By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Pan African lender Ecobank Transnational Incorporate (ETI) on Friday said its first quarter (Q1) 2014 pre-tax profit climbed up 23 percent to N19.265 billion from 15.698 billion the previous year.

The pan African lender said post tax profit also grew 16 percent to N14.922 billion from N12.893 billion recorded in corresponding period of 2013.

Gross earnings increased 17.03 percent to N109.835 billion from N93.844 billion reported the same period of 2013.

Albert Essien, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the bank said the Q1strong performance is the power of diversified businesses and that the combination of good organic revenue growth and cost control has driven an improvement in the cost-to-income ratio in every cluster, with the Group level now below 70%.

‘’With sustained focus on cost management coupled with solid revenue growth across our network we expect continued improvement in our efficiency,’’ Essien said.

The pan African bank chief said ETI has focused on improving its corporate governance, and are progressing the detailed Governance Action Plan which was adopted by shareholders at its March 03, 2014 extraordinary general meeting (EGM), ‘’combined with a solid business performance, this will strengthen the institution and lay the foundations for a better year in 2014,“ he said.