Bank PHB Plc has declared a profit before tax of N10.28bn and total assets of N480bn for the financial year ended June 30 2007.

The sterling performance, according to the bank, has placed it as the nation’s eighth biggest and most profitable bank.

The result, which is said to have been ratified by the regulatory authorities, shows a profit before tax of N10.28bn, representing an increase of 192 per cent over the profit before tax of N3.52bn in June 2006. Profit after tax at N7.75bn was an impressive 217 per cent higher than the N2.45bn within the same period.
A statement from the bank on Monday said that its high paced growth has resulted in higher earnings per share, which at 119 kobo is a 644 per cent increase on 16 kobo in 2006.

According to the statement, the bank’s board of directors was already proposing a cash dividend of 70 kobo per share, a 977 per cent higher than 6.5 kobo paid in 2006. The bank’s steep increase in profitability has been on the back of a steep increase in all other vital indices of the bank. Total assets and contingents at N480bn represents a steep increase of 155 per cent over N188bn in 2006. Within the period, there was also a strong evidence of increased customer confidence in Bank PHB reflected in a sharp increase in the bank’s deposit base.

Details of the financials released over the weekend show that the bank’s gross earnings, made up of both interest and non-interest income, increased 172 per cent to N36bn in June 2007, up from N13bn in the corresponding period of 2006. Core income made up of interest earnings formed the greater bulk of about 52 per cent of gross earnings while none interest fee based income made up the balance of Bank PHB’s earnings.

According to the statement, total deposits at N307bn in 2007 represents 181per cent increase on a deposit base of N109bn in 2006. “Analysts trace this to the strong acceptance of the Bank PHB brand by the Nigerian banking public. Several studies and research have always rated the acceptance of the Bank PHB brand well above competitors,” the statement said.

It added that its just released financial results provide a strong justification for the bank’s share price, which has made a capital gain of about 271 per cent since its last financial year end in June 2006 and about 400 per cent since its listing in December 2005 at N1.95 per share. The fast pace growth rate of the bank, which first emerged in its 2006 financial result was clearly sustained in its current result with both earnings and profits more than doubling within the period.

Ahead of the expected release of the bank’s result, its share price which had slipped from its year high of N30 last week in the grip of the general bearish trend in the market had regained its upward swing closing at N31 per share on Friday despite the bearish trend that has resurfaced in the market. The bank’s share price has made a capital gain of 231 per cent this year alone.