EBI South Africa, an international subsidiary of pan-African banking group Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI, on Thursday, announced a strong increase in performance for the financial year 2018. The announcement follows the bank’s general meeting held on April 29, 2019.
EBI SA posted a net banking income of € 38.1 million and net income of € 8.5 million, up 17 percent and 67 percent, respectively, over the 2017 financial year. The total assets on December 31, 2018, amounted to 548.9 million euros compared to 540.4 million euros at the end of 2017.
Notably, the sharp increase in EBI SA’s loans to customers at 336.8 million euros, up 79 percent as compared to last year, can be mainly attributed to the development of the Trade Finance activity. The customer deposits with the bank totaled 109.1 million euros, compared to 84.2 million euros at the end of the previous financial year. Earnings per share amounted to € 0.17 at December 31, 2018, up 70 percent year-on-year.
EBI SA retains its leading position in emerging African FX markets with EBITDA of 24.4 million euros. Its coverage on the African continent is almost total with 31 currencies traded and a strong presence in developing countries. The bank also offered five new exotic currencies in 2018 to meet the demands of its customers.
The bank’s objective of optimizing Trade Finance’s activity was achieved with revenues of 9.5 million euros at the end of 2018, up 64 percent as compared to 2017 and volumes of 1,093 million euros, up 73 percent during the same period.
Due to the banks’ cautious risk-taking strategy, the financement’s activity contributed € 2.3 million, less than the previous year. However, activity has got a boost since the fourth quarter of 2018. Cash Management made marking progress over the year and contributed 1.85 million euros to EBI’s revenues.
“These very good 2018 results have been achieved thanks to the dedication and professionalism of our teams that I wish to salute here,” said Ibrahima Diouf, Managing Director of EBI SA. “They also reinforce the strategy put in place since 2016 with both a consolidation of our traditional businesses and the launch of new activities.”
Diouf said he is confident that the bank will continue and strengthen this dynamic in 2019 with a focus increasingly marked on the international.
“EBI SA intends to play its full role as a financial interface between Africa and the rest of the world, primarily to support transactions and investments that converge on the continent,” he said. “With the support of the ETI Group and the Board of Directors, we will also develop our banking services for African diasporas.”
