First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Bank made Le8.8 billion profit before tax in 2015 compared to Le6 billion in 2014. This shows an increase of Le2.8 billion in profit. The profit after tax for the year ended December 31, 2015 was Le6 billion compared to Le4.19 billion the previous year.
Total assets of the bank also jumped to Le133.29 billion in 2015 from Le124.46 billion in 2014.
Deposits from customers slightly increased from Le80.77 billion in 2014 to Le84.69 billion in 2015. Loans and advances to customers dropped from Le26.82 billion in 2014 to Le25.45 billion in 2015.
The shareholders’ fund as well increased to Le47.33 billion in 2015 from Le21.26 billion in 2014.
Keystone Bank Records Le206.75mn Profit Before Tax in 2015
Keystone Bank jumped from a loss before tax of Le5.91 billion recorded in 2014 to a comfortable position of recording Le207 million profit before tax in 2015. Profit after tax was Le158 million in 2015 as loss deepened to Le5.92 billion the previous year.
Total assets of the bank increased to Le72.58 billion in 2015 from Le58.28 billion recorded the previous year.
Deposits from customers increased slightly from Le38.41 billion in 2014 to Le39 billion in 2015. Loans to customers also increased slightly from Le16.57 billion in 2014 to Le16.96 billion in 2015.
Total equity attributed to shareholders increased to 32.74 billion in 2015 from Le19.43 billion in 2014.
Keystone Bank at its annual General Meeting in Freetown appointed Mr. Samir Hassaniyeh as the chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank. He replaces Mr. Alpha M Dumbuya who served in that capacity from 2009 to 2015.
Budget for ebola Affected Traders Drops from £5m to £3.22m
The project budget from DFID for the Livelihood Enhancement for Ebola Affected Petty Traders (LEAP) is reduced from £5 million to £3.22 million. The project originally was meant to support 29,400 petty traders affected by ebola through grants and soft loans in the 14 districts in the country.
The reduction in the budget has led to a reduction in the loan amount from Le513,315 to Le425,000 per beneficiary in 9 districts instead of 14, while the grant amount of  Le164,000 remains the same for 29,400 beneficiaries in all 14 districts, a release from a consortium of international non-governmental organisations implementing the project said.
The project is implemented by 4 agencies; BRAC, Catholic Relief Services, World Hope International and World Vision International in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Presidential Delivery Team.
The grants are disbursed through Splash Mobile Money while the loans are disbursed through micro finance institutions with a 5 percent interest rate for a loan period of one year, the release said.
Cordaid Holds 2016 Business Seminar
Cordaid held its 2016 Business Seminar at Bintumani Hotel in Freetown on building resilient business communities. Oluniyi Robin-Coker former Minister of Energy who is currently the Coordinator of the private sector component of the ebola recovery strategy, Ms, Michaela Mackay, CEO of the Corporate Affairs Commission,  and Fatu Yumkella Managing Director of Dalan Development Consultants were the three motivational speakers at this year’s event.
“Private sector development is the only way forward to grow this economy. And for us to grow the economy individually we have to grow ourselves, we have to adopt better attitudes, better discipline, better time keeping, better efficiency,” Mr. Robin-Coker said.
He encouraged businesses to register with the Chamber of Commerce, to ensure their voices are heard. He said the ebola recovery initiative of President Koroma is to create 10,000 jobs in the agriculture sector and develop 1,000 micro, small and medium enterprises.
Ms. Michaela Mackay told her audience that they should know the laws dealing with doing business in Sierra Leone and be tax compliant. She was a speaker at the 2015 Cordaid business seminar. Mrs. Fatu Yumkella with a decade experience running Dalan Development Consultancy said she did not go for a business degree to run her business successfully. Providing the right kind of training for staff, providing internship opportunities were not just building the capacity of people but growing her business too. She also emphasized developing the right kind of attitude to be successful.
Cordaid Country Director Sharron Kelliher chaired the meeting. The main focus of the meeting was how to help businesses stay resilient and contribute to grow the economy.
Ecobank Group Appoints Amin Manekia as Group Exec, Corporate & Investment Banking
Monday May 23, 2016