Fidelity Bank Plc on Thursday declared gross earnings of N146.9 billion for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2015.
The bank, in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos, said that this was against N136.10 billion achieved in the preceding period of 2014.
It represented an increase of 7.9 per cent.
The bank also declared a dividend payout of N4.6 billion which translated to a final dividend of 16k per share to all its shareholders.
Profit after Tax for the period under review appreciated marginally to N13.9 billion against N13.8 billion achieved in 2014.
Its profit before tax stood at N14.02 billion against N15.5 billion posted the previous year, representing a decrease of 9.6 per cent.
The bank’s net operating income stood at N83.9 billion compared with N74.6 billion in 2014, an increase of 12.5 per cent.
Commenting on the result, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, said that the performance reflected the disciplined execution of the management’s medium term strategy and the resilience of evolving business models.
Okonkwo said that the bank recorded improved result in spite of the extremely challenging business environment in 2015.
He said that the bank improved the earning capacity of its balance sheet, even in the face of decline in fee income precipitated by a N10 billion reduction in its foreign exchange income.
Okonkwo attributed the decline in profit before tax to the 17.1 per cent increase in total expenses due to strategic investments and cost incurred in 2015 to position the business for further growth.
He said that total expenses rose by 17.1 per cent from N54.8 billion to N64.1 billion in 2014, while deposits fell to N769.6 billion from N820 billion, representing a 6.1 per cent decline.
Okonkwo explained that the decline was due to the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
“The disciplined execution of the bank’s retail strategy continued to deliver strong results as savings deposits grew by 22 per cent in 2015,” the bank chief executive officer said.
He said that the bank would redesign its systems and processes to enhance service delivery in the current business year.
Okonkwo added that the bank would embark on cost optimisation initiatives aimed at reducing expenses by five per cent.
He said that the bank would also adopt proactive risk management strategies, increase customers adoption/migration to its digital platforms and grow its retail banking market share.
According to him, the 16k dividend is payable to shareholders whose names appear on the bank’s register as at the close of business from April 18 to April 22.
He said that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and payment date for dividend would commence on May 5. (NAN)