NOVA Merchant Bank Limited has declared a profit after tax of N1.15 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, a significant increase from N510.6 million achieved in 2017, marking a 125 per cent increase.

The result demonstrates the bank’s growth trajectory which is expected to accelerate as it scales its business and grows its client base.

NOVA achieved strong growth across all parameters. The bank recorded a 54.10 per cent growth in gross earnings from N1.22 billion in 2017 to N1.88 billion. The bank further grew the total assets by 38.89 per cent from N18 billion to N25 billion between 2017 and 2018.

This impressive performance marks a very successful year for the newly licensed merchant bank which recently deployed a state of the art and fully digital core banking application. The bank also recorded remarkable growth in customer acquisition and in line with its objective to be the employer of choice, promoted about a third of its workforce.

Anya Duroha, the MD/CEO, commented “Our stellar results are a culmination of the hardwork, commitment, resilience, discipline and resourcefulness of all our employees. We have been able to drive strong customer acquisition and deploy leading-edge technology whilst optimising our costs. We will continue to focus on growing our business, providing solutions tailored to our clients’ needs, building a high-performance culture, motivating our employees and creating sustainable value for our shareholders”.

Remarking on the results, Phillips Oduoza, Chairman of NOVA Merchant Bank said “We have been able to build a strong foundation for the success of the Bank and approach the future with confidence and optimism in our business model, value proposition, clients and employees. We remain committed to the implementation of our over-arching philosophy of ‘New Thinking, New Opportunities’ to create value for all our stakeholders.”

The bank said it will continue to strive to deliver profitable, responsible and sustainable growth. It said it remains dedicated to its core values of Uniqueness, Passion, Leadership, Integrity, Fairness and Teamwork (UPLIFT) as it believes these ethos will enable it to surpass the expectations of its clients and stakeholders.