• As stakeholders seek efficient housing scheme
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Nigerians grew their mortgage deposits by 94.5 percent.
The customers, under the Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, grew the deposits from N1.94 billion in 2019 to N3.77 billion, while increasing by 33 per cent loans, which raised the mortgage lending from N5.34 billion in 2019 to N7.12 billion in 2020.
Speaking at the bank’s yearly general meeting, where shareholders of the bank approved 4 Kobo dividend per share, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Adeyinka Bibilari said the financial results were commendable despite the challenges of the COVID-l9 pandemic, adding that strategic focus of the bank on growing balance sheet and diversifying the income base was commendable.
Bibilari said: “This was underpinned by a robust risk management framework, strengthening of the internal control along with good technological framework and innovation in internal operations and processes.”
He assured the shareholders that the bank would implement holistic growth initiatives to improve market standing and optimize the business.
The Bank’s audited figures show the bank’s Profit before Tax increased to N465.06 million from N444.38 million in 2019, the total operating expenses dropped by 15 percent from N740 million in 2019 to N625 million in 2020.
On-lending and refinancing activities also witnessed a growth of 22 per cent from N2.19 billion to N2,68 billion. Total assets grew by 25 per cent from N10.64 billion in 2019 to N13.34 billion in 2020, while shareholders’ funds grew by four per cent from N6.20 billion in 2019 to N6.44 billion in 2020.
The Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Olabanjo Obaleye said: “I am proud that in addition to successfully navigating all of the challenges of operating in a pandemic environment, we achieved improvements in profitability.”
He stressed the need for investment in businesses and maintaining a consistent profitability trend.
Obaleye emphasized attracting average income earners who desire to buy a house through efficient mortgage delivery while maintaining competitive interest rates amid varying tenors.
(THE GUARDIAN)
