Skye Bank Promises to Release 2016 Audited Accounts Soon

Fri, Jun 16, 2017 | By publisher


Banking Briefs

SKYE Bank Plc on Tuesday said its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016, would be released soon. In a notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Skye Bank said most of the challenges faced in the completion of the audit exercise have been surmounted.

According to the bank, the results are with the Central Bank of Nigeria, for approval.

“This is to inform the NSE, our esteemed shareholders and other stakeholders of Skye Bank Plc of the reasons for the Bank’s inability to file the audited financial statement of Skye Bank Plc for the year ended 31 December 2016 within the extended time granted by the NSE.

“Please be informed that most of the challenges faced in the completion of the audit exercise have been surmounted, and as previously stated, the draft audited financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2016is currently awaiting the final approval of the bank’s primary regulator, the CBN,” the bank said in statement.

The bank is hopeful that the 2016 would be approved and filed at the NSE before the end of the current quarter.

Skye Bank had posted a loss of N40.726 billion for the year ended December 31, 2015 following a total provision of N34.681 billion for impairment charges for the year. Although the bank ended the year with higher interest income of N127 billion in 2015, up from N107 billion in 2014, the impairment charges made the bank to record a loss of N40.726 billion compared with a profit of N18.717 billion in 2014.

While N27.53 billion impairment charges were for loans, N7.145 billion was provided for as impairment charges for other financial assets. The bank’s huge exposure to the oil gas, energy and other sectors of the economy affected its loan performance, a development that made the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to intervene in the bank last year.

Tokunboh Abiru, group managing director, Skye Bank, appointed by the CBN had assured capital market operators that the management team and the board would work to achieve value enhancement for shareholders, customers and other stakeholders by bringing the cost-income ratio to acceptable levels, improve the risk assets quality and work towards increasing the liquidity and capital adequacy of the bank.

Abiru described the reconstitution of the bank’s board as an intervention, saying the lender’s fundamentals were good and strong. Also, the Chairman of Skye Bank Plc, Mr. M.K. Ahmad had explained that despite the CBN’s intervention, the ownership of the bank remained in the hands of the shareholders.

—  Jun 26, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT

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