NOVA Merchant Bank Limited, a newly licensed merchant bank with a focus on wholesale banking, investment banking and asset management has been riding on a high level of productivity and cost-effectiveness in its activities, thus laying a strong foundation for its future success. To this end, the bank has reported a profit of N510.58 million in its first full year of operations.
Specifically, its results for its first eight months of operations, which ended December 31, 2017, showed that the bank recorded a gross earnings of N1.22 billion, driven by prudence and efficiency in its financial activities. Total assets stood at N17.99 billion, while the bank also reported a shareholders’ funds of N16.51 billion.
With a marked and strategic approach towards cost-savings and maximization, the bank’s operating expenses stood at N743.39 million in the period under review.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, who expressed satisfaction at the first full year of performance, also commended the hard-work of the staff which culminated in the modest performance. He said, “We have assembled a team of professionals and our building state of the art technology to drive our innovative products and services in realization of our vision “To be Africa’s preferred financial solutions provider” and our mission to “create superior value in the markets we serve”
According to Oduoza, it is expected that the size of the bank’s balance sheet will provide a strong foundation to support the growth of its business and rapidly growing client base.
Analysts expect this trend of performance to continue in 2018 as the bank continues to expand its range of services and implements its philosophy of ‘New Thinking, New Opportunities’ to create value for its clients.
According to them, the results shows impressive work based on the strong foundation which the company laid at the beginning of its operations which commenced only recently.
Its Managing Director, Chinedu Ikwudinma, noted that the performance was achieved by a commitment to the core values of the institution encapsulated by the acronym “UPLIFT” i.e. Uniqueness, Passion, Leadership, Integrity, Fairness and Teamwork.
He said, “NOVA is positioned to bring transformative advantage to our customers in keeping with our vision “To be Africa’s preferred financial solutions provider”. We are deploying the systems, services and personnel to make this happen and are excited about the future we envision for ourselves and our clients.
While also explaining the strategic direction of the bank, Ikwudinma noted that NOVA will focus on wholesale banking by offering trade services, project financing, cash management, corporate solutions, advisory services, adding that in the area of investment banking, the bank would be looking at mergers and acquisition, advisory services, securities and trading, wealth and asset management as well as debt and equity capital management.