The Managing Director/CEO of Wema Bank Plc, Mr. Ademola Adebise, has explained the facts behind the bank's growing numbers during the half year ended June 30, 2022.

Wema Bank recently released its second quarter unaudited financial result for the period ended June 30, 2022, showing a 50 percent increase in its Gross Earnings from N39.82 billion recorded in 2021 to N59.59 billion H1 2022. The bank also grew its deposit by 43 percent from N968.17 billion reported in FY 2021 to N1.09 trillion in H1 2022.

Similarly, Wema Bank recorded a 43 percent increase in Profit before tax (PBT) from N4.30 billion over the same period last year to N6.13 billion for the period under review.

Speaking at the analysts’ conference and Investors’ call, Adebise said: “Our digital channels remain a priority in meeting customer needs and closing the financial inclusion gap.

“With a transaction value of N131.5 billion, USSD recorded over 58.6 million in transaction count (+55%), reaffirming our focus to grow channel usage.

“Mobile banking users completed over 42.8 million transactions within the review period, further driving the financial inclusion initiative.

“With over 50% growth in agent acquisition, our agency banking base increased to 140k accounts, at the end of the six months review period (H1 2021: >102k). This helps to further enhance performance across our financial inclusion initiatives. The value of agency funds transfer closed at N7.59bn in H1 2022, a 34% y-o-y growth. The stellar growth in agency transfer volume by 550k% was driven by signing-on of new partners”, he said.

According to the Wema Bank MD, the bank’s agency banking solutions will continue to provide support to customers mostly in the rural areas and hard-to-reach regions of the country.

“So far, we have over 21,000 agents attending to the financial service needs of these customers,” Adebise added.

The bank’s Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Tunde Mabawonku, said the results point to the resilience and growth trajectory of the bank during the review period.

According to him, the bank has achieved efficiency in its balance sheet by managing growing deposits and rising interest rate. He also disclosed the bank has achieved an efficient mix of its deposit portfolio by bringing down the cost of funds.

Mabawonku hinted the bank's N40 billion rights issue would open and be concluded during the year, a development he said would deliver more value to shareholders.

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