COMFORT EKELEME
Fidelity Bank Plc has announced a 94 per cent growth in profits for the year ended December 31, 2017 while proposing a dividend payment of 11 kobo per share to its numerous shareholders.
Details of the full year audited results of the bank, released on Monday on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), shows impressive growth in all key indices. The performance capped a remarkable 2017 Full Year for the bank which returned to the international capital markets and successfully issued a $400million Eurobond that was over-subscribed by over 200per cent.
According to the result, the bank’s Gross Earnings grew by 18.3per cent to N179.9 billion from N152.0billion in 2016, whilst Profit After Tax (PAT) surged by 93.7per cent to N18.9 billion compared with N9.7billion recorded in the previous year.
Net Interest Income (NIM) increased by 15.4per cent to N71.5billion in 2017, Net Operating Income rose by 9.9per cent from N86.0billion to N78.3billion whilst Total Assets grew by 6.2per cent from N1.3trillion to N1.4 trillion in the period under review.
In other indices, total expenses declined by 2.3per cent to N65.7billion from N67.2billion whilst Liquidity Ratio stood at 35.9per cent compared with 33.2per cent in the previous year.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo expressed delight with the performance.
According to him, the bank sustained its performance through disciplined balance sheet management, strategic cost reduction, increased focus on the corporate, commercial, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SME) segments and continued execution of its retail and digital banking strategy.
“We are delighted at the results, which showed strong growth in key revenue lines, significant traction in our chosen business segments and a corresponding decline in our operating expenses despite the high inflationary environment”, he stated.
According to him, the implementation of initiatives from its Business Process Review Project and the Bank’s digital focus, continued to impact positively on operational efficiency as “total operating expenses declined by 2.3per cent to N65.7 billion leading to the cost-income ratio dropping to 67.5percent from 77.3percent in the 2016 full year.
He said, “The combination of the strong net revenue growth of 9.9per cent to N7.7 billion and the 2.3per cent decline in total expenses which translated to cost savings of N1.5 billion resulted in our increased profitability.
According to him, increased digitization has resulted to over 25per cent of the bank’s fee-based income as customers’ adoption of its mobile/internet platforms improved to 35per cent in the 2017 full year and led to a 21.0per cent reduction in vault cash holding.
“Similarly, the Bank’s retail banking strategy continued to deliver good results. Savings Deposits grew by 15.2per cent to N178.6billion, accounting for 23.0per cent of total deposits from 19.5per cent in the 2016 full year. This has improved the bank’s low-cost deposits ratio to 77.0per cent of total deposits,” he said.
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