The climb may be temporary though.
The lender, however, could cede that position to its fierce rival,
A 12.2 per cent increase in net interest income enabled
But earnings were somewhat limited by a slump in net income on fees and commission from N100.106 billion to N79.332 billion, and the lender's provision for loans likely to go bad, which soared from N24.032 billion to N39.534 billion.
That deterioration in credit quality by as much as 64.5 per cent in 12 months underscores the December projection of credit rating agency Fitch.
Nigerian banks should brace up for harder times this year, the
Dividend Per Share
Pre-tax profit stood at N255.861 billion up from N243.294 billion, meaning a 5.2 per cent growth.
Profit for the year went up by 10.4 per cent from N208.843 billion to N230.565 billion.
The earnings per share of
The lender's board of director also announced on Tuesday a final dividend per share of N2.70, having earlier paid an interim dividend of N0.30 for 2020, bringing the total to N3. That compares to 2019's total of N2.80.
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