***Disburse over N50bn in intervention funds in 3 months.
Fidelity Bank Plc has continued to sustain its impressive run of financial performance with the strong 3rd quarter results for the year, released Monday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Details of the results show improvements in key indices though Gross Earnings dropped marginally by 3.7% from N161.1bn in 2019 to N155bn. Profits were however up by 3.6%, closing at a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N21.3bn whilst Profits After Tax (PAT) rose by 7% from N19bn to N20.4bn in the period under review.
In other indices, Customer Deposits, Net Loans and Total Assets grew in double digits. Total Assets grew by 21% from N2.1trillion in 2019 to N2.5trillion; Customer Deposits were up by 22.3% from N1.23trillion to N1.5trillion whilst Net Loans rose by 12% from N1.12trillion to N1.27trillion to cap the good outing by the top lender.
“Our 9 months results reflect our resilient business model, particularly in a very challenging operating environment. We worked closely with our customers to gradually recover from the economic impact of the pandemic and the attendant effect of the lockdown” said Fidelity Bank CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo.
He explained that the drop in Gross Earnings was due to the decline in interest and similar income caused by lower yields and drop in fee income. “Net fee income declined by N1.3bn largely due to a reduction in FX related income on account of the revaluation gains recorded in H1 2020. Digital Banking however continued to gain traction as we now have 52.3% of our customers enrolled on the mobile/internet banking products from 47.4% in 2019FY and 88.2% of customer-induced transactions are done on digital platforms. Similarly, digital banking income increased by 20.0% quarter on quarter due to improved adoption by customers and new services migrated to our digital channels” he stated.
Fidelity Bank has over the years implemented a retail digital banking strategy and that has continued to deliver, with the bank on course to achieving the 7th consecutive year of double digits growth. “The growth in Savings Deposits accounted for 40.2% of total growth in in Customer Deposits and Savings Deposits now represent 25.7% of total deposits, up from 22.3% in 2019” he enthused.
He further disclosed that the bank has disbursed over N50bn in intervention funds to customers in the last three months, in critical sectors to kick-start the economy after the lockdown and was quite optimistic about finishing the year strongly. “We will continue to monitor and pro-actively manage evolving risks as business activities improve and look forward to delivering another set of resilient results in the remaining quarter of 2020FY”, Okonkwo noted.
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