Skye Bank reports 47% growth in H1 net earnings

Skye Bank Plc has posted 47.4 per cent increase in profit after tax for the first half of the year that ended June, 30 2015. The bank in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange said its profit after tax was up to N8.570 billion in 2015 as against N5.813 billion reported in 2014, indicating a drop of 47.4 per cent.

Its half year pre-tax profit equally grew by 47.4 per cent to N10.712 billion compared with N7.266 billion in the previous year. Gross earnings also rose to N85.202 billion from N63.884 billion the previous year, representing an increase of 33.4 per cent.

The bank had recently announced the successful conclusion of its integration process with Mainstreet Bank Limited, which it acquired late last year in line with its long term vision of playing a leading role in Nigeria’s financial services industry.

The bank said in a statement made available to news men that six months after it took over Mainstreet Bank, it seamlessly achieved the harmonisation and integration of their processes, procedures, structures, operations, human capital and all other scheduled tasks.

The statement quoted the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, as saying that the bank was set to unleash the full potential of the combined strengths of the two institutions for better customer service, customer experience and value creation for all its stakeholders.

“We are committed to pushing the frontiers of technology and innovation to enhance stakeholder value at optimized cost, and offer delightful customer experience. We will therefore continue to make the required investments in people, process and technology to meet this commitment,” he reassured customers of the bank.

Oguntayo disclosed that Skye Bank’s total branch network stood at 469 while its Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network has increased to 815 across the country, with an asset base of N1.5 trillion.

The implications of these for the customers, he said, include better access to the bank’s service channels, cutting edge technology, and stronger balance sheet to support their businesses.

The Skye Bank boss said In line with the bank’s growth strategy and preparatory to the acquisition, the bank had made enormous investments in both its human capital and information technology, two critical assets that define organsational success, noting that their new banking software, Oracle Flexcube 12.0, with its multi-functional capabilities, is one of the best and most recent inventions.