Despite the nation’s harsh operating and fiercely competitive business environment, Fidelity Bank Plc has recorded double-digit growth in key revenue lines while achieving significant traction in digital banking uptake.
The details of the bank’s audited half-year result for the period ended June 30, 2019, released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed a 15.7 percent rise in Profit Before Tax (PBT) from N13.0 billion in the preceding year to N15.1 billion in the reporting period. The bank’s Profit After Tax (PAT) rose by 15.6 percent to close at N13.6 billion from N11.8 billion recorded in 2018, while gross earnings increased by 12.3 percent from N92.3 billion to N103.7 billion.
In other indices, Total Assets rose by 12.8 percent to N1.940.2 billion from N1,719.9 billion in the previous period.
Total Deposits; a measure of customer confidence, increased by 12.0 percent to close at N1. 097 trillion from N979.4 billion in 2018 Financial Year (FY).
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo expressed delight with the bank’s financial performance. According to Okonkwo, the bank remained focused on the execution of its medium-term strategic goals and targets for the 2019 financial year while promising that the bank would continue to sustain the momentum and deliver another strong set of results for the nine months 2019. He said, “Gross Earnings increased by 12.3 percent to N103.7 billion driven by a 52.4 percent growth in our fee-based income and a 7.2 percent growth in Interest Income. On Digital Banking, Okonkwo said it has continued to gain traction driven by new initiatives in retail lending segment and increased cross-selling of its digital banking products.
“We now have 45.0 percent of our customers enrolled in the bank’s mobile/internet banking products, 82.0 percent of total transactions now done on digital platforms and 29.0 percent of fee-based income now coming from digital banking”, he added.
The Fidelity CEO pointed out that retail loans were steadily on the rise after the launch of the bank’s new digital lending product dubbed Fidelity Fastloan, adding that the bank has deepened lending partnerships with select Financial Technology (FinTechs) companies.
