Fidelity Bank grows profits by 30.6% to N25.1 billion

Fidelity Bank has announced an impressive financial result for the year-ended December 31, 2018.The performance, which capped a remarkable year, showed strong growth in gross earnings, profits and other key financial indicators.

The top Nigerian lender, which reportedly leads tier two banks, posted a 4.8 per cent growth in gross earnings from N180.2 billion to N188.9 billion, while profit before tax soared by 30.6 per cent to N25.1 billion, when compared with the N19.2 billion it recorded in 2017.Profit after tax grew by 29 per cent from N17.7 billion in 2017 to N22.9 billion in 2018, while operating income rose by 13.9 per cent from N85.9 billion to N97.2 billion.

Customer deposit rose by 26.3 per cent from N775.2 billion to N979.4 billion, just as total assets grew by 24 per cent from N1.4 trillion to N1.7 trillion.In other indices, non-performing loans ratio dropped to 5.7 per cent from 6.4 per cent in the 2017FY due to a combination of recoveries, loan write-offs and the absolute growth in the loan book. Other regulatory ratios remained above the required thresholds with capital adequacy ratio at 16.7 per cent and liquidity ratio at 39.0 per cent.

Buoyed by the strong results, the bank is proposing a N3.2 billion pay-out, which translates to11 kobo dividend, to shareholders.The bank’s digital retail banking approach has continued to yield positive results. Savings recorded its fifth consecutive year of double digit growth with a 27.7 per cent increase to peak at N228 billion.

The chief executive officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo, said: “Savings accounts form over 23 per cent of our total deposits, an attestation of our increasing market share in the retail segment.”Okonkwo was very excited with the progress of its digital banking play, stating that over 42 per cent of customers enrolled on the bank’s mobile/internet banking products and more than 81 per cent of total transactions done on digital platforms, resulting in 25 per cent of fee-based income, coming from digital banking.