Shareholders of Fidelity Bank Plc have approved a total dividend of N89.950 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2024.
The shareholders, which gave their approval at the Bank 37th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually, also applauded the board and management of the bank for delivering an outstanding performance in the year 2024.
The Bank having declared and paid an interim dividend of 85 kobo per share, amounting to N27.200 billion for the half-year period ended June 30, 2024. It proposed a final dividend of N1.25 per share, representing N62.75 billion; bringing the total dividend for the financial year ended 2024 to N2.10 per share or N89.950 billion.
The national chairman of the Progressive Shareholders Association, Chief Boniface Okezie, praised the bank, saying, “this is a superlative performance and we the shareholders are grateful to management and staff for giving us a bank to be proud of. It is also important to note that the bank has earned its spot as one of the top three dividend-paying financial institutions in Nigeria.”
The chairman, Zonal Shareholders Committee, Sir Tunji Okelana, recognised the bank’s exceptional leadership, which has seen the bank grow to unprecedented heights.
Speaking to shareholders, the chairman, Fidelity Bank, Mustafa Chike-Obi, said, “despite the global economic headwinds, we demonstrated exceptional resilience, achieving record breaking growth across all performance indicators, most notably our profit before tax.”
He added that the bank’s stakeholders were all pleased with the success of the first stage of the capital-raise exercise, saying that “the oversubscription of 237.9 per cent in the public offer and 137.7 per cent in the rights issue is a testament to the strength of our brand and the confidence the investing public has in us. Equipped with this vote of trust, we will proceed swiftly and conclude the second tier of our capital-raise exercise.”
Managing director/chief executive officer, Fidelity Bank, Dr Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe stated that, “our priorities in 2025 financial year are to complete the next phase of our capital raise and further strengthen our asset base, enhance operational efficiency and digital innovation and explore strategic regional expansion into select African markets.”
The Bank’s 2024 annual report showed an impressive 210 per cent growth in profit before tax to N385.2 billion. Gross earnings increased by 87.7 per cent to N1,043.4 billion, driven by 106.9 per cent growth in interest and similar income to N950.6 billion. The bank also witnessed an impressive 47.9 per cent growth in deposits from N4.0 trillion in 2023 full year to N5.9 trillion while loan and advances grew from N3.1 trillion in 2023 to N4.4 trillion in 2024.
