Diamond Bank Plc, in a notice, sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has refuted rumours, the lender is in discussions with Access Bank to acquire it.
We wish to state categorically that the Bank is not in discussions with any financial institution at the moment on
any form of merger or acquisition.
Media reports, earlier today suggested that Access Bank had been in discussions with Diamond Bank to acquire it. Access Bank has since refuted them.
Diamond Bank closed at N1.16 in today’s trading session, down 9.38%. The stock was the most actively traded today on the NSE with 32.2 million shares valued at N37.6 million traded in 243 deals.
Results for the third quarter ended September 30 2018, show Gross Earnings dropped from N143 billion in 2017 to N142 billion in 2018. Profit before tax fell from N4.7 billion in 2017 to N3 billion in 2018. Profit after tax also dropped from N3.9 billion in 2017 to N1.6 billion in 2018.
Prior to this
Diamond Bank had last week, issued a press statement denying it was among several banks flagged in a CBN report for poor liquidity. It also debunked a report that investors were interested in a capital injection on the condition its Group Managing Director Uzoma Dozie stepped down.
The banks also stated that it would appoint replacements to its non-executive directors that stepped down recently.