Top Nigerian lender, Fidelity Bank recorded a very strong financial
performance in the first half of 2017, posting impressive growth in
profits, gross earnings and other indices for the six months period ended
June 30, 2017.
Details of the audited results, released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange
(NSE) today showed that gross earnings rose by 22.1 percent from
N70.3billion in H1 2016 to N85.8 billion for the corresponding period at
June 30, 2017.
The growth in Gross Earnings was driven primarily by a 27.8% increase in
interest income and a 0.7 percent growth in net fee income to N11.2
billion. Similarly profits surged by 66.7 percent from N6.1 billion in
2016 to N10.2 billion, just as it recorded significant improvement in
other key performance indices such as Net Interest Margin of 7.4%, Cost
Income Ratio at 67.3% and Capital Adequacy of 18.4% in the period under
review.
Fidelity Bank CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo attributed the double digits growth
in earnings and profits to the disciplined execution of the Banks medium
term strategy which focused on deepening its market share in the Small and
Medium Enterprises (SME), Retail and Digital banking business segments.
“Our balance sheet optimization initiatives continued to deliver improved
results as Net Interest Margin (NIM) increased by 7.4% in H1 2017 from
6.4% (2016FY), just as the growth in the yield on our earning assets
outpaced the increase in funding costs.
The process improvement and digital banking initiatives in the period
helped to optimize our cost profile as total expenses declined by 1.8%
(despite the high inflationary environment) leading to a reduction in our
Cost to Income Ratio (CIR) to 67.3%” he stated.
Fidelity Banks’ retail strategy continued to deliver impressive results in
HI2017 as savings deposits; a measure of customer confidence, increased by
3.9% to N161.1 billion in June 2017 on the strength of improved cross
selling of its digital banking products with about 30% of customers now
enrolled on our flagship mobile (*770#) and internet banking products” he
explained.
With presence in the major cities and commercial centers in the country
complemented by innovative digital banking products and channels, Fidelity
Bank was rated as one of the Top 4 banks in the retail segment in the
recently published KPMG BICSS.
The bank which is managed by a highly professional team and a reputable
Board of Directors commenced the interim audit of its financials in 2017
in line with its emphasis for continuous process and governance
improvement.
