Polaris Bank. Photo/ Imbuednation
Polaris Bank Limited has posted a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N28.9billion for the 2020 financial year, its latest full-year audited financial results for the period have shown.
The results which showed the Bank’s second year performance scorecard after two years of operations, further consolidated the Bank’s position as focused on the path of profitability, growth, and value creation.
Details of the results showed that its year 2020 performance reflected a 4% Year on Year (YoY) increase in Profit before Tax (PBT).
The performance, according to the financial statements, is driven by the combination of the significant reduction in interest expense due to the Bank’s pursuit of low interest-bearing deposits as well as lowering impairment charges on loans and other financial assets.
The Bank recorded Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) of 2.4% and 29.4% respectively which favorably place the Bank as a key player in the industry. The Bank’s Total Assets stood at N1.18trillion, a 3% growth on the previous year while Shareholders Funds grew by N14billion (17%), largely attributable to internally generated profits. The Bank increased its Customer Deposits by N56billion, predominantly low-cost deposits in spite of difficult economic and industry conditions, and increased its gross loan book by N38biilion reflecting the Bank’s modest and prudent risk strategy to grow its Portfolio of Quality loans for optimal interest income generation.
Commenting on the Bank’s performance, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Polaris Bank Limited, Innocent Ike who took over in the course of the year from Tokunbo Abiru, explained that “Polaris Bank has achieved significant milestones since its inception in September 21, 2018 when we started this journey. We have since grown to earn the confidence of the banking publics, offering quality banking services at the cutting edge of technology”.
Continuing, the Polaris Bank CEO noted that, “2020 was arguably the most challenging year that the world has faced in decades owing to the negative impact of COVID-19 on businesses and the economy. Yet, the current result demonstrates the importance of the deployment of appropriate strategies, and effectively validates our recent investment in technology solutions and digitization of our products and processes,” he added.
He explained that the Bank’s subsisting three-year Corporate Transformation Plan has recently been reviewed in line with the changing operating environment and trend dynamism for sustainable value creation. Digital transformation remains one of the potent strategies to strengthen the Bank’s balance sheet, control costs, and improve processes while providing clients with wider self-service offerings.