Diamond Bank posts N22billion profit

Diamond Bank Plc has grown its profit after tax (PAT) for the 2012 financial year by over 250 per cent to N22.1 billion as against theN13.9 billion loss achieved in 2011.

The bank’s profit before tax (PBT) also rose to N27.5 billion, which is a complete turnaround from the loss before tax of N18.0 billion recorded in 2011.

Its PBT was achieved from gross earnings of N138.8 billion, an increase of 35 per cent over N102.7 billion earned in the previous year.

According to the Group Managing Director, Alex Otti, “2012 performance is a reflection of the team’s collective decision to place the Bank on a growth pedestal towards becoming one of the leading financial institutions in Nigeria having achieved N1 trillion balance sheet sizes.

According to Management, the proposed amendment is necessary in order to expand the capital raising options to include rights issue of equity or debt.

In 2012, the Bank raised debt capital of about $200 million out of the $750 million, principally from two Development Finance Institutions which included a convertible debt from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank.