Just about a day before the christmas celebration, Oceanic Bank plc released its full year result for the period ended September 30, 2007. The result has once again proved that the bank is one to be reckoned with both within and outside the shores of Nigeria.

In the highlights of the results, turnover increased by 68 percent from N44.68 billion in 2006 to N74.93 billion in 2007. Profit before tax moved northward from N11.36 billion in 2006 to N23.00 billion in 2007, an increase of 102.5 percent.

After tax profit followed suit as this figure climbed 88.6 percent, from N9.30 billion in 2006 to N17.53 billion in 2007. The bank has therefore ,decided to reward shareholders with a dividend of N1.02 per share. This is in contrast to the N0.42 dividend declared for last year, indicating an increase of over 100 percent.

The bank won the 2007 Bank of the year-Nigeria award from The Financial Times,London for the second year in a row.