First Bank of Nigeria Plc has announced a 29 per cent increase in its profit before tax to N31.4bn for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

A statement by the bank on Monday said the bank’s gross earnings stood at N99.5bn, representing an increase of 13.5 per cent year-on-year, from N87.6bn recorded in March 2012.

The bank’s total assets also rose by 8.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter to N3.5tn, from N3.2tn in December 2012, while the total customer deposits increased by 5.5 per cent to N2.5tn, from N2.4tn in December 2012.

The Chief Executive Officer, FBN Holdings, Mr. Bello Maccido, said, although the operating environment remained challenging during the first quarter of 2013, the performance was resilient.

He noted that the group delivered an increase in gross earnings of 14 per cent to N99.5bn.

He said, “Our flagship commercial banking business sustained its dominance, accounting for over 94 per cent of the total group profit before tax of N31.4bn.

“The Investment Banking and Asset Management business recorded improved performance over the period, although it was impacted by slower than anticipated growth in assets under management and weak primary capital market activity.

“In the insurance business, we launched Bancassurance within the quarter, and will be building this platform over coming periods to deepen our penetration in the market as we seek to build the business into a composite insurer. Overall, we are focused on extracting and unlocking value from the exciting portfolio of businesses within the group in coming periods.”

The Chief Executive Officer, First Bank, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, said the commercial banking arm delivered positive results in the first quarter of 2013 within the context of the economic and regulatory headwinds.

He said, “Looking ahead, the introduction of the revised Central Bank of Nigeria’s guide to bank charges effective from April 1, 2013 is expected to impact on the bank’s revenue. However, we will continue to pursue a competitive pricing mechanism across products and services to mitigate the negative effect. We will also continue to explore avenues to optimise our efficiency whilst using initiatives such as mobile banking and other alternative delivery methods to reduce our cost to serve.”

Source: Punch (by Ademola Alawiye)