Lome — Ecobank Transnational Inc. ("Ecobank" or "the Group"), parent company of independent pan-African banking group Ecobank reports its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2015. Highlights are as follows:
Financial highlights:
- Net revenue of US$1.1 billion, flat from 2014
- Cost-income ratio of 62.5%, an improvement of 560 basis points from 2014
- Profit before tax of US$312 million, up 22% from the previous year
- Profit after tax from continuing operations of US$247 million, up 26% from the previous year
- Return on average equity of 18.5% compared to 17.7% in 2014
- Basic earnings per share of 0.97 US$ cents compared to 0.95 US$ cents in 2014
Balance sheet highlights:
- Net customer loans of US$11.8 billion, down US$554 million, or 5%, year-to-date
- Customer deposits of US$16.1 billion, down US$1.3 billion, or 7%, year-to-date
- Tier 1 capital ratio (Basel I) was 19.9% and total capital adequacy ratio of 22.0%
Business highlights:
- The underlying performance of our lines of business was good given the difficult operating environment, characterised by the significant depreciation of our key functional currencies against the US dollar, our reporting currency, monetary and fiscal challenges particularly in Nigeria and Ghana, and slowing economic activity overall. Domestic Bank, Corporate and Investment Bank, and Treasury increased their profits before tax by 153%, 18%, and 5%, respectively
- Customer loans grew 1% in the second quarter (April-June) and customer deposits 3%, following decreases in the first quarter (January-March), reflecting loan growth in Corporate Bank and deeper customer engagements
- We strengthened our balance sheet with a Tier 1 capital increase of US$1.0 billion from the prior year and reduced by 4% our risk-weighted assets (RWA). Our capital adequacy ratio was 22.0% at the end of June compared with 16.1% in the prior year, and 20.4% in December 2014
Commenting on these results, Albert Essien, Group Chief Executive Officer said: "Our results for the six months ended June 2015 reflected the strength of our balanced business model and pan-African strategy. We increased profit after tax by 26% to US$244 million and generated a return on average equity of 18.5% for our shareholders.
Despite a difficult operating environment, we stayed committed to our customers – households and businesses alike – by focusing on providing them with the financial solutions they need. In the second quarter, loans and deposits grew gradually, following tepid growth in the first. We continued to drive cost efficiencies in our businesses and our cost-income ratio improved to 62.5% compared to 68.1% in the previous year."
Essien concluded: "Our balance sheet remained healthy, as evidenced by a capital adequacy ratio of 22.0%. Ecobank is well positioned to gain from resumption in economic activity in Africa and I am confident in the ability of our 19,000 plus employees to serve our clients with pride and excellence."
