By Nse Anthony-Uko
(Sundiata Finance) — The NPF Microfinance Bank Plc have paid out N342.9 million as dividend to its shareholders translating to 15 kobo per share having posted a N2.9 billion gross earnings at the end of the 2016 financial year.
Speaking at the 23rd Annual general Meeting of the bank in Enugu, the Chairman of the NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Azubuike Udah, stated that the domestic macroeconomic environment in the year 2016 was marked by several unexpected developments thus. Making it most challenging, that crude oil price fell below USD30 per a barrel.
Udah noted that despite the challenging social and economic environment operated “Our bank recorded marginal growth during the 2016 financial year. Gross earnings grew by 13.86 per cent from N2.5 billion in 2015 to N2.9 billion in 2016.
“Profit before tax increased by N16. 63 per cent to N803 million in 2016 from N688.8 million in 2015. Total Assets as at December 2016 stood at N2.9 billion which represents a 0.23 per cent increase over the 2015 figure, while loans and advances grew by 15.41 per cent to close at N9.1 billion from N7.9 billion in 2015.”
He said that given this performance, for the third time in row, the board has proposed a dividend of 15 kobo per a share which represents a dividend appropriation of N 342.9million and a dividend pay-out ratio of 63 per cent on profit after tax.
Commending the management of the bank, its shareholders said the performance of the bank has shown that people should not look down on Microfinance Banks as most commercial banks cannot pay their shareholders as much as some Microfinance banks pay.
The shareholders however called on the management to expand their scope of the bank operations to ensure that it is operating in all the 36 police commands in the country since police is the first beneficiaries both serving and retired officers.
They also suggested that the bank should introduce a police insurance scheme where every police officer that opens account with the bank is given an insurance policy of N10 millions as an incentive to officers and men of the force.
One of the shareholders and former Inspector General of Police, Ogbonnaya Onovo, called on the police officers to patronize the bank, saying that the bank operates better than commercial banks in terms of loan, saying that most of them who retired from police benefitted from the bank.
He noted that the bank personally helped him acquire some properties which he later resold to make marginal profit and urged his serving colleagues to avail themselves the opportunities the police bank offers.