Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of Standard Bank Group, has posted Profit After Tax (PAT) of N16.1 billion in its first quarter operations, against N7.8 billion achieved in the corresponding period in 2016.

Specifically, the bank’s performance for the first quarter ended March 2016, showed 106 per cent rise in profit, from N7.8 billion to N16.1 billion while pre-tax profit stood at N18.6 billion, an increase of 78 per cent over the N10.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016.

The bank attributed the improved performance to sustained focus on the bank’s objectives, as well as heavy investment made on digital channels upgrade for enhanced operations.

Gross earnings stood at N47.0 billion, representing an increase of 35 percent over the N34.8 billion recorded in the comparable period of last year.Similarly, total assets went up 11 per cent to N1.2 trillion from N1.1 trillion in December 2016.

The Chief Executive of the bank, Yinka Sanni, said: “I am delighted to announce another strong performance for the first quarter of 2017 following the recent release of our FY 2016 results. Stanbic IBTC Group achieved significant growth in profit after tax by over 100 per cent, despite the challenging trading environment which was characterised by challenges with FX liquidity, difficult credit environment and an increasing cost of operations.”
He added: “We remain positive that economic activities will improve as the Nigerian economy is beginning to show signs of positive outlook due to an increase in the supply of foreign exchange to both retail and corporate users and decreasing headline inflation.
According to him, “As we focus on driving our objective to be the leading end-to-end financial solutions provider in Nigeria, we will continue to leverage on our upgraded digital channels and our membership of the Standard Bank Group.”
He explained that the group’s liquidity ratio closed at 94.35 percent, while the bank’s liquidity ratio was at 83.99 percent at the end of Q1 2017. These ratios are significantly higher than the 30 percent regulatory minimum.
He added that the group’s capital adequacy ratio remained above the minimum statutory requirement of 10 percent, with total capital adequacy ratio of 21.69 percent.