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Fidelity Bank Plc has posted an impressive financial performance for the 3rd Quarter of 2019 and is on course to finishing strong in the 2019 Financial Year (FY).
Details of the 9-month results for the period which ended on September 30, released showed a strong double-digit growth in revenues, deposits and profitability etc.
Gross Earnings grew by 16.3 per cent to N161.4 billion from N138.7 billion reported in the same period in 2018, while profit-before-tax soared by 14.7 per cent from N20.1 billion to N23 billion.
In other indices, total assets grew by 14.6 per cent to N1,970.6 billion from N1,719.9 billion in the same period last year. Total deposits; a measure of customer confidence, increased by 14 per cent to close at N1,116.4 billion from N979.4 billion in 2018 financial year.
“We look forward to sustaining the momentum in fourth quarter of 2019 and achieving our set targets for 2019 financial year”, said its Managing Director/CEO, Nnamdi Okonkwo. According to him, Retail Banking continued to deliver impressive results as savings deposits increased by 9.2 pe cent to N248.9 billion, further adding that the bank is on course to achieving the 6th consecutive year of double-digit savings growth. “Savings deposits now accounts for about 22.3 per cent of total deposits, an attestation of our increasing market share in the retail segment”.
The growth in deposits is further complemented by its digital banking push which has resulted in having over 46.4 percent of its customers enrolled on the mobile/internet banking products and recording over 82.0 percent of total transactions on digital platforms.
“Digital Banking continued to gain traction driven by the bank’s new initiatives in the retail lending and increased cross-selling of our digital banking products”, he added.
Non-performing Loans (NPLs) Ratio improved to 4.8 percent from 5.7 per cent in the 2018 financial year while absolute NPL declined by 4.9 per cent in Q3 2019 compared to Q2 2019. All other Regulatory Ratios remained above the required thresholds with Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 16.4 percent and Liquidity Ratio at 32.6 percent.
