Former CBN Dep Gov, Moghalu Gets APSS Appointment
Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) has been appointed to head the board of directors of the Africa Private Sector Summit, APSS. His appointment was announced by the founder and outgoing Chairman of APSS, Judson Wendell Addy. Addy expressed confidence in Moghalu’s leadership experience, credibility, and networks. This private sector-led non-profit organization, headquartered in Accra, Ghana, is dedicated to promoting trade and investment across the African continent. In response to his appointment, Professor Moghalu expressed his honour and commitment to working with African companies, governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to advance the vital role of the private sector in the structural transformation of African economies.
Customer Service Week: Unity Bank Rolls Out Rewards For Staff, Customers
As part of activities to mark it’s 2023 Customer Service Week, Unity Bank Plc staff and customers will win prizes while participating in engagement activities. The week-long celebration which runs from October 2 – 6, will see the Bank also celebrate the exceptional teams in its over 200 branches nationwide rewarding outstanding staff members, while reflecting on the theme of this year’s event – Team Service. To make the week memorable and exciting, all branches of the Bank will engage in several activities that reflect the importance of teams in delivering outstanding customer service in the Bank, while customers will receive cash rewards by taking part in online and offline special offers. Commenting on this year’s Customer Service Week celebration, Unity Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Tomi Somefun while congratulating frontline teams and our customers reenacted the “Bank’s Service Charter which provides the benchmarks, culture and values as well as performance standards for upholding service excellence and commitment to our customers.” While describing the customers as the Bank’s lifeblood, Somefun said: “We celebrate our frontline teams for strongly and meaningfully reinforcing service excellence and on this score, our Bank does not take for granted your choice to Bank with us as we understand that choosing us is because of our shared values, commitment to excellence and exceptional service to you at all times.” “As we look to the future, we pledge to remain customer-centric, embracing innovation to serve you better and therefore make your satisfaction our top priority,” Somefun added. Also speaking, Chief Customer Service Officer of the Bank, Titilayo Abraham said: “This year’s theme, “Team Service” which incidentally is one of the bank’s core values could not have come at a better time with all the challenges being experienced in the banking sector. “As a result of this, we plan to have team-focused initiatives to laud and acknowledge the spirit of teamwork across the Bank. The intent is to endear our customers and cultivate a positive work environment among staff where every team’s contribution is not only recognized but deeply valued and applauded. In addition to our team-building sessions, we will have the team appreciation Wall of Fame, photo booths and themed backdrop banners at selected branches.” She added that “a significant highlight of this year’s celebration is the recognition of outstanding teams” because of the Bank’s firm belief “that investing in the development of our teams is essential to our collective success. The recognition serves as a small token of the Bank’s gratitude, designed to acknowledge the invaluable contributions and camaraderie that exists among teams”. The Bank continues to prioritise the customer over the past few years through increasing focus on digital strategy. For instance, over the past three years, it has maintained its commitment to customer service excellence by introducing innovative digital products such as the USSD banking *7799# in local languages, and mobile banking solution, UniFi which have boosted customers’ access to the Bank’s services, while facilitating convenience. These electronic banking channels are constantly updated with new and exciting features to put the customers first and make their banking experiences top-notch in the industry.
