Fidelity Bank plc announces its audited financial results showing a Profit before Tax of N15.5bn for the year ended 31 December 2014, proposes a dividend of 18k per share. Highlights of the banks 2014 Full Year (FY) financial shows that interest income increased by 21 percent to N104.3bn from N86.3bn in 2013FY.
Net Interest Income before impairments increased by 58 percent to N48.8bn from N30.8bn in 2013FY Operating Income increased by 15 percent to N72.6bn from N63.3bn in 2013FY. Total expenses increased by 5 percent to N57.1bn from N54.3bn in 2013FY. Profit before tax (PBT) increased by 72 percent to N15.5bn from N9.0bn in 2013FY.
Profit after tax (PAT) increased by 79 percent to N13.8bn from N7.7bn in 2013FY. Net loans and advances increased by 27 percent to N541.7bn from N426.1bn in 2013FY. Customer deposits increased by 2 percent to N820.0bn from N806.3bn in 2013FY, while total equity increased by 6 percent to N173.1bn from N163.5bn in 2013FY.
Total Assets increased by 10 percent to N1, 187bn from N1, 081bn in 2013FY Dividend per share increased by 29 percent to 18k from 14k in 2013FY. Nnamdi Okonkwo, managing director and CEO of Fidelity Bank plc while commenting on the results, stated that: “Our 2014 performance is a testament to the significantly improved optimisation of our balance sheet.
PBT growth of 72 percent was driven by a 27 percent growth in the loan book while cost of funds declined over the period. “This translated to a 58 percent growth in net interest income and a 200bps growth in NIM to 6.0 percent. Cost of risk normalised to 0.8 percent from1.9 percent in the 2013FY. Our retail banking strategy gathered increased momentum in 2014 with the bank acquiring over 471,000 new retail customers and core low-cost retail deposits grew by 18 percent which impacted positively on our funding cost.
We also witnessed improved operational efficiency as the bank leveraged alternative electronic channels to reduce our cost to serve, operating expenses (excluding regulatory costs) grew by 3 percent YOY which was significantly below the inflation rate. Key regulatory ratios remained well above set limits which has resulted in the bank paying a dividend of 18k per share which translates to a dividend yield of 11.5 percent.
“Though the operating environment remains challenging due to strong macro-economic head- winds, we remain committed to the execution of our medium term strategic objectives which are focused on the Retail/ SME/E-Banking/Niche Corporate Banking segments. We are confident of delivering another positive set of results in the 2015FY,” he said.
