Fidelity Grows Earnings by 18% in Q1
Fidelity Bank Plc yesterday released its unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with its gross earnings rising by 18.8 per cent from N34.4 billion in 2016 to N40.8 billion
Similarly its profits in the period, surged by 20.5 per cent from N4 billion in 2016 to N4.8 billion in 2017, just as it recorded growth in net interest income, deposits, loans and other performance indices.
Speaking on the results, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Fidelity Bank , Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo said the double digits growth in earnings and profits underscores the disciplined execution of its medium-term strategy and a business model that enables the bank to continue to deliver improved performance in line with its 2017 financial year targets.
“Gross earnings growth was driven by a combination of increased yields on earning assets and an absolute growth in the volume of earning assets which led to a 24.1 per cent year-on-year growth in interest income” he said.
The Fidelity Bank helmsman also spoke about the impact of the bank’s efforts at reducing operating cost. “Our cost optimization initiatives continued to deliver cost savings as total operating expenses declined y-o-y by 10.4 per cent to N14.4 billion, this was driven by a decline in over 60 per cent of our operating expense lines in Q1 2017.
“We will continue to optimize our cost profile without impacting service delivery through the disciplined execution of the initiatives from our recently completed business optimization project” he stated.
Deposits, which is a measure of customer confidence, in the period under review, grew quarter on quarter by 0.9 per cent to N800 billion in March 2017 from N793 billion as at December 2016, with low cost deposits accounting for 79.4 per cent of total deposits. On the whole the bank’s retail strategy has continued to deliver impressive results with savings increasing by 5.6 per cent to N163.7 billion as at March 31, 2017.
