Bank of Industry group total assets crossed the ₦2 trillion mark in 2022 to ₦2.38 trillion, indicating a 39.2 percent growth when compared with the preceding year.
This significant leap was achieved following the successful conclusion of three landmark capital raising transactions in the year, worth €1.85 billion (about $2 billion) from the international financial markets.
The bank also delivered yet another outstanding financial and developmental performance result in the year ended 31st December 2022, despite the slow, albeit sustained economic recovery, following the COVID-19 induced recession in 2020.
The bank continued its consistent trend in reporting appreciable growth in major financial indices on a year-on-year basis, thus consolidating its position as Nigeria’s largest and most impactful Development Finance Institution.
Gross earnings grew by 15.4 percent to ₦212.96 billion in 2022 from ₦184.55 billion in 2021. In the same vein, interest income improved by 21.1 percent in 2022 to ₦212.96 billion from ₦175.83 billion in the previous year. Income from both customer loans and investments were responsible for this growth.
Profit before tax improved by 15.6 percent to ₦71.99 billion in the year, from ₦62.28 billion in 2021. Remarkable growth in interest income and other income lines; alongside the reduction in impairment charges, facilitated the achievement of this appreciable growth.
Total equity grew by 11.7 percent to ₦429.83 billion from ₦384.85 billion in 2021, while loans and advances improved by 3.2 percent to ₦805.46 billion from ₦780.48 billion in 2021.
A fundamental enabler of this sterling financial performance is the successful conclusion of three key capital raising transactions in the year, from the international financial market.
The first of the transactions was the bank’s maiden Eurobond of €750 million, which was concluded in February 2022. This transaction marked the first of its kind in several ways to the bank, our country, and Africa. This deal was the bank’s first Eurobond transaction, as well as the first Euro-denominated Eurobond transaction in Nigeria. The transaction was also the first Eurobond transaction that was covered by Nigeria’s sovereign guarantee, and also represent the first of its kind by a national Development Finance Institution in Africa. It, therefore, represents a benchmark for other prospective issuers from the African continent. This transaction earned the bank, the Agency Bond Deal of the Year award at the 2023 Awards event of the Bonds, Loans and ESG Capital Markets in Cape Town, South Africa.
The second capital raising transaction was the €1 billion guaranteed senior loan facility, which was concluded in August of 2022. This deal also represents the first of its kind, by any Nigerian financial institution, both in terms of its size and structure. Through this transaction, the bank was not only able to raise liquidity but, was also able to diversify its funding sources by attracting new lenders, despite the fact that the international capital markets were prohibitively expensive and shut to many borrowers at the time.
€100 million line of credit from the French Development Agency (AFD) was also concluded in August 2022. Through this credit facility, the bank shall be able to expand its financing interventions in environmentally friendly and green projects. A grant of €2.5 million was also included in this deal to support capacity building for both our staff and customers.
In terms of developmental impact, the bank disbursed the sum of ₦210.7 billion to 418,436 beneficiaries in the year, through both its direct and indirect lending platforms, as well as through funds that it manages on behalf of its strategic partners.
The bank’s intervention programmes in the year, which traversed several sectors and segments of the Nigerian economy, did not only contribute significantly to our national goals of economic recovery and job creation but also empowered Nigerian businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises to remain in operations in a sustainable manner.
Recall that the bank received the ‘Best Development Bank- Africa 2022’ award at the International Banker 2022 Banking Awards; ‘Most Sustainable Bank 2022, Nigeria’ at the World Finance Banking Awards; ‘Best SME Partner Bank of the Year’ and ‘CEO of the Year’ at The European Magazine Global Banking and Finance Awards. The awards were presented in the heart of London’s financial center.
Pitan’s achievements were also recognized by The European Magazine Global Banking and Finance Awards with the ‘Banking CEO of the Year’, which he won for the second time, after first winning it in 2019.
Pitan said: “We are committed to driving impact in Nigeria’s industrial sector by supporting micro, small, medium and large enterprises to achieve sustained growth that generates considerable multiplier effects such as industrialization, job creation, and poverty alleviation for the economy.
“Our dedication to building a resilient organization that can respond to the needs of our customers and operating challenges is unwavering. In the past 5 years, we have raised over $5 billion from the International Debt Market towards enhancing our capital base to support our customers and the real sector in Nigeria. This has significantly strengthened the bank’s capacity to continue to provide the much-needed finance required by Nigerian enterprises to thrive and scale-up their business operations.”
Between 2015 and June 2022, the Bank of Industry has provided funding of over $3.1bn (₦1.36 trillion) to over 4.3 million enterprises in Nigeria through direct and indirect interventions; resulting in the creation of an estimated 9.6 million jobs.
