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Oceanic Bank declares one for four bonus, 42k dividend

Oceanic Bank declares one for four bonus, 42k dividend

A BONUS issue of one ordinary share for every four held has been declared by Oceanic Bank International Plc for the year ended September 30, 2006.

This implies 25 per cent instant growth in the number of shares accruing to the bank's shareholders.

The bank said yesterday that its decision to give a bonus issue to the shareholders despite not promising such in its 2004 public offer prospectus and the scheme of merger of 2005 was as a result of the good fortune of the bank, especially the excellent and positive growth in its financial performance.

While the bank's gross earnings grew by 83.82 per cent, its profit after tax (PAT) increased by 62.7 per cent to close the year at N9.6 billion as against N5.9 billion recorded in the preceding year. The bank also grew its profit before tax by 58.9 per cent as it closed at N11.6 billion as against the preceding year's N7.3 billion.

From N281.2 billion, the bank's asset base and contingent liabilities grew to N466.5 billion, a growth of 65.9 per cent.

The customers increased their deposits in the bank to N310.33 billion, an 85.3 per cent increase over N167.5 billion kept in the bank in 2005.

According to a statement by the bank, it implemented a prudent management strategy that ensured cost minimization and profit maximization. The ratio of the bank's operating income to operating expense is 1.7:1, which implies that for every N1 operational cost, the bank made N1.70 in income. The bank's loan loss provision is a negligible proportion of its operating income, coming at a ratio of 0.05:1, implying that the bank's loan loss provision is just about five kobo in every N1.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of the bank, Dr. Cecilia Ibru has attributed the company ability to consistently sustain its remarkable performance on all financial indices to the it's solid management, continuous quest for innovations and human capital development, all geared towards value-added customer service delivery.

All this,, she said, was achievable through rigorous training and refresher courses organized for the staff and more importantly to the strict adherence of all the management and staff to the bank's core values, tagged TEAMS, an acronym for Transparency, Equal Opportunity, Accountability, Merit and Service Excellence.

The culture, entrenched in TEAMS, is characterized by an indomitable will to always give excellent customer service to the customers and superlative returns to shareholders.

The message of TEAMS basically is that, Oceanic Bank would continue to be transparent in all its dealings as always, give equal opportunity to all and sundry and remain accountable to both the regulators and its shareholders. The bank also said it would not relent by offering unparallel efficient service to its teeming customers.

Year 2006 was indeed a very good year for the bank as the bank garnered most of the awards available in the banking sector for its unparallel service delivery and its overall performance. Among the awards given the bank in the course of the year include: Bank of the Year in Nigeria 2006, by The Banker Magazine, part of the Financial Times Group, London; Best Bank Under the SMEEIS Scheme in Nigeria 2006, by the CBN; African Business Woman of the Year 2006, by African Investors Magazine; Top 1000 banks in the World, Top 20 banks in Africa; Best traded Stock in the Nigerian Stock Exchange and also ranked among the top five African Stocks by Reuters. Oceanic Bank also won the Error Free Transmission Award for the year 2006/7 and also the Well Dressed Bank Award for the year 2006/7), from the Lagos Clearing House, an organ of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Regions : Africa

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