Wema Bank Plc recently held its Annual General Meeting where it assured stakeholders of higher returns on their investments.
Coming several days after the bank’s 75th anniversary celebration, the meeting availed the investment community an opportunity to gain insight into the performance of the bank in the 2019 financial year.
The AGM, which held in proxy, in compliance with the guidelines of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), was moderated by the Chairman of the bank, Mr. Babatunde Kasali, with few shareholders and members of the bank’s board and executives in attendance. Others joined remotely via live streaming.
For the year under review, Wema Bank announced gross earnings of N94.89 billion, which was a 32.65 per cent increase from the previous year. The bank’s profit after tax (PAT) grew by 56.16 per cent to N5.2 billion, while profit before tax (PBT) year-on-year grew to N6.76 billion in 2019, up from N4.8 billion in 2018. The bank also reported an increase in customer deposits by 56.35 per cent in the year under review, to N577.28 billion.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Wema Bank, Mr. Ademola Adebise, attributed the performance to the bank’s strategy.
He added that the increase in customer deposit was as a result of the aggressive marketing campaigns around the bank’s digital platform, ALAT.
The shareholders in attendance endorsed the dividend payout earlier recommended by the bank.
Adebise assured the shareholders of continuous growth for the bank.
He noted that, “despite the current challenges brought on by the global pandemic, the underlining strength of bank, the quality of our assets and our position as the parent to ALAT, the first-ever digital bank in Nigeria has given us the competitive advantage to continue to deliver excellent banking services to our customers and gain the confidence of our shareholders.”
