Bank of Industry, BoI, had a good outing in the last financial year. The bank recorded profit before tax, PBT, of N17 billion in 2016, as against N11.9 billion recorded the year before. Loans and advances similarly rose from N156 billion in 2015 to N171billion in 2016.
The bank disbursed N8 billion to Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, in 2016 as against N5.64 billion in 2015.
The bank assured its shareholders of a very bright and positive financial year, noting that its financial operations in Q1 2017 are positive and far better than the first quarter of 2016. The bank said the recent approval of its accounts by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, clearly shows that 2017 will definitely be a profitable year for the bank.
The bank’s risk assets also improved, with the ratio of non-performing loans, NPL, dropping from 5.87 per cent in 2015 to 3.72 per cent in 2016. According to the bank, the feat was achieved in a year when the average ratio of non-performing loans in the nation’s banking industry rose to 14 per cent, beyond the CBN’s threshold of five per cent.
Waheed Olagunju, acting managing director, BoI, attributed the performance of rhe bank to strong commitment, professionalism and strict adherence to global best practices by the bank’s dedicated management team and staff.
He said that these achievements also culminated in BoI’s consistent high rating by international and domestic rating agencies. While Moody’s assigned BoI Aa1 in 2016 up from Ba3 of 2015, Agusto’s rating of AA- in 2016 was higher than A+ of 2015. AA+ assigned by Fitch in 2015 was affirmed in 2016.