Fidelity Bank Caps 3 Years of Sustained Financial Performance with Impressive FY2018 Results.

Fidelity Bank has continued the impressive performance trajectory of recent years, with the strong FY2018, results, released last week to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the financial market. In a clear demonstration of its resilience and stability, the top lender capped the year with growth in Gross Earning, Profits and other key financial indicators.

 

Fidelity Bank posted a 5 % growth in Gross Earnings from N180.2BN to N188.9BN whilst Profit Before Tax soared by 30.6% to N25.1BN, when compared with the 19.2BN it recorded in 2017. Profit After Tax grew by 29% from N17,7BN in 2017 to N22.9BN in 2018, whilst Operating Income rose by 13.9% from N85.9BN to N97.2BN. Total Deposit, which is a measure of consumer confidence rose by 26.3% from N775.2BN to N979.4BN just as Total Assets grew by 24% from N1.4TRN to N1.7TRN.

 

A 3-year summary of the bank’s results shows consistency in performance with double digits growth year-on-year on all performance indices. Profits grew by 74% from N11bn in 2016 to 19.2bn and rose by 31% last year to close at N25.1BN. Similarly, there was a consistent growth in Gross Earnings, rising from N152BN in 2016 (19%) to N180.2BN in 2017 and peaked at N188.8BN in 2018.  Savings Deposits in the FY18 figures peaked at N228bn representing a 27.7% growth. This double-digit growth trend on Savings began to manifest far back to 2016, rising steadily by 15.2% from N155BN to N178.5BN in 2017. 

 

Whilst growing its Net Loans and Advances, which rose by 10.6% to N30bn the bank was able to reduce its Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) Ratio, which dropped to 5.7 percent from 6.4 percent in the 2017FY due to a combination of recoveries, loan write-offs and the absolute growth in the loan book. This is noteworthy because it also kept other ratios such as Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 16.7% and Liquidity Ratio at 39%, within regulatory thresholds.

 

These set of numbers delivered year-on-year, can be attributed to the “disciplined balance sheet management, strategic cost reduction, increased focus on the corporate, commercial, SME segments and continued execution of our medium-term strategy” said Fidelity Bank CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo.

 

Since assuming office in 2014, Mr. Okonkwo has transformed Fidelity Bank significantly, pursuing a digital retail banking approach whilst focusing on niche markets. “We are growing our market share with continued traction in our chosen business segments. Consistent with previous years, we recorded double digits in interest income on our liquid assets, digital banking, FX and other income lines” he stated.

 

Okonkwo was also very enthused with the progress of its digital banking play “with over 42% of customers now enrolled in the bank’s mobile/ internet banking products and more than 81 % of total transactions done on digital platforms, resulting in 25% of fee-based income coming from digital banking” he explained.

 

Meanwhile analysts report on the Fidelity Bank FY18 results have been very positive. Rencap which rated the results good, said PBT of NGN25.1bn and PAT of NGN22.9bn “were ahead of our estimates by 3% and 6% respectively”.  It also noted that the bank’s Return on Equity (RoE) of 11.6% in FY18 was higher than the 9.2% recorded in FY17.