FSDH Merchant Bank group posted a 44.95 percent increase in its Profit after Tax (PAT) to N4.74 billion at the end of its financial year ended December 31, 2018 from N3.27 billion in 2017.
Presenting the Financial Performance of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2018, Femi Agbaje, Chairman, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, said, the group realised a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N5.57 billion for the financial year, representing an increase of 43.93 percent over the PBT of N3.87 billion for the year ended December 31, 2017.
However, Earnings per Share (EPS) for the group was 164kobo, which is 55kobo higher than the 109kobo that was recorded in the financial year ended December 31, 2016.
The bank realised a PBT of N3.86 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2018 which represents an increase of 30.85 percent over the PBT of N2.95 billion recorded in 2017. Similarly, PAT for the bank increased by 29.93 percent from N2.84 billion in 2017 to N3.69 billion in 2018.
During the period under review all FSDH subsidiaries posted profits indicating better management of shareholders fund. FSDH Asset Management (FSDH-AM) contributed a profit of N327.70 million, while Pensions Alliance Limited (PAL) and FSDH Securities (FSDH-SEC) added N1.31 billion and N96.16 million respectively to the Profit after Tax of the Group.
However, when compared with the PAT for the year ended December 31, 2017, this translates to an increase of 2.55 percent, 32.59 percent, and 103.04 percent for FSDH-AM, PAL and FSDH-SEC, respectively.
According to Agbaje, Nigerian economy is expected to sustain its upward trajectory in the short-to-medium term in 2019, as the Federal Government (FG) continues to push harder with the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) for economic growth.
The FG has signalled that it intends to run a fiscal deficit of about N1.86 trillion in the fiscal year 2019. However, the FG plans to cover the deficit mainly through borrowing a total of N1.65 billion, which is N824.82 billion from both external and domestic sources.
Given the expected increase in the government’s expenditure from the implementation of the New Minimum Wage, the short-term outlook of the crude price and the OPEC’s production cut, the government may borrow more in order to fund the budget
“…governments’ ability to implement its fiscal policies, the direction of crude oil price and production coupled with increased security in the country will drive the performance of the Nigerian economy in 2019,” said Agbaje, at the 7th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.
He said the expected increased activity in the Nigerian economy offers opportunities for the banks in the growth sectors of the economy. “FSDH Group intends to continue on the path of its conservative and robust risk management framework leveraging on modern digital platforms as it engages the various identified opportunities,” he said stating that the bank will partner relevant key stakeholders to develop innovative financing and investment solutions to enable it exploit opportunities and create shared prosperity for shareholders in 2019.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE & SEYI JOHN SALAU
