Fidelity Bank Plc, a leading financial institution in Nigeria, has announced its Q2 2019 results for the period ended June 30, 2019.
The Bank in its financial statement for the year ended June 30, 2019, which was made available to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday, stated that Gross Earnings increased by 12.3% to N103.7bn from N92.3bn in H1 2018.Net Interest Income decreased by 3.0% to N36.9bn from N38.1bn in H1 2018.
According to the report, Operating Income increased by 16.5% to N53.2bn from N45.7bn in H1 2018 while total Expenses increased by 16.9% to N38.2bn from N32.7bn in H1 2018
On the profit side, the bank’s Profit before Tax increased by 15.7% to N15.1bn from N13.0bn in H1 2018, Net Loans increased by 17.6% to N999.3bn from N849.9bn in 2018 FY.
It should be noted that total deposits increased by 12.0% to N1,097.0bn from N979.4bn in 2018 FY, total equity increased by 10.9% to N215.6bn from N194.4bn in 2018 FY and total assets increased by 12.8% to N1,940.2bn from N1,719.9bn in 2018 FY.
Nnamdi Okonkwo, MD/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc commenting on the results, stated that:
“We are delighted with our H1 2019 Audited Results which showed strong double-digit growth on all key indices below as we sustained our performance trajectory. Gross Earnings|Fee Income|Profitability|Loans|Deposits|Equity|Total Assets.
Gross Earnings increased by 12.3% to N103.7bn driven by a 52.4%% growth in our fee-based income and a 7.2% growth in Interest Income. We recorded double-digit growth across the following income lines: Credit Related Fees (238.7%), FX Income (76.1%), Trade Income (75.7%), Digital Banking Income (26.3%) and Account Maintenance Fees (20.3%).
Digital Banking continued to gain traction driven by our new initiatives in the retail lending segment (Fidelity FastLoan) and increased cross-selling of our digital banking products. We now have 45.0% of our customers enrolled in the mobile/internet banking products, 82.0% of total transactions now done on digital platforms and 29.0% of fee-based income now coming from digital banking.
Net Interest Margin was sustained at 5.8% after the decline to 5.1% in Q1 2019 on account of improved yield on earning assets and stable average funding costs. The improvement in yield on earning assets to 13.5% in H1 2019 was driven by a 21.9% growth in interest income in Q2 2019.
Operating Expenses grew by 16.9% to N38.2bn driven by the following cost lines Staff|NDIC|AMCON|Advert which accounted for over 77.0% of the cost growth for H1 2019. Cost-to-income Ratio increased to 72.8% which is above our guidance for the year, we intend to work the ratio lower in line with our guidance in subsequent quarters.
Total Deposits increased by 12.0% to N1,097.0bn from N979.4bn driven by double-digit growth in both local and foreign currency deposits. Foreign currency deposits grew by 19.9% to N215.5bn and now accounts for 19.6% of total deposits while local currency deposits grew by 10.2% to N881.6bn and constitute 80.4% of total deposits.
Retail Banking continued to deliver impressive results as savings deposits increased by 8.6% to N247.7bn and we are on course to achieving the 6th consecutive year of double-digit savings growth. Savings deposits now account for about 22.6% of total deposits, an attestation of our increasing market share in the retail segment.
Net Risk Assets increased by 17.6% to N999.3bn from N849.9bn in the 2018FY. Foreign currency loans increased by 12.0% and now accounts for 39.1% of the loan book while local currency loans increased by 21.5% and now represents 60.9% of the loan book. Cost of risk was – 0.2% due to the net write-backs (including net losses on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortized cost) we had on our impairment charges. Non-performing Loans (NPLs) ratio improved to 5.4% from 5.7% in the 2018FY due to the growth in the loan book.
Regulatory Ratios remained above the required thresholds with Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 17.0% and Liquidity Ratio at 34.8%.
We remain focused on the execution of our medium-term strategic objectives and targets for the 2019FY while we look forward to sustaining the momentum and delivering another strong set of results for the 9M 2019″
