Fidelity Bank Plc grossed N152 billion in earnings for its 2016 financial year and is proposing to pay a dividend of 14kobo per share to shareholders.
The full year audited results for the lender, released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), show a 3.5 per cent per cent growth in gross earning, compared with N146 billion achieved in the corresponding period in 2015.
In other performance indices, net interest income grew by 1.7 per cent from N60.9 billion to N61.9 billion, while total deposits, a measure of customer confidence, grew by 3 per cent, rising from N769.6 billion in 2015 to N793 billion.
Similarly, total assets increased by 5.4 per cent to N1,298.1 billion from N1,231.7 billion in the corresponding year.
Profit, however, moderated by the one-off staff cost incurred during the year.
Consequently, pre-tax profit (PBT) stood at N11.1 billion, down from N14 billion in 2015.
“Our financial performance in 2016 reflects the sound fundamentals of our evolving business model as we continued with the disciplined execution of our medium-term strategy, which positions the business for improved and sustainable profitability,” said its CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo.
He explained that profits dipped due to the cost of N4.8 billon cost incurred as Fidelity Bank discontinued its legacy gratuity and retirement scheme.
“Excluding this one-off charge, PBT for the year would have been at N15.8 billion,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the bank’s retail and electronic banking strategy has continued to deliver impressive results with savings deposits growing by 30.1 per cent to N155 billion, while customer enrolments on its flagship Instant Banking and Online Banking products grew by over 200 per cent leading to a 44.6 per cent growth in net e-banking revenues to N7.5 billion.
“This performance was driven by the upgrade of our core banking system, which provides a superior architecture that enhanced our operational efficiency and deepened our electronic banking capabilities,” Okonkwo added.