Contrary to uptrend so far recorded by banks, Diamond Bank Plc yesterday announced a decline of 12 per cent in profit before tax (PBT) for the year ended December 31, 2014. Although gross earnings improved by 15 per cent from N181.2 billion to N208.4 billion in 2014, PBT fell from N32 billion in 2013 to N28.1 billion in 2014.


However, the bank posted a growth of 27.3 per cent in total assets from N1.52 trillion recorded in 2013 to N1.93 trillion in 2014.
According to the bank, the growth was driven by a 23.8 per cent rise in deposit liabilities year-on-year, demonstrating the its strong ability to generate cheap deposits from the retail and middle market segments. Deposit


from customers grew from N1.21 billion in 2013 to N1.49 billion in 2014. The directors of the bank recommended a dividend of 10 kobo per share.


Speaking on the results, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uzoma Dozie stated, “We at Diamond Bank are pleased to announce continued success in implementing our strategy across the group, following another year of strong top line growth and an asset base that grew from N1.5 trillion to N1.9 trillion in 12 months.”


According to Dozie, amidst regulatory headwinds that characterised the industry, and a dynamic macroeconomic environment, growth was recorded in operating income, “although our profit before tax declined from 2013 levels on the back of higher operating expenses and loan impairment charges.”


He added that the bank’s capitalisation improved significantly by 50.5 per cent during the year due to a combination of the impact of its highly successful rights issue as well as the capitalisation of profits for 2014.


“In effect, shareholders’ funds increased from N138.7 billion as at December 31, 2013 to N208.8 billion as at December 31, 2014. The strong capital base reflects the bank’s resilience and its preparedness to grow business in the future despite the implementation of Basel 2 and 3 by the central bank and the related high capitalization requirement,” he said.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/diamond-bank-records-12-decline-in-profit/205520/

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