Nigeria’s leading tier-II bank, Fidelity Bank Plc reported a 29.4% increase in gross earnings to N71.332 billion in the period ended March 31, 2022.
The lender disclosed this in its unaudited financial statement obtained by Investors King.
Interest and similar income using the effective interest rate method rose by 54.4% from N39.149 billion recorded in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 to N60.372 billion in the period under review.
However, 124.3% jumped in interest and similar expense to N31.995 billion dragged on net interest income.
Net interest income stood at N30.045 billion, representing an increase of 4.3% from N28.797 billion in Q1 2021. Net interest income after credit loss expense improved 8.4% to N29.840 billion while other operating expenses inched higher to N18.623 billion.
Profit before income tax inched slightly up by 1.9% from N10.134 billion in Q1 2021 to N10.324 billion. Fidelity Bank paid N810 million in income tax.
Profit after tax remained largely unchanged at N9.515 billion, almost the same amount, N9.590 billion realised in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
The bank realised N393 million for items that will be classified subsequently to profit or loss, against the N18.700 billion decline posted in the same quarter of 2021.
Therefore, Fidelity Bank’s comprehensive income for the period jumped by over 200% from -N9.109 billion to N9.908 billion in Q1 2022. Earnings per share stood at 33 kobo.
Commenting on the bank’s performance in March, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc, said “Digital Banking gained further traction driven by new initiatives in our retail business and the enhancement of existing digital banking products. We now have 56.0% of our customers enrolled on the mobile/internet banking products and 90.0% of total customer-induced transactions done on digital platforms with digital banking business contributing 27.6% to net fee income.”
