May 22,2014 Thursday 4.00pm/@webtvng.com
Nigeria’s leading Holding company FBN holdings, has been commended by shareholders for paying 1.10k dividend despite the enormous challenges in the banking sector in the country.
Considered the brand leader in commercial, retail and investment banking services in Nigeria, FBN Holdings with a shareholder base of over 1million and total assets of about N4trillion, posted a PAT figure of N70.63bl for the 2013 financial year.
External Auditor Price Waterhouse Coopers(PWC) in their assessment of the company financial records and statement for the year 2013, affirmed that FBN Holdings gave a true and fair reflection of the financials of the group, aligning with IFRS, FRC and CAMA provisions.
Shareholder group leaders Sir Sunny Nwosu, Mrs Bisi Bakare and Mr Okezie Boniface commended the company for its performance amidst various challenges in the sector, which including over N35bl allocated to dividend payment, reduction in operational expenses from 114 to N107bl, Not paying any regulatory penalty and gross earnings growth of over 7%.
Mr Nona Awoh notable financial journalist urged the group to explore new avenues for achieving profitability and also called for the issue of unclaimed dividends to be looked into.
Sir Sunny Nwosu and Mr Okezie Boniface raised concerns over the regulatory framework of the Banking system, which they believe should be cushioned to enable the efficiency of the banks.
In his response the CEO of FBN Holdings Mallam Bello Maccido appreciated the shareholders for the support given the banking group, and described the performance of the Holdco despite the terrain of the financial system as remarkable.
Mallam Maccido was particularly impressed with the group’s gross earnings for the 2013 financial year and assured the shareholders that the holding company will work assiduously to promote their interests.
The CEO used the opportunity to share on the 3 year strategic plan of the group (2014-16), which will focus on diversifying income sources, develop value-chain banking, ensuring investment banking contribution increases, enhance the FBN capital structure to develop end-to-end financial skills, and the acquisition of the Oasis insurance plc to deepen its base in the insurance industry.
Also speaking the Group Managing Director of First Bank Nigeria Ltd, Mr Olabisi Onasanya informed shareholders that to maximize its operations, the bank was going to make a major decision, later in the month.
The event, which was well attended by shareholders across the country, was coordinated by the Chairman of FBN Holdings Dr Oba Otudeko.
Source: webtvng.com
