The Sun News On-line|Money Market

Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc as recorded a 114.7 per cent growth in shareholders’ fund this was disclosed by the bank’s managing director Mr. Emeka Onwuka at the 17th Annual General meeting of the bank which was held in Lagos.

The growth according to Onwuka was facilitated by the proceed of the $500million GDR offering towards the end of the third quarter of the year. This he said “for the period under review the bank achieved a return on equity of 15 per cent compared to 13.7 per cent for the previous financial, despite 114.7 per cent growth in shareholders’ funds to N116.1 billion.”

He declared that the 2007/2008 financial year as a record financial year for the bank, “the year saw us building on our strong reputation for customer focus, ethical principles, innovative product development and quality service. These principles have continued to steer our growth on an impressive and sustainable path.”
Asked about the GDR offering, he revealed “ in the intermediate after the GDR offering, the bank had started deploying the net proceeds of the offer in line with the GDR prospectus.

We have significantly improved and strengthened our Call Centre. We are rapidly expanding and refurbishing our branch network, intensifying our ATM rollout throughout Nigeria, growing our point-of-sale terminals and enhancing other e-banking channels and information technology infrastructure. We are also expanding the bank’s business platform in the West Africa region through the investment of N2.7billion in Diamond Bank Benin S.A and for establishing our Togo, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire branches.”

In his welcome remarks, the Obi of Onitsha, HRH Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe said “ the decision to leverage on the Benin Republic banking license to open further locations within the francophone axis of West Africa is in line with the corporate strategy of following the banks’ customers wherever they may be. The strategy is geared towards taking advantage of the business opportunities in that axis as the region begins to benefit from economic reforms, political stability and strong GDP growth.

Speaking further on the economy, the Obi of Onitsha said “the Nigerian economy has achieved significant growth in recent years. However, it continues to suffer from various deficiencies, especially with regards to acute infrastructure inadequacy- power cuts, bad roads and others. The government should maintain its private sector lead approach, such that the positive impact on economic activities will manifest soon.”

On macroeconomic stability, the royal father advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said “we expect the CBN’s restrictive measures will remain effective in its efforts to keep both core and headline inflation within single digits this year. Overall, the economy looks promising and we see a banking sector with enhanced business opportunities”.

While reacting to the performance of the banks’ management Chief Sunny Nwosu who is the National Coordinator Independent Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria said “ the financial performance is a reflection of the performance of the bank’s management. Added to this the bank must deploy of anti-money laundering software to mitigate the activities of cyber criminals in the country and I believe by next year the bank would do better on the 56 kobo dividend payout for this financial year.

While Mazi Bassey Okezie, the Chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN) said “it time for the bank to also open its own European subsidiary so that the bank can tap into the benefits of London as a super financial service centre for Europe.”