Fidelity Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading tier-2 bank, has proven to be a force despite COVID-19 challenges and tough operating environment as the bank grew profit after tax by 70.8 percent from N11.303 billion recorded in the first half (H1) of 2020 to N19.306 billion in the first half of 2021.
This was contained in the bank’s interim financial statements released through the Nigerian Exchange Limited and obtained by Investors King.
The lender’s gross earnings expanded by 6.2 percent year-on-year to N112.3 billion in the period under review, up from N105.8 billion filed in the same period of 2020. The increase was largely due to the 27.8 percent growth recorded in non-interest revenue.
Fidelity Bank grew non-interest revenue from N18.1 billion in H1 2020 to N23.8 billion in H1 2021. This, the lender attributed to 57.7 percent growth recorded in Banking Services; 50.6 percent improvement in Account Maintenance Charges; 49.4 percent expansion in Digital Banking Income and 33.7 percent growth in Trade Income.
Again, total customer induced transactions across all distribution channels rose by 58.0 percent year-on-year and 21.2 percent on a quarterly basis.
Fidelity bank grew total deposit by 16.5 percent in the first half of 2021 to N1.980.2 trillion, up from N1.699 trillion in 2020FY. Also, the bank’s foreign currency deposits increased by 23.1 percent in the period under review to $149 million and presently accounts for 18.5 percent of total deposits from 17.5 percent in 2020 financial year.
Commenting on the bank’s strong performance, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc said, “We sustained our impressive financial performance with double-digit growth in profit as increased customer transactions drove non-interest revenue while improved operational efficiency continued to moderate cost – to – serve. This resulted in 72.4percent increase in profit before tax to N20.6bn from N12.0bn in H1 2020.”
“Digital Banking gained further traction as we now have 55.1% of our customers enrolled on the mobile/internet banking products and 89.3% of customer-induced transactions were done on digital platforms”.
“We look forward to sustaining the current momentum in H2 2021 by optimizing our balance sheet and lowering our cost – to – serve which will translate to improved earnings while we remain committed to our medium to long-term strategic objectives.”
