‘2016 will be characterised by continued growth in retail contribution’

FCMB Group plc says its subsidiaries – First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, FCMB Capital Markets Limited and CSL Stockbrokers Limited – are well positioned to grow strongly this year.

The holding company said yesterday in Lagos that the subsidiaries would also deepen the financial services support they provide to customers and the nation at large with their products and solutions to further enhance customer experience in their respective target markets.

Peter Obaseki, managing director, FCMB Group, in a statement, said: “2016 will be characterised by continued growth in retail contribution, stabilisation of wholesale banking revenues and increased focus on cost efficiencies.”

According to Obaseki, the retail banking business of the Group, which is driven by First City Monument Bank, has continued to “show greater resilience and earnings momentum over the years.”

Obaseki said FCMB Group would in the fourth week of January this year announce the completion of the banking subsidiary’s interim audit, which should pave way for the release of the 3Q15 earnings results of FCMB Group.

To him, “3Q15 earnings as at September 2015, will be materially below earnings for the same period in 2014, due to two factors: a spike in impairments particularly in the energy sector and the significant reduction in trade finance-related revenues due to foreign exchange illiquidity. This trend continued in 4Q15 and largely emanated from wholesale banking activities.”

He further stated that, ‘’we will increase focus on cost efficiencies (opex, funding and risk) in order to restore earnings levels”.

First City Monument Bank, which is the flagship of the Group, has evolved to emerge as the largest retail lender in the country, granting over 278,000 loans a year, while also providing the necessary financial support to other activities. The bank’s retail banking business is well diversified across lending, savings deposits, bancassurance, electronic banking, payments and other valued-added offerings with over 3 million customers, 225 branches and other channel outlets spread nationwide.

Commenting on the growth recorded by the bank over the years and its aspirations, Ladi Balogun, group managing director/CEO of the bank, said: “We will continue to do the things we are doing well; driving low cost deposit growth, in order to bring down the cost of funds, through increased acquisition and collections.

“We will also continue to raise our performance in customer service by building a vibrant, credible and relevant banking brand that everyone wants to bank with. Overall, we are confident this progress and momentum will be sustained, as we continue to grow our market share through service excellence while improving our efficiency ratios.”