June 12 (Lagos) - Diamond Bank plc (DIAMONDBNK) released a forecast for third quarter of 2012. The bank expects top line earnings of N27.315 billion, PBT of N4.257 billion and PAT of N3.107 billion.

Diamond Bank Plc seems to have turned a corner and we will push for an accumulation position on this stock. The Bank reported first quarter PAT of 5.09 billion up from N 416 million during the same period of 2011.

The Bank has a good management team in place that has worked hard to transform the bank's books during the difficult period of past few years. At the Bank's AGM last week, CEO Alex Otti said that they are looking to acquire a bank with presence in one of the major European capitals. He said that "this will go a long way to complement out existing trade finance and wealth management businesses, and enable us gain a foothold in Europe as a first step of our plans to be a truly global bank". He was speaking at the company's AGM.

He went further to clarify that the bank had taken necessary steps to gain an international banking license from the CBN. "we acheived full disposal of subsidiaries like ADIC Insurance ltd, Diamond Capital Ltd and Diamond Securities ltd. In the case of ADIC Insurance, we recorded a profit from its sale but write downs in the assets of Diamond Capital ltd and Diamond Securities ltd.

Shares of Diamond Bank Plc currently trade for N 2.43 at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Lagos.