ETI records half-year credit loss of 48b

By Favour Ajibade

Ekobank Transnational Incorporation( ETI) has recorded a credit loss of N48billion in the second quarter of 2022, from N21billion in the first quarter,  a development, which showed a difference of N27 billion in-between the two quarters of the year. 

In its half-year interim financial report for the period ended June 2022, the bank's loan loss charges expanded by N27billion in the last quarter of June, 2022.

The Bank’s Group Chief Executive officer, Mr Ade Adeyemi, attributed the increase in loan impairment expenses to the heightened credit risk situation, which the bank faced in the second quarter. 

Commenting on the bank's half year report,  Adeyemi assured stakeholders of the institution's  preparedness to shield earnings against the development, adding that the bank has proactively built a central loan impairment reserve of $206 million, which would be deploy in a seamless manner to improve the operation of the bank.

The impact of rising credit losses, he said,  was largely tempered by significant cost savings from interest expenses in the second quarter. 

The bank, he stated,  closed the second quarter with interest expenses flat at N54.8 billion, representing a change of position from a 30 per cent rise to N56.8 billion in the first quarter.

" The share of interest earnings claimed by interest expenses went down from 37.7 per cent in the same quarter last year and from 36.4 per cent in the first quarter to 34 per cent in the second quarter.

"ETI was, therefore able to step up growth in net interest income by N17 billion or 19 per cent to over N106 billion over the same period. This is an accelerated growth from an increase of only 4 per cent in net interest income in the first quarter.

"The increased loan loss expenses were registered by claiming an increased share of net interest income at 25.4 per cent compared to 21 per cent in the first quarter and 23 per cent in the same period in 2021, he explained.

Continuing further, Adeyemi said problem from non-interest revenue, which grew less rapidly at 13 per cent in the second quarter than the 19 per cent growth in the first, was another challenge faced by the bank in the second quarter. 

According to him, non-interest income still grew slightly ahead of the 12 per cent stable growth in interest income across the two quarters, despite the slow down in the activities of the bank.

He said at N91.5 billion for the second quarter, non-interest income contributed 36 per cent of revenue, up from 33.5 per cent in the first quarter.

Still on performance, Adeyemi noted that a  sustained moderation in operating expenses came in handy to temper the effects of the increase in cost and revenue slowdown in the second quarter. 

This, he said, is evident in the  bank's operating  cost, which  slowed  down for the second year at an increase of 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter to N107 billion compared to the 12.6 per cent increase in revenue to N252.6 billion for the quarter. 

An analysis of the financial report shows that a decline in operating cost margin from 44.1 percent to 42.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter over the review period. This improved the profit margin in the quarter to 15.4 per cent from 14.3 per cent in the same quarter last year. 

ETI, also known as Africn Global Bank, the report shows, posted an after-tax profit of N39 billion for the second quarter, which is an increase of about 22 per cent  quarter-on-quarter. This is a slowdown from the growth of 26 per cent in after-tax profit in the first quarter to N38 billion.

On year-on-year reading, the bank’s after-tax profit added up to a little over N77 billion. This represents an increase of 23.5 per cent from the corresponding figure of N62.5 billion in 2021, slowing down from the first quarter growth rate.

This represents a return on tangible equity of 19.5 per cent and increased earnings per share for shareholders by 24 per cent year-on-year, according to Adeyemi.

Generally, ETI achieved low cost and margin improvement, which enabled it to grow profit well ahead of revenue. At N491 billion at half a year, revenue grew by 13.4 per cent year-on-year, which consists of interest earnings of N317 billion and net non-interest income of N174 billion.

Despite the spike in the second quarter, the bank still achieved cost savings from loan impairment expenses at half a year. The decline in a net loan impairment charge in the first quarter diluted the strong growth in the second.

Cost saving was also extracted from operating expenses, as the operating cost margin went down from 45.4 per cent to 43 per cent over the review period.

At N111.7 billion at the end of half a year, interest expenses grew by 14 per cent year-on-year, slightly ahead of the 13.5 per cent growth in revenue. It is nevertheless a significant slowdown from a 30 percent increase in the first quarter.

The bank earned N2.21 per share at the end of half-year operations, improving from N1.74 per share in the same period last year.