The shareholders of FBN Holdings Plc have approved for the Board of Directors to pay a final dividend of 26kobo per share. The approval was given at the 7th annual general meeting (AGM) of the holding company (HoldCo) which held on Friday, May 3, 2019, in Lagos.

The dividends will be paid electronically on Monday, May 6 to shareholders whose names appear in the register of members as at close of business on April 23.

At the meeting, the shareholders received and adopted the audited accounts for the financial year ended December 31, 2018, together with the reports of the directors, auditors, board appraisers and audit committee thereon.

READ ALSO: FBN General Insurance grows PBT by 19% in 2019

The financial highlights of FBN Holdings Plc for the review year-end show gross earnings of N583.5billion, down by 20percent from N595.4billion in 2017. Profit before tax (PBT) was N65.3billion in 2018, up by 19.7percent from N54.5billion in 2017.

Customer deposit grew by 10.9percent from 2017 low of N3.143trillion in 2017 to N3.486trillion in 2018. Earnings per share went up by 43.5percent in 2018 to N1.65 from N1.15 in 2017. Return on average equity increased to 9.9percent in 2018 from 7.3percent in 2017.

“In 2018, the increased group-wide collaboration resulted in a remarkable achievement of N20billion in synergy revenues, representing three-year revenue synergy targets for the Group between 2017 and 2019,” said Oba Otudeko, chairman, FBN Holdings Plc.

He said the execution of key synergy initiatives by employees to drive collaboration and cross-sell across all operating companies, contributed significantly to the achievement of this impressive result for the Group.

“In furtherance of our cost synergy objective, we recently secured the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria to roll out our Group Shared Services model to drive efficiency and ultimately improve the cost-to-income ratio of the Group,” Otudeko added.

READ ALSO: FBN Holding posts N294.2bn gross earnings in H1 2019

Looking into the future, he noted that the Group is resolute about delivering on its strategic objectives for the year, “as the Board and Management work together to ensure that we create shareholder value and build strong foundations for the future. We are not resting on our laurels, our renewed approach to synergy and innovation will be major drivers to unlocking earnings potentials for our Group.”

U.K. Eke, Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings Plc said: “Over the last 12 months, we have made significant strides in strengthening our hold in the Electronic Banking space through the launch of the Agent Banking programme that has grown to over 15,000 agents, ramped-up our share of the USSD banking revenue.”

The Group Managing Director reiterated FBN Holdings Plc commitment to the shareholders “as well as the larger market that the aspirations of rebuilding the institution have garnered increasing momentum with the strong support of the Boards of our operating companies and our large base of a dedicated workforce.”

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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