Fidelity Bank Plc is set to pay a total dividend of N3.186 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2018.
The amount represents N0.11 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo held by investors at the close of business on April 12, 2019.
Shareholders commended the board and management for maintaining dividend policy, expressed the need to pay higher in future.
They also urged board to adopt strategies that would enable them sustain growth and profitability in the industry.
The Managing Director, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo said in the last 12 years, the bank has been consistency in dividend payment, stressing that the payment of low dividend is an evidence that investors would receive higher dividend in future.
He also assured shareholders that the management would continue to review staff remunerations to be within industry level.
Okonkwo further said that growing of the savings deposit would be of advantage to the bank, noting that savings deposits doubled from N75 billion to N226 billion in the last five years.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, he said &our 2018 audited financial statement shows a strong double-digit growth in earning assets, customer deposits and revenues while we were able to sustain cost discipline with growth in total operating expenses remaining below average headline inflation in 2018.
He said gross earnings increased by 4.8 per cent to close at N188.9 billion primarily driven by 22.7 per cent growth in earning assets which led to 4.2 per cent increase in interest income to N153.7 billion and 9.2 per cent rise in net fee and commission income to N31.8 billion.
He said that digital banking gained traction during the year with almost 40 per cent of customers now enrolled on mobile/ internet banking products and 81 per cent of total transactions now done on digital platform.
He said that net interest margin came in at 5.8 per cent on account of lower yields on earning assets.
Addressing shareholders at the meeting, the chairman of the bank,Mr Ernest Ebi said that the bank has embarked on a robust digital transformation journey that has witnessed the implementation of some digital initiatives including the set up of a digital lending products.
He said that plans are on the way for the establishment of a sub-brand that will operate primarily through these digital platform.
He said for 2019 financial year , the board expected the economy to pick up towards the middle of the year when all the election issues would have been resolved, adding that what happen in the financial system would depend on the political will of the government to drive reforms in critical areas of the economy.
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Access Bank to strengthen governance practices
The Chairman of Access Bank Plc, Mosun Belo-Olusoga has said that the bank will continue to strengthen governance practices and enhances monitoring capabilities to serve the needs of the customers, shareholders.
She said that the bank filed quarterly governance returns with the regulators to ensure accountability.
Addressing shareholders in Lagos, she said Access Bank is a much more diversified as a result of consistent approach to shifting trends and market change, adding that over the years, the bank have implemented strategies built on strong governance metrics and remained profitable and sustainable.
She said in building the gateway for a sustainable Africa, we are connecting customers to diverse opportunities in a way that enables them prosper and thrive inspire of the risks and uncertainty inherent in today’s world.&
She explained that the bank’s merger with Diamond bank will result in increased staff strength which is expected to improve business operations and customer retention.
She said human resources department are developing a culture policy that would continue both futures to produce the very best both banks have to offer.
The bank group gross earning grew by 15.2 per cent to N528.744 billion from N459.075 billion reported in the previous year.
Profit before tax increased by 32 per cent to N103.187 billion against N78.169 billion recorded in the comparable period of 2017 while profit after tax went to N94.981 billion from N60.087 billion, representing a surge of 58.1 per cent.
An analysis of the bank’s group result indicated that customer deposits which stood at N2.244 trillion in the preceding year move upward to N2.564 trillion, increasing by 14.3 per cent while net Loan and advances grew from N2.064 trillion to N2.136 trillion.
Total assets inched from N4.102 trillion in the preceding year to N4.594 trillion at the end December 31, 2018, indicating growth rate of 20.8 per cent while shareholders fund down by 4 per cent to N490.511 billion from N511.195 billion.
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Sterling Bank operating expenses grows by 26.4%
Sterling Bank Plc has incurred more expenses at the end of 2018 financial year as its total operating expenses increased to N66.950 billion.
The amount represents a surge of N13.97 billion or 26.36 per cent against N52.980 billion recorded in the preceding year.
A break down of the Sterling bank group expenditure for the year showed that personnel expenses rose from N11.545 billion in 2017 to N13.194 billion at the end of December 2018, other operating expenses moved upward to N16.715 billion from N15.284 billion reported in the precefing year, general and administrative expenses grew from N16.554 billion to N24.283 billion, depreciation and amortization also rose from N4.995 billion in 2017 to N5.730 billion while other property, plant and equipment costs engulfed N7.028 billion against N4.602 billion in the preceding year.
Addressing shareholders at the annual general meeting, Chairman of the board of directors of the bank, Mr. Asue Ighodalo said, “Our financial results in 2018 reflect an even stronger business performance despite the impact of an ailing operating environment.”
According to him, the bank sustained earnings growth momentum in 2018 as gross earnings grew by 14 percent to N152.2 billion from N133.5 billion recorded in 2017. He added that although operating expenses increased by 26.4 to N66.9 billion due to investment in human capital and technology, the bank grew profit before tax by 17.1 percent to N9.5 billion and profit after tax by 14.9 percent to N9.2 billion.
The chairman said the bank closed the year under review with an improved balance sheet position as total assets grew steadily by about 2.9 percent to N1.1 trillion, thereby maintaining the over one trillion Naira mark achieved in the previous year.
“We continued to sustain operational efficiencies and our focus in growing the bank’s retail franchise. This resulted in an improved deposit base and moderate growth in our loan book, specifically riding on the 108.3 percent growth in retail and consumer loans delivered mainly by SPECTA – Nigeria’s fastest digital lending platform,” Ighodalo said.
He added that the bank was able to maintain the cost of funds at 7.4 percent despite high-interest environment which persisted for a significant part of the year.
On the future prospect of the bank, Ighodalo remarked that the Nigerian business environment for 2019 would remain a story of two halves.
He noted that the bank expects the first half of the year to be dominated largely by election activities at the expense of economic growth, heightened by subdued foreign capital inflows, increased pressure on the Naira and accelerated foreign exchange intervention programme while the second half would witness the likelihood of stronger consumer confidence.
Chief Executive Officer Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman told shareholders that the bank commited to remain profitable and ensure all investment are safeguarded irrespective of external events stands strong.
He said that bank tends to achieve this by doing good-creating an institution with impact.
According to him, the bank will seek to contribute further to policy development and collaborate more to execute national programme.
The shareholders of Sterling Bank commended the board and management for the performance of the bank especially, the massive improvement in most of the indices, especially in gross earnings, net interest income, liquidity ratio and profit after tax.
They pointed out that though the bank is not paying any dividend to shareholders for the year, “we are happy with the capital appreciation of the share price and the future bountiful dividends that await us.”
