Coronation Merchant Bank remains one of the top rated merchant Banks in Nigeria as shown by the recently released Rating Report by Agusto&Co, a rating agency in Nigeria.
In the report, Agusto affirmed the ‘A+’ rating assigned to the bank with stable outlook and stated that the rating reflects the financial institution’s position in the merchant banking space, good capitalisation, good asset quality and good liquidity position. In preparing the report, the agency took into cognisance the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to severe uncertainty surrounding the Nigerian economy.
A review of the bank’s financial performance showed that as at December 31, 2019, the bank’s gross loans and advances stood at N72.7 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 33.9 per cent. As at full year ended 2019, the bank did not record any credit deterioration with the entire credit portfolio classified under stage 1.
Its core capital grew by 6.3 per cent to N33.7 billion as at full year ended 2019, more than double the regulatory minimum for merchant banks operating in Nigeria. As at the same date, the bank’s capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.2 per cent surpassing the 10 per cent regulatory threshold.
As at March 2020, Coronation MB had about US$310 million in trade finance lines including a US$40 million trade finance guarantee facility obtained from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Overall, the rating agency was of the opinion that the bank is adequately positioned to grow business volumes, albeit moderated by the prevailing economic conditions.
