Shareholders commend NPF Microfinance Bank management, receive dividend

Shareholders holders of the Nigeria Police Microfianance Bank (NPF) have commended the management of the bank for excellent performance over the years.
The shareholders who made their feeling known after receiving dividend of 15 kobo at the 23rd Annual General Meeting of the bank held in Enugu recently also praised the directors for raising the bank above others microfinance banks.
“The performance of the bank has shown that people should not look down on microfianance banks because most commercial banks cannot pay their shareholders as much as their microfianance bank counterpart”.
The shareholders however called on the management to expand the scope of the bank’s operations to all the 36 police commands in the country since police is the first beneficiaries including both serving and retired officers.
They also suggested that the bank should introduce a police insurance scheme where every police officer who opens account with the bank is given an insurance policy of N10 millions as an incentive to officers and men of the force.
In his address, Azubuike Udah, chairman, NPF Microfinance Bank, stated that the domestic macroeconomic environment in the year 2016 was marked by several unexpected developments, hence making it most challenging.
According to Udah, despite the challenging social and economic environment operated in, “Our bank recorded marginal growth during the 2016 financial year. Gross earnings grew by 13.86 percent from N2.5 billion in 2015 to N2.9 billion in 2016 and profit before tax increased by N16. 63 percent to N 803 million in N 2016 from N 688.8 million in 2015. Total assets as at December 2016 stood at N2.9 billion which represents a 0.23 percent increase over the 2015 figure. Loans and advances grew by 15.41 percent to close at N9.1billion from N7.9billion in 2015 “.
He said that given this performance, for the third time in row, the board has proposed a dividend of 15 k per a share which represents a dividend appropriation of N 342.9million and a dividend pay – out ratio of 63 percent on profit after tax.
Ogbonnaya Onovo, one of the shareholders and former Inspector General of Police, called on police officers to patronize the bank, saying that the bank operates better than commercial banks in terms of loan, and that most of retirees of NPF have benefited from the bank.
He noted that the bank personally helped him acquire some properties which he later resold to make marginal profit and urged his serving colleagues to avail themselves the opportunities the police bank offers.
Onovo who also delivered Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s felicitation at the AGM, noted that the NPF microfinance bank was one of the ways of enhancing police welfare.

 

Regis Anukwuoji, Enugu