TAJBank Records Highest Tier-1 Capital, Pre-Tax Profit
TAJBank Limited, a Nigeria’s non-interest bank has recorded the highest Tier-1 capital in the non-interest banking sub-sector in the first half of 2023. This is according to a statement by TAJBank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Hamid Joda. Joda said that the audited financial statements of the bank also reflected an increase in its Profit Before Tax (PBT) to N6.019 billion, which is the highest in the banking sub-sector and surpassed analysts’ projections. TAJBank also made history early this year when it listed the first tranche of N100 billion Sukuk Bond on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) after the successful issuance. Joda said that a further analysis of the latest audited financial statements showed that its total assets rose from N212.021 billion in December 2022 to N335.017 billion at the end of June 2023. He said that the figures indicated a 58 per cent increase. “Its gross earnings increased by 67 per cent from N136.149 billion at the end of December 2022 to N227.031 billion as of the end of June. “Other highlights of the bank’s financial scorecard in first half of 2023 reflected that the financing also significantly increased by 62 per cent from N78.235 billion recorded as of December 2022 to N126.725 billion by June. “The deposits base surged to N251.250 billion from N161.958 billion as of December 2022; while its total equity grew by 88 per cent from N19.135 billion in December 2022 to N36.706 billion as of June,’” he said. Joda, attributed TAJBank’s enviable feat to the increasingly proactive strategies being adopted by the management to respond to emerging trends in non-interest banking and deployment of the right resources. “What I can say about TAJBank’s latest scorecard is that we have demonstrated that hard work pays. “As we have maintained over the past three years, our interest is in our customers and we are pursuing this goal with all resources available to us to tell the whole world that TAJBank is the way to go in non-interest banking. “To demonstrate our commitment to this customer-friendly corporate slogan, we are investing in world-class technologies and digital payment solutions in our services nationwide,” he said. “In pursuit of non-interest financial inclusion drive, we have also opened five branches this year and plan to open more in other states in the next few months”, he said. TAJBank’s bank’s Executive Director, Mr Sherif Idi, said that the successes were made possible by the bank’s shareholders and customers. “Our thanks go to our growing customers and shareholders whose belief in our vision and capacity to drive TAJBank to the leading edge of market competition has taken us this far. “Let me assure them that TAJBank’s management and staff will continue to do its best to serve them better and protect their interests, which we value so much in all areas of operations,” he said.
Access Holdings’ Half-Year Profit Hits N940bn
Access Holdings’ net profit for the first half of the year rose by about 52 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year as its half-year revenue reached N900 billion mark for the first time ever. Gross earnings for the period climbed by 58.9 per cent to N940 billion, putting the financial services group on track to dwarf the N1.4 trillion reported for full year 2022, when the current year winds down. Access Bank anchored the growth on fair value and foreign exchange gain, which expanded by approximately 50 per cent to N192 billion. That followed a major revamp of the Nigerian foreign exchange system towards the end of the second quarter, which triggered a reasonable drop in the value of the naira against the dollar but opened the door for the lender to gain big after converting its financial assets denominated in the foreign currency to the naira. At 13.5 per cent, improvement in net interest income was paltry as the cash the corporation paid savers as an incentive for holding their deposits ate away at most of the interest it generated during the period, which originally had surged by as much as 63 per cent. That expense alone consumed N382.6 billion of the entire revenue.Taxable profit advanced to N167.6 billion from N97.8 billion a year earlier, while profit for the period rose 52.4 per cent to N135.4 billion. Ironically, Access Holdings’ post-tax profit lagged those of its other peers who come behind it among Nigeria’s five biggest banks, including UBA, Zenith, GTCO and FBN Holdings in indication of the group’s current inability to tap the vast potentiality of its assets to boost earnings. Its total assets stood at N20.8 trillion in June in a big leap from N15 trillion at the end of last year, following a banking acquisition in Angola and a number of similar deals in the pipeline with Standard Chartered Bank in Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and also Angola. Access Holdings declared an interim dividend of N0.30 per share on Saturday equivalent to a payout of N10.7 billion, compared to the N0.20 per share it announced a year earlier. The stock has yielded 103 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Unity Bank Suffers N35bn Loss On FG’s FX Policy
