Shareholders approve Fidelity Bank’s N4.6bn dividend payout

The shareholders of Fidelity Bank has approved the total dividend of N4.6 billion declared by the bank for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2015.

A statement issued by the bank in Lagos on Friday, said that the dividend translated to 16k per ordinary share.

The statement quoted Mr Mohammed Balarabe, the bank’s acting Managing Director as saying that the bank’s 2015 full year performance reflected the disciplined execution of the management’s medium-term strategy and the resilience of evolving business models.

Balarabe stated that 2015 financial year was challenging due to difficult operating environment, tight monetary stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

He added that currency devaluation concerns culminated in negative earnings headwinds in the banking industry.

Balarabe said that the performance of the bank showed resilience to these challenges.

“We are able to achieve this through a sustained income stream built on qualitative services, innovative products and a clear understanding of the varying needs of our customers”, he said.

On the bank’s outlook for the 2016, Balarabe stated that the bank would focus on redesigning its systems and processes to enhance service delivery.

He said that the bank would deepen its cost optimisation initiative to reduce operating expenses and also enhance risk monitoring capacities to ensure both internal and external risks were identified and mitigated before they crystalise.

“We will continue to increase the adoption and migration of customers to our digital platforms and increase our retail banking market share through innovative products and services”, Balarabe stated.

Christopher Ezeh, the bank’s Chairman said that the bank performed relatively well in spite of the economic whirlwind occasioned by the free fall in the global oil prices and attendant capital controls of the CBN.

Ezeh said the tough business environment reflected more on the fees and commission income of the Bank which dropped by 20.8 percent to N23.3 billion from N29.4 billion due to regulatory restrictions on foreign exchange transactions.

He explained that the bank improved the earning capacity of its balance sheet even in the face of decline in fee income precipitated by a N10 billion reduction in its foreign exchange income.

“We continued to increase yields on earning assets faster than the growth in funding costs which improved our Net Interest Margin (NIM) to 6.9 percent in 2015.”

Fidelity Bank during the period under review posted gross earnings of N146.9 billion against N136.10 billion achieved in the preceding period of 2014, an increase of 7.9 per cent.

Profit after Tax for the period under review appreciated marginally to N13.9 billion against N13.8 billion achieved in 2014.

Its profit before tax stood at N14.02 billion in contrast with N15.5 billion posted in the previous year, a decrease of 9.6 per cent.

The bank’s net operating income stood at N83.9 billion compared with N74.6 billion in 2014, an increase of 12.5 per cent.