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No bank is distressed – CBN insists

By on November 28, 2015

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday said no Deposit Money Bank in the country was in distress, insisting that they were all adequately capitalised.

The CBN’s position came on the heels of a report by an online news medium, SaharaReporters, that nine banks had failed discreet stress tests conducted by the central bank.

According to the report, the affected banks include United Bank for Africa Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Diamond Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Heritage Bank.

The other are Wema Bank Plc, Unity Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc.

Quoting a CBN source, the report further noted that several of the affected banks had neglected to maintain healthy capital liquidity levels. As a result, some of the banks were described as tethering on the brink of collapse.

But the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Ibrahim Mu’azu, in a statement on Thursday faulted the report, maintaining that “no Nigerian bank is experiencing stress.”

The statement read, “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to a fictitious online publication purporting that some Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria are experiencing stress.

“The CBN wishes to state categorically that no Nigerian bank is experiencing stress; the story as published is not only false and baseless, but a figment of the writer’s imagination. The CBN hereby assures the banking public that the Nigerian banking system is sound and all banks are in compliance with both the regulatory and prudential requirements.”

Mu’azu recalled that the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had on Tuesday, during a press briefing after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, said that no Nigerian bank was in distress.

The CBN spokesperson, therefore, urged all bank customers and the general public to disregard the publication as it was false, mischievous and aimed at throwing the banking public into unnecessary panic.

Some of the banks mentioned have also described the report as untrue.

The Head, Corporate Communications, First Bank, Mr. Babatunde Lasaki, said the story was untrue, insisting that the bank’s third quarter results showed that its fundamentals were strong and robust.

Skye Bank also dismissed the report as untrue. According to it, neither the CBN nor any other regulatory agency conducted any stress test on the bank.

“The only test conducted on the bank was a CBN risk-based examination, which is routine, and recorded no negative report against Skye Bank,” it added

Skye Bank said its figures and fundamentals as contained in the third quarter results were sound and robust.

Quoting its third quarter result for the year released early this month, Skye Bank said it recorded gross earnings of N129.24bn at the end of September 2015, representing an increase of 33.06 per cent over the N97.13bn recorded during the corresponding period of 2014.

Skye Bank said its fees and commission income grew to N25.46bn as against N15.57bn recorded during the same period in 2014.

Also, it the result reflects a growth of 63.52 per cent. Similarly, investment and other income rose to N4.28bn from N2.05bn, representing 108.77 per cent growth.

The statement added, “The result further showed that the bank’s profit before tax increased to N14.98bn during the year under review from N12.33bn during the same period in 2014, a growth of 21.45 per cent.

“Also, profit before tax increased by the same 21.45 per cent to N11.98bn as against N9.87bn in 2014. The bank, therefore, assures its customers not to be distracted by such sensational stories, which are usually common in this season of the year.”
[Punch]