Unity Bank Plc’s profit in the first half of 2023 was impacted by foreign exchange revaluation on the back of Nigeria’s recent FX liberalization policy, resulting in the lender suffering a revaluation loss of N35 billion within the period. In the retail lender’s financials for the period, notwithstanding the FX liberalization policy and its impact on the bottom-line, the bank grew its FX trading income significantly by 17 per cent to N239.8 million from N204.4 million in the corresponding period of 2022, underscoring the Bank’s strategic focus on diversifying and growing its earnings portfolio. According to the bank, deposits grew to N333.38 billion, representing a marginal increase of 2 per cent compared to N327.42 billion recorded in the first half of 2022 in its Half-Year unaudited financial statement submitted to the Nigeria Exchange Group Limited. The net loans portfolio reduced significantly by 31 percent to N198.6 Billion as at 30 June 2023 from N289.4 Billion as at 31st December 2022. The Bank’s NPL Ratio remained moderate at below 3 per cent while liquidity ratio stood strong at over 45 per cent. The Managing Director/CEO of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun noted that the significant disruptions which characterized the operating environment has impacted the positions of the Bank to the extent that we have constraints in income generation on the back of revaluation of the bank’s net foreign liabilities occasioned by the Naira devaluation during the period. Mrs. Tomi stated: “In the light of the prevailing FX revaluation in the financial system, what we have is a market-driven impact which is adjustable envisaged from the positive economic outcomes of the government policies in the near term. “Be that as it may, the negative shareholders’ fund has improved considerably through the injection of N135 billion which moderated the negative shareholders’ fund from (-ve) N275 Billion in December 2022 financial year-end to (-ve) N178 Billion as at the end of June 2023, after absorbing the FX revaluation loss suffered in the second quarter of 2023. “We are however, focused with clear-cut plans to close out on our recapitalization programme very soon to enable us do business as expected in the fast-growing markets in Nigeria” She further stated that while we remain optimistic that the government’s policy initiatives will lead to cause correction in the market, the Bank has accelerated measures to ramp up asset creation and liability generation in the short and medium term. “The Bank is aggressively driving its retail growth in every segment of the market, expanding strategic partnerships; and growing commercial banking business to develop new and sustainable income lines for the Bank as well as pay sufficient attention to fast-paced process automation, cost and resource efficiency, targeted value chain relationships, and product marketing to enhance value creation in the market.
SEC emphasizes strong regulation’s role in boosting banks’ growth
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said the remarkable growth witnessed in the Nigerian banking industry over the past decade is partly attributable to the capital market and SEC’s comprehensive regulatory approach. Mr. Lamido Yuguda, Director General of SEC said this at the 2023 Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) graduates’ induction and prize award recently in Lagos. He said, “The harmonious relationship between the capital market and the banking sector is further exemplified by our role in facilitating capital raising, mergers and acquisitions for banks. “By streamlining the listing process and ensuring adherence to high standards of transparency and corporate governance, we enable banks to tap into the securities market as a means to secure funds from a diverse range of investors “This synergy between the banking industry and the capital market is illuminated by the fact that only 4 out of the 25 banks that emerged from the Central Bank’s 2004 recapitalization exercise did not access the capital market before compliance.” Yuguda charged the graduates on professionalism and adapting to changes in the financial world. “Distinguished graduates, as you embark on your banking careers, remember the importance of integrity, good moral conduct, and adaptability. “The financial world is evolving rapidly due to technology and global changes. Embrace these shifts as unique and timely opportunities to contribute positively to the banking industry”, he said. He said the theme, “Navigating the Pathways of Banking Excellence,” aptly encapsulates the journey that each of them embarks upon. “I extend my sincere gratitude to the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria for its determined commitment to nurturing industry-ready professionals. Your dedication resonates with our shared vision of fostering a resilient, well-regulated financial ecosystem that can withstand challenges and foster sustainable growth. “The most renowned professionals are celebrated today for building business empires and nurturing thoroughbred professionalism, achieving success through proper conduct, steadfast dedication, and a meticulous approach that allowed them to refine their long-term visions and goals. He said the CIBN’s vision aligns with the Commission’s quest for transparent and fair conduct in securities business by ensuring that operators in the capital market play according to the rules. “The Commission also recognizes individual and corporate players whose conducts not only ensure compliance but do more to make investment an interesting endeavour. “As regulators and professional bodies, we must ensure that our onboarding processes for new entrants are robust enough so that only fit and proper persons find their way into the very exciting careers in the financial market. “Similar to what obtains in the money market, the Commission’s engagement spans a spectrum of activities, including registration, surveillance, proactive regulation, and robust enforcement mechanisms, all aimed at nurturing a fair and transparent market environment. “Even though the CBN is unrelenting in ensuring full compliance by banks and other financial institutions through relevant departments, the professional bodies, especially the CIBN must leverage continuous assessment to ensure that bankers demonstrate probity and ethical conduct at all times. “As the financial market continues to evolve with the increasing need to embrace financial technology, we must keep fine-tuning the regulatory frameworks that guide our continued operation in the market,” he said. He said the culture of transparency mandated by the Investments and Securities Act empowers investors to make informed decisions.