By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- First Bank of Nigeria Plc Tuesday posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N46.005 billion in its Second Quarter (Q2) Report for the Period Ended June 30, 2012.

This is contained in the Result Announcement of the Bank to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and made available to www.investadvocateng.com in Lagos Nigeria.

With this Result, First Bank increased its PAT by 124.8 percent (124.8%), as the Bank recorded N46.005 billion in the Q2 0f year 2012 compared to N20.484 billion in June 2011.

Profit Before Tax (PBT) also grew from N24.099 billion in 2011 Q2 compared to N54.123 billion in same period of year 2012.

Also, Gross Earnings rose by 25.6% as the Bank declared N182.303 billion in the year under review compared to N145.088 billion in the same period of year 2011.

However, Nets Assets dropped by 3.9% as the Bank recorded N384.437billion in Q2 of year 2012; compared to N399.983 billion recorded in the same period of year 2011.

Bisi Onasanya, Group Managing Director (GMD) of First Bank said the results continue to demonstrate the resilience of the Bank’s business, given the backdrop of global economic uncertainty, declining oil prices and its resulting impact on the domestic economy.

“It was particularly pleasing to see the strength of the Group’s retail franchise, as we were able to grow deposits over the half year period by 13 per cent, in an environment of tight liquidity management, high interest rates and higher velocity of money as a result of the increasing deployment of electronic channels across various segments of the economy” he said.

On its part, Champion Breweries Plc declared a N422.569 million Loss in its Q2 2012 Result compared to N249.530 million recorded in the same period of year 2011; showing a further Loss of 69.3%.

PBT also was on the negative as the Brewing Company posted N422.569 million in its Q2 2012 compared to N249.530 million declared in the Q2 of year 2011; indicating a further Loss of 69.3%.

Turnover also declined from N320.276 million in Q2 of 2011 compared to N127.979 million in the review period of year 2012; showing a decline of 60.0%.