Wema Bank Posts N4.8bn Profit

Wema Bank Posts N4.8bn Profit

Wema Bank Plc has released its audited financial results for the full year ended 31 December, 2018, which showed that the bank’s profit tax grew by 59 per cent to N4.8 billion, up from N3.01 billion the previous year.

The results also showed that the Wema Bank Group recorded gross earnings of N71.53 billion, which was a 9.6 per cent increase over the 2017 figure.

Its profit after tax also climbed to N3.33 billion in the year under review, up from N2.26 billion in 2017.

The growth resulted from a 8.59 per cent increase in interest income and a 13.95 per cent increase in non-interest income.

The bank also recommended to its shareholders a dividend payout for the first time in 14 years as it has proposed a dividend of three kobo per share in line with the board approved dividend policy.

In the year under review, the bank continued to improve on its deposit mobilisation while at the same time working down its cost of funds.

“ALAT (Nigeria’s first fully digital Bank) launched in May 2017 has improved the bank’s retail liabilities and customer base as the bank now onboards over 1,000 new customers daily on the digital platform and continues to grow its partnership profiles.

“The digital bank continued to receive several accolades in 2018, including the World Finance Awards for Most innovative Bank Africa and the Asian Banker Awards for Best Digital Bank Africa,” a statement explained.

Commenting on the results, the Managing Director/CEO, Ademola Adebise said: “Our vision is to get ALAT to become the premier digital platform in Nigeria. This will be driven by our expertise in the Digital space and our retail partnerships.”

Wema Bank recorded other notable achievements during the year. These include its successful tier-2 capital raising of N17 billion, even as it retained its Investment grade ratings from Fitch, GCR and Agusto.

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