Diamond Bank Plc,recorded a growth of 16.9 per cent in total assets in nine months, which rose from N1.753 trillion in the same period last year to N2.05 trillion.
The lender, on Friday, October 28, released its Q3 2016 performance scorecard on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE, showing moderate growth in key financial parameters.
This result was driven by the value of the local currency and growth in customer deposits, which surged 13.6 per cent from N1.233 billion as at the end of September 2015 to N1.401 billion in the current business year, demonstrating the Bank’s strong ability and network to generate cheap deposits from the retail and middle market segments.
Also, the Bank grew its loan portfolio from N763.634 billion to N1.041 trillion, representing 36.4 per cent increase for the nine months under review, .
Chief Executive Officer, Uzoma Dozie, sho commented on the result, stated that the Bank’s modest growth in the last nine months despite the inclement operating environment, was the result of management’s focus on key strategic projections across the three core segments of retail, business and corporate banking, noting that the Bank will continue to passionately pursue its technology-driven retail strategy to optimise cost and reap predictable bountiful results in the medium to long term.
He said: “We believe the macro conditions and other external factors will remain challenging for the rest of the year and well into 2017.”
“However, by pursuing our technology-led retail strategy and with our focus on innovation and scalability, we believe the Bank is well-placed to benefit in the medium to long term from the favourable fundamentals in Nigeria, namely a large population, many of which remain unbanked. This strategy stands to benefit all stakeholders, including our shareholders and customers in the long run.”
Diamond Bank recorded strong growth in non-interest income, which jumped by 38.1 per cent to N37.6 billion, despite analysts prediction.
The Bank grew its retail customer base to over 13 million, while the use of its mobile app by customers continues to grow as transaction count increased from 4.3 million to 7.9 million with volume surging from N4.3 billion to N8.5 billion year on year.
