Polaris Bank’s assets hit N1.2tr and profit rises to N28.9b

Polaris Bank’s assets hit N1.2tr and profit rises to N28.9b – Polaris Bank Limited grew its balance sheet to N1.2 trillion and continued its growth trajectory with a pre-tax profit of N28.9 billion in 2020.

The audited report and accounts of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2020 showed that the bank continued to improve its performance scorecard in its second year of operations.

The report indicated that the bank has further consolidated its position and remained focused on the path of profitability, growth, and value creation.

The report indicated a four per cent growth in pre-tax profit to N28.9 billion in 2020 from N27.83 billion in 2019. Gross earnings stood at N129.31 billion in 2020. The performance, as shown by the financial statements, was 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 per cent and 29.4 per cent respectively which favourably placed the bank as a key player in the industry.

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The bank’s total assets stood at N1.18 trillion, a three per cent growth on N1.14 trillion recorded in 2019. Shareholders’ funds grew by 17 per cent or N14 billion, largely attributable to internally generated profits. The bank increased its customer deposits by N56 billion from N857.9 billion in 2019 to N914.3 billion in 2020, predominantly low-cost deposits in spite of difficult economic and industry conditions. The bank increased its gross loan book by N38 billion reflecting the bank’s modest and prudent risk strategy to grow its portfolio of quality loans for optimal interest income generation.

Managing Director, Polaris Bank Limited, Mr. Innocent Ike, who took over in the course of the year from Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, who was elected a Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria, noted that Polaris Bank has achieved significant milestones since its inception in September 21, 2018 when it started this journey.

According to him, the bank has since grown to earn the confidence of the banking publics, offering quality banking services at the cutting edge of technology.

“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,” Ike said.

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.

He pointed out that 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.