NPF Microfinance Bank declares N688m profit

Assets base stands at N13.6billion

The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) Microfinance Bank Plc has posted a profit before tax of N688 million in the current financial year, while its total assets base stood at 13.67 billion naira.

The Board of Directors of the NPF Microfinance Bank declared the financial results during its yearly general meeting (AGM) in Kaduna, last Thursday, saying that the results for the financial year 2015, showed significant growth in spite of the challenges witnessed in financial operations during the year.

Speaking, the Chairman of NPF micro bank, Retired Deputy Inspector of Police (DIG) Azubuko Joel Udah, stated, “the profit before tax rose by 11 per cent from N617. 5 million in the year 2014 to N688.9 million in 2015”, while “profit after tax similarly rose by seven per cent from N477.8 million in 2014 to N514.6 million in 2015.”

According to him, the total deposit profile of the financial institution for the period ended 31st December, 2015 stood at N6.610 billion, representing a 37 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure of N4.803 billion.

Udah also said: “the year 2015 was no doubt a political and economically significant year for Nigeria”, pointing out that “the April general elections, which created so much uncertainty weighted heavily on the economic climate of the country”.

He further explained that the year was significant for the banking sector, “as banks not only had to contend with increasing vulnerability of the oil sector, the pressure on the naira, but also with regulatory head winds chief among which was the implementation of the Treasury Single Account”.

“This affected system liquidity and saw increase in interbank rate to as high as 100 per cent in same period of the year”.These challenges notwithstanding, DIG Udah noted that “the Microfinance sector however continued to witness a more coordinated effort by government and industry players to focus on increasing financial inclusion and ultimately making market work better for the poor with the various CBN and Bank of Industry interventions funds for on-lending to micro, small and medium enterprises attesting to this”.