FSDH recommends N978.18m as dividend from N2.62bn PAT

In spite of the start-up challenges, increase in operational expenses, and the tight monetary stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), FSDH Merchant Bank Limited has recommended the sum of N978.18 million as dividend payment for the year ended December 31, 2013.

This represents an increase of N279.48 million in absolute figures when compared with the N698.7 million that was paid in 2012. The amount translates to 35k per share which is also 10k more than the 25 kobo paid at the end of the 2012 financial year.

The bank, which operated for one year as a merchant bank, recorded profit after tax of N2.62 billion, representing 17.9 percent below the 3.19 billion for the previous year.

The Group achieved a profit before tax (PBT) of N2.066 billion for the financial year ended December 31 2013, representing a decline of 8.9 percent from the position of N2.27 billion for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the Group were 93 kobo, which is 25 kobo less than the 118 kobo that was earned in the previous financial year.

However, the size of the Group’s shareholders’ funds stood at N23.7billion as of December 31, 2013; a 4.4 percent increase from the position of N22.7 billion for the financial year ended December 13, 2012. In the financial year under review, the FSDH Group had a total asset size of N83.01 billion.

“This year, we are already beginning to see the benefits of our prior year investments in restructuring, new recruitment, marketing efforts and diversification,” Rilwan Belo-Osagie, managing director, said at a pre-annual general meeting held in Lagos.

The strategy of the Group is to ensure that it builds a portfolio of risk assets that would stand the test of time, he said, saying “we will continue to maintain our conservative stance and exercise great caution so as not to rush into creating risk assets that can be detrimental to our growth in the future.”

During the period under review, all the Group’s subsidiaries posted profits. For FSDH Asset Management (FSDH-AM), it contributed a profit after tax of N237.6 million, while Pensions Alliance Limited (PAL) and FSDH Securities (FSDH-SEC), added N517.99 million and N72.6 million, respectively to the profit after tax of the Group.

When compared with the PAT for the year ended December 31, 2012, this translates to an increase of 24 percent and 43 percent for FSDH-AM and PAL, respectively, and an increase of 226 percent for FSDH-SEC.

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