Polaris Bank Posts N28.9bn Profit in 2020

By Hamid Ayodeji

Polaris Bank Limited at the weekend released its full-year audited financial results for the year ended December 2020, posting profit before tax (PBT) of N28.9 billion.

According to a statement from the bank, the results showed the bank’s second year performance scorecard after two years of operation.

Details of the results showed that 2020 performance reflected a four per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in PBT.

The performance according to the statement was driven by the combination of the significant reduction in interest expense due to the bank’s pursuit of low interest-bearing deposits as well as lowering impairment charges on loans and other financial assets.

Also, the bank recorded Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) of 2.4 per cent and 29.4 per cent respectively.

Its total assets stood at N1.18 trillion, which was a three per cent growth over the previous year, while shareholders’ funds grew by N14 billion (17%), largely attributable to internally generated profits.

The bank said it increased its customer deposits by N56 billion, predominantly low-cost deposits in spite of difficult economic and industry conditions, and also increased its gross loan book by N38 billion.

This, it stated reflected modest and prudent risk strategy to grow its portfolio of quality loans for optimal interest income generation.

Commenting on the bank’s performance, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Polaris Bank Limited, Mr. Innocent Ike, explained that: “Polaris Bank has achieved significant milestones since its inception in September 21, 2018 when we started this journey. We have since grown to earn the confidence of the banking publics, offering quality banking services at the cutting edge of technology.”

Continuing, the Polaris Bank CEO noted that, “2020 was arguably the most challenging year that the world has faced in decades owing to the negative impact of COVID-19 on businesses and the economy.”

“Yet, the current result demonstrates the importance of the deployment of appropriate strategies, and effectively validates our recent investment in technology solutions and digitisation of our products and processes,” he added.

He explained that the bank’s subsisting three-year Corporate Transformation Plan has recently been reviewed in line with the changing operating environment and trend dynamism for sustainable value creation.

Digital transformation remains one of the potent strategies to strengthen the Bank’s balance sheet, control costs, and improve processes while providing clients with wider self-service offerings.