By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigeria’s mid-tier lender, Fidelity Bank Plc said on Wednesday its pretax profit dropped by 58 percent (58%) as it recorded N9.028 billion in its 2013 audited year end compared to N21.349 billion reported in 2012.

Similarly, posttax profit declined to N7.721 billion in 2013 from N17.924 billion declared in the corresponding year of 2012.

However, the bank recorded a slight growth in gross earnings of 6.5% as the Nigerian lender reported N126.918 billion in the audited year end of 2013 compared to N119.137 billion in the same period of 2012.

The bank declared a dividend of 14 kobo per share to its shareholders, which is a 33.33% decrease in dividend payment compared to 21 kobo paid in 2012.

Fidelity Bank said qualification date for the dividend is April 11, 2014, while closure of register of members has been scheduled for April 14 to April 18, 2014.

The annual general meeting (AGM) is yet to be fixed, while the payment of the 14 kobo dividend has been scheduled for May 02, 2014.