Mr. Bisi Onasanya , First Bank  MD


First Bank of Nigeria Plc Tuesday announced a profit after tax of N46 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2012, showing an increase of 129 per cent above the N20.1 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2011.

The result released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed gross earnings of N182.3 billion, up by 26 per cent from N145.1 billion.

Profit before tax rose from N24.4 billion in 2011 to N54.8 billion in 2012.

Further analysis of the performance showed  total assets rising by 2.9 trillion to N3.1 trillion. Capital adequacy ratio remained at 21.7 per cent, while  return on average equity rose from 11.2 per cent in 2011 to 25.1 per cent. First Bank enjoyed more customer patronage as deposits grew by 15 per cent from N1.922 trillion to N2.209 trillion.

Commenting on the performance,  the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of First Bank, Mr. Bisi Onasanya,  said the profit before tax was driven by strong revenue growth, lower impairment charges and modest growth in operating expenses.
“We are pleased with the continuing progress in our transformation agenda, which is focused on driving efficiencies in our business. The focus over coming periods will be to consolidate and build on those gains as we refine our business and operational platform to ensure we achieve our set objective of excellent service delivery as a basis to expand business volumes.  We will continue to stratify our customer base, provide bespoke products across our various customer segments and with the needs of our customers being of primary concern,” he said.
Meanwhile, trading at the stock market closed negatively as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index declined by 0.9 per cent to be at 23,169.24.