BUSINESS

Fidelity Bank Grows Profit,Declares A Final Dividend Of 60kobo Per Share

<h4>Fidelity Bank Grows Profit<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that leading financial institution&comma; Fidelity Bank Plc&comma; has released its 2023 full year Audited Financial Statements&comma; reporting a 131&period;5&percnt; growth in Profit Before Tax to N 124&comma;26 billion&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the results&comma; which was issued to the Nigerian Exchange &lpar;NGX&rpar; today&comma; the bank grew Gross Earnings by 64&period;9&percnt; YoY to N555&period;83 billion&comma; driven by 81&period;6&percnt; growth in Net interest income which increased from N152&period;7billion to N277&period;37 billion&period; This led to a Profit After Tax of N99&period;45 billion representing a 112&period;9&percnt; annual growth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Commenting on the Bank’s commendable performance&comma; Dr&period; Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe&comma;OON&comma; MD&sol;CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc said&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We closed the financial year with strong double-digit growth across key income and balance-sheet lines&period; Our performance in 2023 is an attestation of our capacity to deliver superior returns to shareholders despite the difficulties in our operating environment&period; Profit before tax grew by 131&period;5&percnt; to N124&period;3bn from N53&period;7bn in 2022FY&comma; leading to an increase in Return on Average Equity &lpar;RoAE&rpar; of 26&period;5&percnt; from 15&period;6&percnt; in 2022FY&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A review of the financial performance showed that the bank grew Net interest income by 81&period;6&percnt; to N277&period;4bn driven by a 55&period;5&percnt; increase in interest income&comma; thus reflecting a steady rise in asset yield throughout the year&period; The average funding cost dropped by 20bps to 4&period;4&percnt; due to increased low-cost funds that grew from 83&period;6&percnt; in 2022FY to 97&period;4&percnt; in 2023&period; The combination of higher asset yield and lower funding cost led to an increase in Net Interest Margin &lpar;NIM&rpar; of 8&period;1&percnt; from 6&period;3&percnt; in 2022FY&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Similarly&comma; Total Customer Deposits crossed the N4tn mark as deposits grew by 55&period;6&percnt; from N2&period;6tn in 2022FY&period; The increase was driven by 81&period;1&percnt; growth in low-cost funds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite the challenging operating environment&comma; the bank reaffirmed its devotion to helping individuals grow&comma; inspiring businesses to thrive and empowering economies to prosper by increasing Net Loans &amp&semi; Advances to N3&period;1tn from N2&period;1tn in 2022FY&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite the growth in its loan portfolio&comma; Regulatory Ratios were maintained well above the required thresholds&comma; with liquidity ratio at 45&period;3&percnt; from 39&period;6&percnt; in 2022FY and capital adequacy ratio &lpar;CAR&rpar; at 16&period;2&percnt; compared to the minimum requirement of 15&period;0&percnt;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We recognize the changing dynamics in the Nigerian banking space and the need to monitor and proactively manage evolving risks&period; The proposed final dividend of 60 kobo per share reflects our commitment to strong value creation and returns to our shareholders&comma;” explained Onyeali-Ikpe&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Fidelity Bank has consistently paid dividend since 2006&period; With the proposed final dividend of 60 kobo per share&comma; Fidelity Bank would be paying investors a total dividend of 85 kobo per share for the reporting period&comma; a 70&period;0&percnt; increase compared to the 50 kobo per share paid to its shareholders in the previous year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ranked as one of the best banks in Nigeria&comma; Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank with over 8&period;3 million customers serviced across its 251 business offices in Nigeria and the United Kingdom as well as on digital banking channels&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The bank has won multiple local and international awards including the Export Finance Bank of the Year at the 2023 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions &lpar;BAFI&rpar; Awards&comma; the Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023 and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards&semi; Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023&semi; and Best Domestic Private Bank in Nigeria by the Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards 2023&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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