June 8, 2023
By Paschal IJEH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-FBN Holdings Plc has reported an impressive gross revenue of N804.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022 (FY22) compared to N757.5 billion recorded the previous year of 2021, indicating a growth of 6.3 percent in the review period.
This is an all time impressive performance coming from a Bank that almost went under a couple of years back and was under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) intervention and monitoring.
Similarly, FBN Holdings reported an increase in interest income by 49.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) to N551.9 billion in FY22 from N369.0 billion in FY21, mainly due to higher income from loans and advances to customers, according to the the lenders financial statement for the period ended December 31, 2022.
However, profit before tax (PBT) was N157 billion a drop of 5.3 percent, compared to last year 2021 N166 billion. The 2021 period has N141 billion as recovery whereas this year had only about N13 billion indicating that 2022 income came in from core banking businesses.
Still on the positive side, the bank’s interest income grew by 49.6 percent to N551.9 billion in 2022 from N369.0 billion in FY21, mainly due to higher income from loans and advances to customers.
While interest expense grew to N188.6 billion in 2022 from N140.8 billion in 2021 representing a growth of 34.0 percent driven by increased customer deposits. Customer deposits grew by 21.8 percent to N7.12 trillion in the 2022 review year. Also, total assets grew 18.4 percent to N10.6 trillion from N8.9 trillion posted in 2021 end.
Moreover, the impairment charges were down 25.2 percent to N68.6 billion in FY22 compared to N91.7 billion in year 2021, the net interest income after impairment expanded 115.8 percent YoY to N294.6 billion in FY22. Analysts affirmed that FBN Holdings was able to achieve this feat as the only Nigerian Bank with lowest provision of N5.9 billion,while a lot of other banks took massive provisioning for their debt restructuring.
Coming on the heels of a huge Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) which nearly drove the Bank under with an NPL ratio as high as 45 percent at the end of full year back in 2015. The NPL ratio came in at 4.3 percent while in 2016 NPL ratio was 45 percent the reason the CBN intervened. Also in 2015 the bank has less than N3 trillion in deposit now it is about N7.5 trillion deposit base and total number of customers then was 11 million compared to an impressive customer base of 41 million in the the review period.
“FBNHoldings is dedicated to upholding high standards of corporate governance across the Group to maintain the company’s long-term business sustainability and create value for all its stakeholders. As a Group, we are committed to defining frontiers for market dominance in the highly competitive and dynamic financial services industry. Thus, the principles of accountability, strong risk management, transparency and integrity are inherent in the Group’s values, culture, processes and operating structures.
The Board recognises the importance of operating in a manner that is consistent with best corporate governance practices. As a result, the Board provides purpose-driven and ethical leadership by setting the tone from the top in how it conducts itself and oversees the operations and management of the Group. It ensures good governance principles are adopted across the Group to achieve its imperatives,” according to the corporate governance report of FBN Holdings
The lender proposed a final dividend of 50 kobo per share for FY22, an increase from 35 kobo per share paid to investors in FY21, subject to appropriate withholding tax and approval by shareholders.
“We expect the strength of the group and its historical performance to keep the stock price afloat amidst tough macroeconomic conditions,” InvestmentOne report affirmed.
Click here to view full PDF FBN Holdings Plc December 31, 2022 FY
