Fidelity Bank records N28.1bn full year pre-tax profit

Fidelity Bank Plc has posted strong full year results for the financial year ended December 31, 2020, in a clear demonstration of resilience and stability.

In the results announced Wednesday March 31, 2021 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Nigerian lender capped a remarkable year, showing strong growth in Core Operating Profits, Net Revenue and other key financial indices.

Fidelity Bank, which has become the clear leader among Tier 2 banks, posted a 50.9percent growth in Core Operating Profits from N29.8billion in 2019 financial year to N44.9billion while Net Revenue increased by 15percent from N111.8billion in 2019.
Customer Deposit, which is a measure of consumer confidence rose by 38.7percent from N1.225trillion to N1.699trillion just as Total Assets grew by 30.5percent from N2.114trillion in 2019 to N2.758trillion.
However, Profit Before Tax (PBT) dropped marginally by 7.6percent to N28.1billion from N30.4billion in 2019, due to an increase in its loan provisions to shield it from any headwinds; a positive move for the Bank especially in the current era of Covid-19 and its attendant effect on business risks.

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Encouraged by the healthy results, the Board of Fidelity Bank is proposing a N6.4billion payout, which translated to 22 kobo dividend per share to its shareholders. “We are pleased with our financial performance, which clearly showed the resilience of our business model as core operating profit increased by 50.9percent to N44.9billion from N29.8billion in 2019FY. We also saw a significant improvement in our efficiency indices as cost-to-income ratio moderated downward to 65.1percent from 73.4percent in 2019FY. However, Profit before Tax (PBT) dropped by 7.6percent to N28.1billion as we proactively increased our provisions on risk assets to N16.9billion from a net write-back of N0.6billion in 2019FY, said Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, Fidelity Bank CEO, adding that the bank “took a conservative stance in recognition of the impact of the global pandemic, which has redefined business risks and opportunities in the new normal”.

As seen in recent years, the bank’s digital retail banking approach has continued to yield positive results. Though Digital Banking income dropped by 18.8percent due to the revised banker’s tariff, it increased by 19.6percent QoQ on account of increased customer adoption as more services were migrated to the bank’s digital channels.

Onyeali-Ikpe is happy with the progress of its digital banking play stating that over 52.8percent of customers are now enrolled on the bank’s mobile/ internet banking compared to 47.4percent in 2019FY, while 88.4percent of our customers’ transactions were done on the digital platform products and more than 81percent of total transactions done on digital platforms,