Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc released its audited results for the nine months period ended 30th of September, 2021.
According to the results filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the bank posted triple-digit growth in bottom line income of N104.51 billion, as earnings per share improved to N3.01 kobo during the period under review.
Key highlights of the result
- Interest Income grew by 12.02% Y-o-Y to N445.12 billion, from N397.37 billion recorded in the same period of 2020.
- Similarly, Net interest income grew by 12% Y-o-Y to N284.42 billion, against N255.03 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year. The growth was impacted by a 34.20% increase in Investment Securities.
- Non-interest income rose by 12.42% Y-o-Y to N231.74 billion from N206.13 billion recorded in the same period of last year.
- Operating expenses declined by 3% Y-o-Y to N300.72 billion. The decrease was restrained by a 13% growth in Depreciation and Amortization.
- Profit after tax significantly grew by 916.14% Y-o-Y to N104.51 billion during the period under review. However, quarter-on-quarter, the bank recorded a 31% surge in its bottom line to N41.95 billion from N32.06 billion recorded in Q2 2021.
- Loans and advances grew by 15.29% Y-o-Y to N4.74 trillion.
- Deposits from customer rose by 16.48% Y-o-Y to N7.79 trillion.
- Total assets increased by 15.71% Y-o-Y to N10.91 trillion.
- Earnings per share stood at N3.01 kobo.
What they are saying
In his comment, Group CEO, Ecobank, Ade Ayeyemi said: “We reported strong results, reflecting the continued diligence of Ecobankers in putting our customers first and ensuring that we meet their respective needs.
“For the nine months up to September 2021, we earned $352 million in pre-tax profit, a 41% increase compared to the prior year and revenues of $1.3 billion, a four per cent growth. Hence return on tangible equity increased to 17.9%, and we grew the per-share value of our shareholders’ equity by 11% to 5.52 US dollar cents.
“These results also demonstrate the hard work invested in driving efficiency in all our businesses in line with our deliberate focus on driving down our cost-to-serve, sustaining improvement in the quality of our credit portfolio, and strengthening liquidity and capital buffers.”
“As a result, our cost-to-income ratio has been declining consistently quarter on quarter, currently 58.3 per cent. In addition, the stock of nonperforming loans as a percentage of loans outstanding is now at 6.9 per cent compared to 9.9per cent a year ago. We have boosted the firm’s liquidity profile, thanks to growing customer deposits fueled by an acceleration in digital channel adoption, partnerships with Fintechs, Telcos, and businesses in the Payments Ecosystem.
“Finally, we continue to invest in new digital and mobile capabilities to enhance customer experience, alongside the investments we are making in our people, processes, and controls, to ensure the continued resilience of our business and service delivery to our clients. I am deeply grateful to all our customers and the Ecobank team for the remarkable job,” Ayeyemi added.
The increase in depreciation and amortisation expenses for the period should obviously result from addition to assets in the business. I think this is well reflected in the increase in profit as additional cash flows was generated by the added assets.