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Business News of Friday, 2 April 2021

Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

DBN’s disbursements hit N191.7bn in 2020

The management of Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) has released its 2020 financial report, which showed a huge increase in the volume of loans disbursed by 89 per cent from N101.5 billion in 2019 to N191.7 billion in 2020. The growth, according to its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, is consistent with its core mandate of facilitating sustainable socio-economic development by improving financial access for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. 

The bank head, in a statement, announced a growth of four per cent in total assets from N474.7 billion in 2019 to N493.5 billion in 2020, while outstanding loans increased by 110 per cent from N101.9 billion in 2019 to close at N214.0 billion in 2020.

“The mix of earnings assets tilted further in favour of loans rather than investments as the bank continues to ramp up lending to small businesses in Nigeria which are the engine of growth of the economy.

“Income from loans also grew significantly by 60 per cent year-on-year from N6.6 billion in 2019 to N10.5 billion in 2020; return on assets and return on equity stood at 4 per cent and 11 per cent respectively for the year ended December 31, 2020. Several cost containment strategies were deployed by the bank resulting in a 12 per cent decrease in operating expense year-on-year. 

The bank’s earnings remained strong at N34.6 billion in spite of the harsh global realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other macroeconomic challenges encountered during the year.