Despite the country’s challenging and fiercely competitive business environment, Fidelity Bank Plc delivered a solid financial performance in the first half of 2019, recording double-digit growth in key revenue lines while achieving significant traction in digital banking uptake.
Details of the audited half-year result for the period ended June 30, 2019, released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed a 15.7 per cent rise in profit before tax (PBT) from N13 billion in the earlier period to N15.1 billion in the reporting period. Profit After Tax (PAT) rose by 15.6 per cent to close at N13.6 billion from N11.8 billion recorded in 2018, while gross earnings increased by 12.3 per cent from N92.3 billion to N103.7 billion. In other indices, total assets rose by 12.8 per cent to N1.94 trillion from N1.72trillion in the previous period.
Total Deposits; a measure of customer confidence, increased by 12 per cent to close at N1.097trillion from N979.4 billion in 2018 financial year.
Commenting on the results, Its CEO, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, expressed delight with the bank’s financial performance. According to Okonkwo, the bank remained focused on the execution of its medium-term strategic goals and targets for the 2019financial yearwhile promising that the bank would continue to sustain the momentum and deliver another strong set of results for the nine months in 2019.
He said: “Gross earnings increased by 12.3 per cent to N103.7billion driven by a 52.4 per cent growth in our fee-based income and a 7.2 per cent growth in interest income. On digital banking, Okonkwo said this has continued to gain traction, driven by new initiatives in retail lending segment and increased cross-selling of its digital banking products.
“We now have 45 per cent of our customers enrolled in the bank’s mobile/internet banking products, 82 percent of total transactions now done on digital platforms and 29 per cent of fee-based income now coming from digital banking”, he added. The bank chief pointed out that retail loans were steadily on the rise after the launch of the bank’s new digital lending product dubbed Fidelity Fastloan, adding that the bank has deepened lending partnerships with select Financial Technology (FinTechs) companies.