FBNQuest Merchant Bank, part of the investment banking and asset management group (“IBAM”) of FBN Holdings Plc, announced its 2018 year-end results at the 4th Annual General Meeting which held on the 24th of April 2019 in Lagos.
Despite strong growth in other income which was driven by net gains from fees, commission and sundry income, the bank reported a shortfall compared to the previous year’s performance.
The Chairman in his statement noted that the operating environment in 2018 was particularly challenging for the business. The year was characterised by contracting spreads in the fixed income market, a sluggish equity/M&A market, fewer transactions, and a competitive landscape that has become more intense.
Nonetheless, the IBAM business group maintained profitability and recorded steady growth in certain business lines. Total revenue increased by 8.6% y-o-y to ₦40.96 billion from N37.72 billion in Dec 2017, while profit before tax grew by 56.2% y-o-y to ₦16.4 billion from ₦10.5 billion in Dec 2017. The main contributors were the Asset Management, Corporate Banking and Fixed Income, Currencies and Trading (FICT) businesses. This again demonstrates the resilient and diversified nature of the business portfolio.
Assets under management (AuM) across the group (FBNQuest Asset Management) increased by 5.0% to close at N261 billion (Dec 2017: N248.5 billion). The Asset Management business has remained strong in the competitive ranking amongst its peers, based on SEC-registered funds, maintaining the 2nd position in the industry, the same as the prior year. Overall, total assets closed at N218.6 billion, representing a 1.1% y-o-y increase (Dec 2017: N216.2 billion). The businesses in the group remain well capitalised with total group equity of N44.0 billion.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Mr Kayode Akinkugbe said, “Despite the challenges of 2018, we have taken learnings, and in 2019, are more determined to find ways of creating more value for our customers. We will focus on our strategic goals of increasing group collaboration and enhancing revenue generation across all businesses, improving efficiencies as well as deepening innovation and digitisation to enhance the client experience.”
The MBAM business contributed 7.7% (Dec 2017: 6.5%) to gross earnings of the FBN Holdings Plc Group and 25.1% (Dec 2017: 19.2%) to profit before tax.
