industry balance sheet growth. We will continue to explore all opportunities to grow our business and market share responsibly as we leverage on our growing customer relationships, enhanced by our expansive delivery channels and excellent service delivery.
Diamond Bank Plc is one of Nigeria’s leading banks, providing financial services to corporate and individual customers across Nigeria and West Africa.
