Non-interest finance institution, Jaiz Bank Plc, has declared a profit after tax (PAT) of N1.79 billion according to its 2019 unaudited financial results which was submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
This signified a 114 per cent growth when compared with N834.36 million recorded at the end of 2018.
The report indicated that its total assets rose by 53 per cent from N108.462 billion in 2018 to N166.837 billion, while gross income rose by 80 per cent from N7.5 billion in 2018 to N13.517 billion in 2019.
The bank’s earnings per share also surged up to 6.06 kobo per share as against 2.83 kobo per share in 2018, representing an increase of 114 per cent, attesting to the increasing public interest in Islamic finance products.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the bank, Mr. Hassan Usman, said the major driving force was the deliberate efforts to satisfy customers, which is evident in the significant growth in the deposit base.
The bank further deepened its support for the MSMEs sector with targeted intervention to meet diverse needs of small-scale bourgeoning entrepreneurs.
It also invested more on IT infrastructures, improved e-banking channels that made it easier for customers who prefer to bank on the move than use bricks-and-mortar banking hall services.
In April last year Jaiz Bank secured a N3 billion credit facility from the Bank of Industry (BoI) for onward lending to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, a move which Usman said SMEs will be able to access the funds to grow their businesses and create wealth.
In addition, earlier in January 2019, he had reiterated the bank’s commitment to facilitating financial inclusion to a large segment of the society who are currently excluded from its financial services.
To this end, he noted that the targeted group or those who don’t have access to financial services would be allowed to open account without meeting the strict Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements including utility bills, international passports among others.
The MD said its financial performance further showed its policies were already yielding positive outcomes.
Source: THISDAY
