By Peter Egwuatu

Things may have started looking up for Oceanic Bank International Plc as it recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N28.863 billion for the first quarter financial year ended March 31, 2011, showing a massive recovery from a loss of N117.865 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2010.

The Bank, which is among those rescued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2009, has been fast regaining stakeholders’ confidence following efforts by the Board and management to resuscitate the financial firm back to its leading position in the industry.

The resuscitation effort has reflected in the impressive 2011 first quarter results presented recently .According to the results made available by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oceanic Bank reported gross earnings of N106.434 billion in the first quarter 2011, compared with N190.838 billion in the same quarter 2010.

Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at N25.426 billion, up from a loss of N90.652 billion in 2010.

Further analysis of the results showed that the Bank’s earnings per share (EPS) has improved from negative N4.07 in 2010 to positive N1.14 as at March 31, 2011.

Also, Total Non-Performing-Loans (TNPLs) improved from N620 billion in 2010 to N146.4 billion in 2010. In percentage terms, TNPLs to total loans stood at 39 per cent in 2011 compared to 72 per cent in 2010.

Despite the challenges the Bank has faced in the past two years, the Oceanic Bank’s brand remained strong as reflected in the deposits base for the full year results ended December 31, 2010, which rose from N556 billion in 2009 to N658 billion in 2010.

The bank was recently rated number three most used retail bank in Nigeria by KPMG in its ‘2010 Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey.’

Also, the Bank was rated fourth in terms of its intervention in the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SME) segment and eight in overall customer service and corporate banking within the period.

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank, Mr. John Aboh, recently assured that the future of the Bank remained bright as the positive trend would continue in the years to come.

“Oceanic Bank’s future continues to be bright and we are committed to providing efficient and friendly banking services to all our customers. We remain stable and optimistic that our re-capitalisation efforts will be successful,” Aboh said.

He thanked the Bank’s customers and shareholders for their loyalty and patronage, stressing that the bank remained committed to enhancing value for all stakeholders.