Lagos — Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) said its profit for 2011 financial year has risen to N32.27 billion ($207 million), representing a 57 per cent increase over that of the previous year.

The Group Chairman, Ecobank Group, Kolapo Lawson, who disclosed this in the bank's annual report, hinted that the bank's total assets were $17.2 billion at the end of 2011, an increase of 64 per cent over the result of 2010.

According to him, this was driven by 52 per cent increase in customer deposits to $12.1 billion and 40 per cent increase in customer loans to $7.4 billion. He said the bank's performance was strong across business segments and geographical clusters.

He said their revenues grew by 33 per cent to $1.2 billion, continuing to outpace increases in operating expenses.