Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NMRC) recorded a decrease in interest income as stated in its Annual Reports and Accounts for 2020 at its Annual General Meeting held at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
This was contained in a press statement by the organization on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 titled “NMRC Announces its 2020 Financial Results.”
NMRC is a CBN-licensed mortgage liquidity facility with the core mandate of developing the primary and secondary mortgage markets. The company raises long-term funds from the capital market for mortgage refinancing and by extension promotes affordable housing finance and home ownership in Nigeria.
The Chairman of NMRC, Mr. Charles Adeyemi Candide-Johnson (SAN), was quoted to have said in his remarks that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on the sector.
According to him, the slowdown of the economy resulted in job losses and default on mortgage obligations.
He added that NMRC’s investment income also came under pressure with decrease in interest income.
The Chairman also noted that despite the challenges, profit before income tax decreased marginally from ₦3.097 billion in 2019 to ₦3.039 billion in 2020 while the company’s Balance Sheet increased from ₦72.867 billion in 2019 to ₦85.044 billion following the company’s series 3 bond issuance in November 2020.
According to the press release, NMRC’s Managing Director, Mr Kehinde Ogundimu in his comments stated that notwithstanding the significant fall in interest income, the company was able to flat-line profits by cutting down on expenses for a decent financial outcome during the year.
Mr Ogundimu further noted that the company had a positive variance on expenses with total expenses decreasing by ₦0.44 billion from ₦2.32 billion in 2019 to ₦1.88 billion in 2020. Profit before income tax decreased marginally by 1.6% from ₦3.09 billion in 2019 to₦3.04 billion in 2020.
In terms of other indices, the Managing Director also noted that earnings per share decreased by 1.4% from ₦1.42 in 2019 to ₦1.40 in 2020. Cost-to-income ratio improved from 42.8% in 2019 to 38.2% in 2020. Total assets at the end of 2020, was ₦85.4 billion, an increase of 17% from the 2019 balance of ₦72.9 billion. Capital adequacy ratio improved from 70% in 2019 to 80% in 2020, far greater than the regulatory requirement of 10%.
