FBN Holdings (FBNH) Plc announced a 99.9% increase in net profit for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
This was revealed in the company’s audited results, which were released yesterday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The group net profit was ₦151.1 billion, up from ₦75.6 billion in the previous fiscal year, representing a 99.9% increase year on year.
FBNH’s board of directors also proposed a total dividend of ₦12.563 billion to its shareholders or 35 kobo per share. The results also revealed that gross earnings increased by 28.2 per cent to ₦757.3 billion from ₦590.7 billion in December 2020. Interest income fell by 4.1% to ₦369 billion in 2020, from ₦384.8 billion.
To offset the impact of low-interest rates on investment securities and revenue generation, the group maintained its focused deposit mobilisation and funding strategy to support enhanced loan growth at optimised rates, resulting in a 5.7% increase in interest expense to ₦140.8 billion in 2020, up from ₦133.2 billion in 2020.
In addition, net interest income fell 9.3 per cent to ₦228.2 billion in 2020 from ₦251.6 billion in 2020. Customers’ deposits increased by 19.5% year on year to ₦5.9 trillion, up from ₦4.9 trillion in 2020, reaffirming the group’s strong market access and robust funding base. Meanwhile, total assets increased 16.2 per cent year on year to ₦8.9 trillion from ₦7.7 trillion, driven by a 30.0 per cent year on year increase in customer loans and a 26.3 per cent year on year increase in deposits.
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Nnamdi Okonkwo, group managing director of FBN Holdings, commented on the performance, saying, “Following years of strategic restructuring of the Bank’s balance sheet and operations, the commercial banking business is beginning to transition into a sustained growth phase, delivering performance commensurate to the size of our business and capabilities of our people”.
This performance, he claims, was driven by a relentless focus on customer needs and improving the competitiveness of our offerings. We have sharpened our ‘Go To Market’ strategy to better leverage the opportunities presented by our large scale, as well as to become more relevant to our clients by improving our value propositions.
“This performance is also in line with the bank’s quantum profitability leap agenda which seeks to ensure that we fully maximise the revenue-generating capacity of our business to boost the bottom line and fulfil the expectations of all stakeholders in the business”.
Okonkwo added that “We will continue to leverage our investments in digital platforms, IT infrastructure, people, and pan-African operations to ensure this growth trend is sustained”.
