Mortgage Transactions on the Increase, Says Trustbond

• Mortgage Transactions on the Increase, Says Trustbond

The Chairman, Trustbond Mortgage Bank Plc, Mr Etigwe Uwa, has said that despite the challenges in the economy, mortgage transactions are on the increase.

He said the mortgage industry recorded significant growth in 2017 and that the outlook for 2018 remained positive.

Uwa, who spoke at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, said over the years, the industry, despite its potential, had been contributing about one per cent to the Gross Domestic Product but that the various initiatives by the government and other stakeholders would increase mortgage finance and promote homeownership over time.

He said, “With the government’s renewed interest in prioritising affordable housing, particularly for low-income owners, the potential in the mortgage markets continue to increase while we are positioned to impact positively in the mortgage space.

“We will continue to seek and implement systems and processes to enhance efficient service delivery, achieve cost optimisation and strengthen risk management system.”

Uwa said Trustbond recorded gross earnings of N1.56bn for the year ended December 31, 2017, representing 11 per cent increase over the prior year’s figure of N1.4bn while the total comprehensive income for 2017 of N296m was an increase of 106 per cent over the N143m recorded in 2016.

The Managing Director of Trustbond, Mr Niyi Akinlusi, said the year under review was reflective of a significant improvement in the country’s oil industry, which led to the exit from recession after five quarters of negative GDP growth.

According to him, the non-oil sector performance however remained uninspiring due to weak demand, high interest rate and conflicts in some parts of the country.

He said, “The bank, in order to overcome the prevailing economic headwinds in the market place, put in some far- reaching measures to rein in costs and boost revenue with business restructuring. This resulted in the reduction of cost to income ratio to 0.64 in 2017 from 0.89 in 2016 despite the high inflationary environment in 2017.

“The bank recorded total assets of N13bn in December 2017 representing nine per cent increase over the previous year’s figure of N12bn, and an increase in total risk asset of 32 per cent.”

Akinlusi said within the year under review, the bank engaged in several activities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility and also won four awards.

“In 2019, we will place greater emphasis on growing our mortgage business volume while impacting positively in our environment by working with other stakeholders to improve homeownership for Nigerians,” he said.