By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Click here to download Fidelity Bank Plc Half-Year 2017 Audited Report
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Lender Fidelity Bank Plc said on Wednesday its pretax profit for the half-year (H1) ended June 30, 2017 increased 66.7 percent to N10.22 billion from N6.13 billion posted a year ago.
Profit after tax (PAT) of the Bank rose 65.6 percent to N9.03 billion from N5.45 billion reported the same period of 2016.
Gross earnings of Fidelity Bank surged from N70.25 billion in the H1 period of 2016 to N85.82 billion declared the review period of 2017; indicating a rise of 22.1 percent, the lender said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Fidelity Bank CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo attributed the double digits growth in earnings and profits to the disciplined execution of the Banks medium term strategy which focused on deepening its market share in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), Retail and Digital banking business segments.
“Our balance sheet optimization initiatives continued to deliver improved results as Net Interest Margin (NIM) increased by 7.4% in H1 2017 from 6.4% (2016FY), just as the growth in the yield on our earning assets outpaced the increase in funding costs. The process improvement and digital banking initiatives in the period helped to optimize our cost profile as total expenses declined by 1.8% (despite the high inflationary environment) leading to a reduction in our Cost to Income Ratio (CIR) to 67.3%” he stated.
Fidelity Banks’ retail strategy continued to deliver impressive results in HI2017 as savings deposits; a measure of customer confidence, increased by 3.9% to N161.1 billion in June 2017 on the strength of improved cross selling of its digital banking products with about 30% of customers now enrolled on our flagship mobile (*770#) and internet banking products” he explained.
With presence in the major cities and commercial centers in the country complemented by innovative digital banking products and channels, Fidelity Bank was rated as one of the Top 4 banks in the retail segment in the recently published KPMG BICSS. The bank which is managed by a highly professional team and a reputable Board of Directors commenced the interim audit of its financials in 2017 in line with its emphasis for continuous process and governance improvement
Click here to download Fidelity Bank Plc Half-Year 2017 Audited Report
