Jaiz Bank set to convert to HoldCo

After ten years of operation, Jaiz Bank plc is set to join the list of banks converting to a Holding Company (HoldCo), with the transition process already in place.

Chairman of the bank Dr. Umaru Mutallab, who made this known in Abuja yesterday at the bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), said in order to make the conversion smooth, the bank is sourcing N150 billion to fund the recapitalisation of the companies that will make up the HoldCo.

Mutallab said the HoldCo would take off with about four companies comprising the bank, insurance (takaful), Jaiz Capital and Fintech.

According to him “we are at the stage of converting to a Holding Company and we hope to merge three to four companies starting with the bank to form the HoldCo”.

By converting to a Holding Company, Mutallab said the number of women on the boards of the bank and other subsidiaries will increase, stressing that “there will be far better women representation in these organisations”.

Mutallab also said as part of the transitioning, Jaiz bank is “trying to raise N150 billion in tranches to recapitalise these companies”.

“There is a minimum share capital required for the companies like the bank, insurance even pension fund management. The money will not be raised in one fell swoop,” he said.

Asked if there were plans to expand the number of branches beyond 45, Mutallab noted that while it is the desire of the bank to have physical branches in all the states, the sitting of bank branches he said is capital intensive.

Jaiz Bank, he said, will bring its services and products to customers around the country through the use of Fintech.”which will help reduce brick and mortar”.

Speaking on the bank’s performance in the last one year, Mutallab said Jaiz Bank has shown incredible resilience by growing its gross earnings by 32 per cent from N19.6 billion in 2020 to N25.84 billion in 2021.

“Our Profit Before Tax (PBT) also soared higher, recording a growth of 43 per cent from N3.07 billion in 2020 to N4.37billion in 2021,” he said.

The bank’s Total Assets increased from N233.60billion in 2020 to N279.30 billion in 2021, representing a Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) increase of 20 per cent.

Shareholders Fund also grew by 36 per cent. The bank’s financing and investments also grew by 19 per cent from 66.00billion in 2020 to N197.50billion by December 2021.

Total deposits on the other hand, he noted “increased to N209.08billion (December 2021) from N175.51 billion (December 2020) indicating a 19 per cent growth”.

Mutallab told shareholders that “during 2021, the market perception of our brand has equally continued to improve with the bank being awarded the most-improved Islamic bank in the world by the United Kingdom based- GIFA for a second year in a row”

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The outgoing Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, Mr. Hassan Usman, said: “The raison d’etre for Jaiz Bank as a non-interest (Islamic) bank goes beyond the making of profits but rather covers the inclusive creation of value for the economy and society”.

According to Usman, “over the course of this first ten years of our existence, we have consistently aligned our operations with our vision of making life better. By virtue of our mode of banking and as a financial intermediary, we have supported the real sector of the Nigerian economy in numerous ways from the inception of our operations to December 2021″.

These support he said include: providing financing to 4,198 Corporates, 5,384 MSME clients, and 21,277 individuals; providing aggregate funding to the tune of N75 billion to Agriculture and being instrumental to the provision of housing to 3,696 families.

Other supports given by the bank to boost the economy include facilitating the development of over 7,000 shops and warehouses for small and medium business owners; contributed about N1.61billion to the fiscal coffers of Federal Governments in form of taxes; trained more than 2005 smallholder farmers and provided them with total financing of N609 Million to support their livelihood and boost food security in the country”.

Jaiz Bank also included about 6,897 rural women by providing them with loss-bearing capital of N145 Mmllion; disbursed about N60 billion to over 26,000 MSMEs from inception to date and has provided employment directly and indirectly to 2,152 individuals.

Last year Jaiz Bank introduced some new products like the Hajj Savings Account to make it easier for customers to save towards participating in the yearly pilgrimage and a Warehouse Financing to ease the working capital financing needs of our customers.

Hassan Usman added that while leveraging technology, the bank “deployed some exciting features on our Mobile Banking Application such as the contactless NQR payment, in-App Air Ticket purchase and Electricity Bill Payment. These features were designed to render more Convenient and efficient service to our customers”.