Accion Records N6.1billion in Gross Earnings in 2019

Accion Records N6.1billion in Gross Earnings in 2019

Ugo Aliogo

Accion Microfinance Bank Limited has generated gross earnings of N6.1billion; an increase of 15.3% when compared to N5.3billion in 2018.This was due largely to increased activities in key products and services. The profit before tax was down by 13.8% year-on-year from N1.55billion in 2018 to N1.34billion in 2019. This was due largely to signicant investment in digital infrastructure. In the same vein, Profit after tax declined by 12.8% from N1.05billion in 2018 to N913 million in 2019.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos at a teleconference to announce the results of the 2019 financial year, at the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM), the Managing Director of Accion Microfinance Bank Limited, Taiwo Joda, said the bank’s total assets stood at N12billion indicating a growth of N9.5% from N11billion, while deposits grew by 43% from N2.81billion in 2018 to N4.0billion just as the number of savers and accounts grew by 5.7% and 15.6% respectively.

He also stated that the bank made significant improvement in portfolio at risk (PAR) as the various PAR reduction measures deployed during the year paid off for us a Bank, “our PAR closed for both PAR>1 and PAR>30 at 8.7% and 6.6% respectively as against 10.5% and 7.1% respectively in 2018.We hope to sustain this trend in the current year.”

He further stated that as part of the activities in the company’s digital journey, it has issued a total of 31,382 cards in the year and 27,042 were activated on their various channels, “cumulatively, the number of ATM cards issued to our customers closed at 104,150 as at December 2019 compared to 72,768 in 2018.”

Joda explained that the bank grew its banking agents to 539 as against 340 agents in 2018, adding that its digital channels in 2019 included USSD, debit cards, mobile banking, NIP, agency banking, “our call center was remodeled and repositioned to improve on our customer experience.”

He noted: “As a bank that takes great joy in delighting its customers by deliver value, drive efficiency and quick turnaround time, we embarked on the upgrade of key tools that will make our processes easier and faster in our loan processing. This includes the upgrade of current Digital Field Application (DFA) for loan processing scheduled for deployment in the 3rd quarter of 2020. The New DFA is expected to be a one stop application for our loans processing and will signicantly impact on the current loan processing methodology in the bank.”

Announcing the results, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. John Fischer declared that the number of active burrowers grew by 18.2%, loan portfolio had a rise of 15.4%, deposit accounts increased by 13.5%, the number of savers recorded a growth of 3.9% and customers deposit increased by 42.8% growth.

He remarked that due to the heavy investment in digital optimization in the said financial year, the bank had a lower profit after tax of ₦ 915 million as against the ₦ 1.05 billion recorded in 2018.

He affirmed that the investment in digital transformation would yield the desired impact on the business.

Fischer expressed delight that shareholder’s fund grew to N5.24BN in 2019 resulting in a 12% growth, adding that with this feat, the bank has crossed the new capital base of N5Bn for a national microfinance bank.

He highlighted the activities of the bank concerning the economic environment, regulatory environment, leveraging on technology, corporate social responsibility, our people, and future outlook of the bank.

Continuing, Joda noted: “The year ushered in a series of new business directions and corporate focus – all pivotal the achievement of the financial inclusion goal of the bank. He further mentioned the progress made on some key imperatives such as the boost in our national expansion drive as a licensed national Microfinance Bank with our presence in Kano state.

“The significant event that shaped the operating environment during the year under review which was the global and domestic economic review. He added the bank increased her outlets from 80 in 2018 to 93 in 2019 and deepened our reach to the bottom of the pyramid as we grew our active customer base by 18%.”

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