Fidelity Bank Plc, a commercial bank in Nigeria, saw its earnings per share rise in 2023 to the highest in at least 10 years, data compiled by BusinessDay shows.
The bank’s latest financial statements show that its earnings per share rose by 96.2 percent to N316.6 last year from N161.3 in 2022.
That compares with an increase of 31.5 percent in 2022.
Earnings per share is a company’s net profit divided by the number of common shares it has outstanding. It also indicates how much money a company makes for each share of its stock, and is a widely used metric for estimating corporate value.
A higher earnings per share indicates greater value because investors will pay more for a company’s shares if they think the company has higher profits relative to its share price.
The shares outstanding stood at 32.01 million, with a price of N12 and a traded volume of 1.56 million as of Tuesday.
After-tax profit increased by 116.8 percent to N101.30 billion from N46.72 billion. Interest income surged to N432 billion from N278.4.
Fees and commission income increased to N49.67 billion from N34.42 billion. Other income surged to N46.7 billion from N7.05 billion.
The bank recorded a decrease in its loan recoveries to N470 million from N3.96 billion. According to the lender, loan recoveries represent the amount recovered for previously written-off facilities. The amount is recognised on a cash basis only.
Personnel expenses increased to N52.89 billion from N29.73 billion. Total assets rose to N6.23 billion in 2023 from N3.98 billion.
Net cash from operating activities increased to N547.27 billion from N297.59 billion. Net cash flow used in investing activities was negative at N598.87 billion compared to a positive N36.22 billion.
Net cash flow used financing activities was a positive N90.6 billion as against a negative N256 billion. Cash and cash equivalent was N383.44 billion, up from N300.34 billion.
