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Ecobank Transnational Inc. has posted $154 million in profits for the first six months of the 2021 financial year. This is a 20-percent improvement from the $128.88 million posted as profits in the first half of 2020.
The banking group operates a diversified pan-African business model in 36 African countries. It successfully weathered the storm in challenging operating environments after the third wave of COVID-19 infections threatened economic recovery in the first half of 2021.
Group CEO Ade Adeyemi said the group’s resilient financial performance for the first half of the year was indicative of the success of its “execution momentum” drive.
“As a result, we generated a return on tangible equity of 16.1-percent versus 15.2-percent a year ago and increased Diluted Earnings Per Share and tangible book value per share by 19 percent and six percent respectively, while profit before tax increased by 23 percent to $210 million,” he said.
Ecobank Group revenues rose this year by seven percent to $825 million, spurred by a 13-percent revenue growth in the group’s commercial businesses and a six-percent revenue growth in its consumer businesses.
A recovery in business and consumer spending activities improved financial performance during the first half of 2021. This saw the group’s payments business revenue rise by 20 percent to $90 million.
The pan-African bank recently partnered with Microsoft, LinkedIn, GitHub and the Ecobank Academy to give small- and medium-sized enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa the necessary digital skills to leverage online resources for business growth.
Investors’ reactions to the group’s half-year financial results have led shares in the company to surge from a price of N5.10 ($0.01240) to N5.30 ($0.01290) per share as of press time. The uptick placed its market capitalization at N97.25 billion ($236.51 million).
Under the leadership of Ayeyemi, the bank’s total assets have grown from $23.26 billion in June 2015 when he was appointed group CEO to $26.84 billion. The figures are contained in the group’s recent financial report.
