Wema Bank reports PBT of N14.8bn in 2022

Wema Bank Plc has released its audited financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2022, revealing strong financial performance despite macroeconomic headwinds.

The bank’s Profit Before Tax grew by 20.25 per cent to N14.8 billion as against N12.37 billion posted in 2021.

The interest income went up 44.43 per cent to N108.03 billion from N74.7 billion posted in 2021, driven by strong growth in Net Interest Income.

According to the bank in a statement, Net Interest Income rose by 35.9 per cent to N54.2 billion from N39.8 billion in 2021 driven by growth in earning assets while Operating Income was up 31.5 per cent to N74.4 billion from N56.6 billion in 2021.

According to the latest report published by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the headline inflation rate climbed to 22.04 per cent in March, which marks a 0.13 per cent rise from February’s rate of 21.91 per cent.

The report also stated that the increase was driven by the surge in prices of essential items such as food, housing, fuel, and gas. This inflation rate has been steadily increasing over the past two years.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.13 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2022 which was 15.92 per cent.

Wema Bank reported an increase of 39.4 per cent in Operating Expenses, rising to N33.6 billion from N24.1 billion in 2021.

This demonstrates that the bank was able to effectively manage costs, despite the impact of inflationary pressures.