By Aliyu DANLADI
Diamond Bank Plc has strengthened its retail business segment with digital customers of three million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.
The bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Uzoma Dozie, on Monday attributed the milestone to its digital penetration strategy with strong focus on the Nigerian market.
Uzoma said the bank’s digital strategy was paying off as the institution recorded a milestone figure of three million digital customers and significant increase in its mobile platform transaction fees.
He said the bank’s non-interest income during the period grew by 6.4 per cent to N18.8 billion during the period on higher fees from retail transactions on mobile platform.
Uzoma noted that customers’ loan volume decreased by 3.6 per cent to N728.7 billion as maturities exceeded new loans during the period.
He said the nation’s economy continued to record improvements at a macro level because of stable, higher than anticipated oil prices.
“We have witnessed 15 months of expansion reflected in monthly (Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data, but investor sentiment has remained mixed caused in part by the election season factor.
“We have capitalised on the positive macro environment to sustain interest income in the short run with positive prospects for growth and have made progress in growing non-interest income.
“PMI is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and service sectors,’’ Uzoma said.
He said the bank would continue to build awareness in the wider financial ecosystem to develop new frontiers in retail banking.
Uzoma said among this activity were the Beauty Souk and TechFest events, targeted at entrepreneurs and emerging businesses in the fashion and technology sectors respectively.
“Our partnership with Lagos Business School’s Enterprise Development Centre to support young entrepreneurs continued with the seventh season of the Building Entrepreneurs Today programme.
“In addition to retail banking, we are investing more resources in our mid-market business banking services to seize the opportunities emerging in that segment.
“In the second half of 2018, these investments will lead to improved profitability overall.
“Despite a tough six months being reported, the outlook for 2018 remains bright for the Bank as we continue to focus on a return to strong profitability and improvement in other (Key Performance Indicators (KPIs),” Uzoma said.
TBI Africa reports that the bank during the period under review posted profit before tax of N2.92 billion compared to N9.52 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.
Gross earnings stood at N98.50 billion as against N97.89 billion achieved in the preceding period of 2017.
