Fidelity Bank Profits Before Tax Hits N25bn

Fidelity Bank Plc, has posted N25.079 billion profit before tax in its first half (H1) of 2022.

Also, the board of the Bank proposed an interim dividend of N2.898 billion, amounting to 10 kobo per share. This makes the Bank its first time of paying an interim dividend in its 34 years history.

The bank’s H1 results released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed profit before tax growth of 21.58 per cent from N20.628 billion in H1, 2021 to N25.079 billion in the period under review.

Gross Earnings of the bank increased by 37.9 per cent to N154.8 billion on account of 52.9 per cent growth in interest income to N136.2 billion from N89.1 billion in H1 2021.

Similarly, Net Interest Margin improved to 6.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent in 2021 full year, due to a combination of improved yields on average earning assets and a decline in average funding cost.

Average yields on earning assets increased by 211bps YoY to 11.5 per cent while average funding cost declined by 84bps to 4.0 per cent YoY, which resulted in 50.4 per cent growth in net interest income to N75.6 billion.

Also, the bank grew total deposits by 13.1 per cent year-to-date (YTD) to N2.29 trillion from N2.02 trillion in 2021 full year, driven by double-digit growth in low-cost deposits.

Low-cost deposits increased by 26.1 per cent YTD to N1.90 trillion.

Speaking on the resuults, the CEO of Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said: “we are delighted with our H1 2022 performance which showed strong growth across key performance indices.

“With improved efficiency and customer experience around our network, customer transactions have grown considerably as we optimize our balance sheet and build up a large stock of stable low-cost deposits.”

Also, on the proposed acquisition of Union Bank UK, Onyeali-Ikpe said: “we recently executed a binding agreement for the acquisition of 100 per cent equity stake in Union Bank UK Plc in line with our strategic objectives and business expansion drive. Union Bank UK offers a compelling synergy we hope to build on, to create a scalable and more sustaining service franchise that will support the wider ecosystem of our trade businesses and diaspora banking services.”