Technology-powered retail strategy remains Diamond Bank’s backbone—Dozie
The Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, has opened up on why the recently released third quarter results of the bank were looking up and prosperous, saying the bank’s retail and digital strategies have surged the outlook of the institution.
He noted that whereas the trio of Diamond Y’ello, BETA and CLOSA product lines has powered efforts of the bank in financial inclusion programme, with the banking agents rising to 70,052 in Q3, the recently introduced SMEzone to the market remains a game changer after all.
Otherwise, the unaudited result, presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), affirmed the bank’s strong focus on the Nigerian market, rather than foreign markets, with a retail sector driven by technology to boost its growth and position SMEs for competitiveness.
Business Hilights gathered that SMEZone is an information-sharing platform, aimed at positioning entrepreneurs for competitiveness which has seen surge in access by startups.
Dozie, who agreed that the global economy is currently witnessing a shift in trade relations alongside continued interest rate adjustments, averred that “This has led to greater volatility across markets and increasingly fragile economies. Nigeria’s economy has not been immune to certain headwinds, so that while the economy recorded quarters of expansion, the rate of growth has weakened”.
“However, against this backdrop, our digital-led retail strategy has remained robust. Through this strategy we have been able to continue scaling up by reaching a wide pool of customers both cost effectively and efficiently.
Explaining more, Diamond Bank chief added that “Our investors can expect a further decline in Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), a further increase in our digital footprint and completion of the sale of the UK subsidiary. Through these actions we remain optimistic about the medium to long term outlook of Diamond Bank and its return to strong profitability,” he said.
Details from the results showed that upon challenging trading environment, the bank’s non-interest income to profit increased by 10.81% from N24.66 billion in 2017, to N27.32 billion in Q3 of 2018.
Besides, impairment charges decreased by 24.21% from N33.21 billion in Q3 of 2017, to N25.17 billion in the period under review, while interest expense, however, rose by 18.32% to N41.26 billion year-on-year.
However, the level of interest expense showed a continued to decline in-line with guidance, falling by 15.36% from N14.83 billion in Q1 of 2018, to N12.56 billion in Q3 of 2018, while a 2.89% year-on-year increase in operating expense to N66.20 billion in Q3 of 2018.
Diamond Bank stated further that cost containment measures are underway with its digitisation process contributing to quarter-on-quarter gains, as the operating expense declined by 0.36% from N22.15 billion in Q2 2018, to N22.07 billion in the third quarter.
