• Friday, April 26, 2024
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BusinessDay

Wema Bank lost N119.1m from 1,195 fraud, forgery cases in 2021

Wema Bank appoints Kazaure, Opeke as new board directors

In the financial year ended December 31, 2021, Wema Bank Plc recorded 1,195 cases of fraud and forgeries valued at N263.853million, according to the bank’s financial statement at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

The bank said on page 56 of its annual report that 3percent of the fraud/forgeries perpetrators were internal while 97percent were external.

However, the report shows that the bank’s record actual loss from the cases of fraud and forgeries was N119.089million which represents 45.13percent of the amount involved.

A detailed look at the annual report showed the bank lost N50.17million from internet fraud valued at N97.110million, representing 51.67percent of the amount involved; while it lost N38.305million or 63.49percent of mobile banking fraud worth N60.334million.

Other record fraud types and amounts involved are: POS (N21.770million); ATM (N5.519million); and Web (N35.490million). Fraud relating to the bank’s “operation and others” was valued at N43.630million while the actual loss was N30.608million, which represents 70.15percent of the amount involved. For the fraud relating to Wema Bank’s “operation and others”, 15percent of the perpetrators were internal while 85percent were external.

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In the full year 2021 under review, Wema Bank Plc recorded an increase of 108.3percent in Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N12.3billion, an increase of 108.26percent YoY from N5.95billion in FY’20.

This was driven by a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 15.35percent in gross earnings to N92.14billion in full year (FY) 2021 from N79.88billion in FY 2020. Profit after Tax (PAT) of N8.93billion in FY’21 represents an increase of 94.53petcent YoY from N4.59billion in FY’2020.

Deposit liabilities grew by 15.23percent to N927.47billion in FY 2021 from N804.87billion in FY 2020 while total asset increased by 20.23percent to N1.164trillion in FY 2021 from N968.58billion in FY 2020.

Net-Interest Income grew to N39.87billion in FY 2021from N30.86billion in FY 2020; growth of 29.22petcent. Non-Interest Income also increased from N16.83billion in FY 2021 to N18.83billion; a growth of 11.91percent.

At N3.10 per share as at Tuesday, April 19, the bank’s share price has risen by 330.6percent year-to-date (YtD).