By Nkiruka Nnorom

DIAMOND Bank has announced a 16.9 per cent growth in total assets to N2.05 trillion for the nine month period ended September 30, 2016 from N1.75 billion posted in the corresponding period in 2015.

This was contained in the bank’s unaudited financial statement made available Friday, at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE. The growth, acodring to the bank in an accompanying note, was driven mainly by the value of the local currency and growth in customer deposits, which surged 13.6 per cent from N1.233 billion as at the end of September 2015 to N1.401 billion in the review period. Also, the bank grew its loan portfolio from N763.634 billion to N1.041 trillion, representing 36.4 per cent increase.

However, the total gross earnings for the period declined by 26.3 per cent to N13.2 billion compared to N17.90 billion in the same period in 2015, while its profit before tax shrank to N3.5 billion on the back of impairment charges as the bank opted for prudent provisioning by cleansing its books of assets with poor quality.

Other highlights of the result showed that Diamond Bank recorded strong growth in non-interest income, which leapfrogged by 38.1 per cent to N37.6 billion, while its retail customer base grew to over 13 million.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, CEO, Diamond Bank Plc, stated that the bank’s modest growth in the last nine months, despite the inclement operating environment, was the result of management’s focus on key strategic projections across the three core segments of retail, business and corporate banking. He noted that the bank would continue to passionately pursue its technology-driven retail strategy to optimise cost and reap predictable bountiful results in the medium to long term.