The NPF Microfinance Bank Plc says it plans to raise N3bn through a rights issue and initial public offering.
According to the bank, the additional capital will be used to increase its capital base and boost its branch network.
The Chairman, NBP Microfinance Bank, Usman Baba said this in Lagos at its Annual General Meeting, adding that the bank would issue new shares to the public in the fourth quarter of this year.
On the bank’s growth plans, he said, “We shall improve on existing technology and payment system as well as provide more excellent customer service. Our strategic plan is on course and our resolve to deliver long-term value to our shareholders remains unshaken.”
Baba told the shareholders that the bank’s total asset rose by 20 per cent to N10bn in 2014 from the N8.7bn it declared in 2013.
He added that the bank grew its gross earnings from N1.9bn in 2013 to N2.1bnin 2014, while its profit after tax rose to N477.8m from N391m.
He explained that the bank’s access to loans from the Bank of Industry and the Central Bank of Nigeria at concessionary rates aided its growth in 2014 as well.
At the AGM, the shareholders approved a dividend of 15 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share, translating to N342.9m for the 2014 financial year.
The dividend was 50 per cent higher than what the bank paid for the 2013 financial year.
In the course of 2014, the Managing Director, NPF Microfinance Bank, Akinwumi Lawal, said the bank successfully integrated its customers to the national financial network by deploying assets that would link the bank to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System.
This, he said, would enable the customers to receive and transfer money directly into and out of their accounts.
He also said the bank introduced ATM credit card to enable its customers to access overdraft facility seamlessly through the ATM at all times.
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