Financial Energy Review
Polaris Bank Limited has recorded Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N28.9 billion in its financial year ended December 2020.
This represents four percent growth when compared with the N27.83 billion recorded in the 2019.
The bank in a statement announcing the financial results for 2020 said that the increase in profitability is driven by the combination of the significant reduction in interest expense due to its pursuit of low interest-bearing deposits as well as lowering impairment charges on loans and other financial assets.
According to the statement, Polaris recorded Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) of 2.4% and 29.4% respectively in 2020 which favorably place it as a key player in the industry.
Total assets rose by 3% to N1.18 trillion while Shareholders Funds grew by N14 billion or 17%, largely attributable to internally generated profits.
The Bank increased its Customer Deposits by N56 billion, predominantly low-cost deposits in spite of difficult economic and industry conditions, and increased its gross loan book by N38 billion reflecting the modest and prudent risk strategy to grow its Portfolio of Quality loans for optimal interest income generation.
Commenting, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Polaris Bank Limited, Mr. Innocent C. Ike who took over in the course of the year from Mr. (now Senator) 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
