Skye Bank Plc has announced its plans to invest up to $150m in the power sector before the end of this year.
The Group Managing Director, Skye Bank, Mr. Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, said that about 17 per cent of its loan portfolio would also be in the upstream oil and gas sector.
Speaking at the company’s pre-Annual General Meeting in Lagos on Monday, Durosinmi-Etti also said the bank might also be involved in buying some banks put up for sale, adding that if any of them was worth buying, Skye Bank might consider it.
He said the bank would be raising additional capital of up to N50bn before the end of the year, explaining that the funds would be used to boost its business and improve its capital base.
Durosinmi-Etti said, “The bank plans to invest between $100m and $150m in power by the end of the next quarter; also, we will be investing about 17 per cent of our loan portfolio in the upstream oil and gas sector.
“We will be raising Tier 2 capital before the end of the third quarter, and we also plan to raise some Tier 1 capital too. This is important because as banks, we need to keep raising capital.
“We will probably be asking for up to N50bn, but that will depend on what our advisers say after they have looked into our books and our plans, they will be able to advise us appropriately.”
The Skye Bank boss explained that the bank was involved in various activities aimed at building its brand and improving its customer base, adding that it had also been involved in various efforts aimed at strengthening the service platforms in its branches.
“We are in the process of finalising the centralisation of our back office and upgrading our Information Technology. This will bring about improved efficiency and customer services. Also, we plan to open about 12 new branches and cash centres this year,” he stated.
The bank’s results for the year ended December 31, 2012 showed that profit after tax increased to N12.64bn, representing an increase of 872.6 per cent compared to N1.30bn recorded the year before.
Profit before tax rose by 480.9 per cent from N2.84bn in 2011 to N16.51bn in the year under review, while the bank maintained a steady top-line in 2012 with net interest income and net non-interest income hitting N44.50bn and N22.60bn, respectively.
The results also showed that earnings per share increased to N1.01 in 2012 as against 20 kobo the previous year, while the dividend cover of 2.02 times for 2012 as against 0.80 times for 2011 underlined the ability of the bank to sustain its dividend payouts.