FBN Holdings’s gross earnings hits ₦160b in Q1

COMFORT EKELEME

FBN Holdings Plc said it’s gross earnings for the three months ended 31 March 2020, stood at ₦159.7 billion, up 14.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) as against 139.4 billion recorded in  the first quarter of 2019.

The bank also recorded a Net-interest income of ₦60.3 billion, down 15.9per cent y-o-y, while it was  ₦71.7 billion in March 2019. Non-interest income rose from 26.3 billion to ₦49.7 billion, up 88.9per cent y-o-y.

In it’s unaudited results for the three months ended 31 March, 2020, FirstBank said.

Operating income N110.0 billion, up 12.2per cent y-o-y, as against the N98.0 billion in March 2019.

Impairment charge for credit losses of ₦9.7 billion went down 29.9per cent y-o-y  and in Mar 2019, it stood at ₦13.8 billion.

Interestingly, the bank’s operating expenses of ₦71.6 billion, went up 7.9per cent y-o-y, while in March 2019, it stood at ₦66.4 billion1.

FirstBank recorded a Profit before tax of ₦28.7 billion, up 61.5per cent y-o-y, and in March 2019, ₦17.8 billion1

Profit after tax of ₦25.7 billion, up 62.7 pee cent y-o-y and in March 2019: ₦15.8 billion1.

Commenting on the results, Group Managing Director of FBNHoldings, UK Eke said, “The financial results of first quarter 2020 is a further testament of the turnaround of our business which began to manifest in 2019.

The Group posted a first quarter 2020 Profit Before Tax (PBT) of ₦28.7 billion, representing a growth of 61.5 per cent year-on-year. From an efficiency standpoint, return on average equity increased from 12.4per cent at year-end to 15.3per cent at the end of March 2020, while the cost-to-income ratio decreased to 65.1per cent, in line with our commitment on improving operational efficiency by leveraging technology.

“The current situation demonstrates the importance of the deployment of appropriate technology and effectively validates our recent investment in enhancing our capacity in technological innovation and digitisation of our products and services.

“We are currently assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and will update the market as soon as we are able to give guidance for the rest of the year. As a Group, we are progressing with our business continuity plans and all hands are on deck to ensure the safety of our employees and to continue to serve our customers with minimal disruption.
We are united with our government, industry and the wider society in our resolve to flatten the curve of COVID-19 and limit the damage caused by the pandemic,” he said.

Commenting on the results Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank Group said:

“We are pleased with the performance of the commercial banking group in the first quarter of 2020, with gross earnings up 15.6 per cent and PBT up 54.8per cent y-o-y respectively. We have also seen further improvements in our NPL and Cost-to-Income ratios and are now a stronger and more resilient institution, with a significantly enhanced risk management architecture.

As we commence the execution of the earlier phase of the new 2020 – 2022 strategic plan, we are all aware that we are living through unprecedented times. However, I am confident that we are well equipped to handle the headwinds. We have invested heavily in the last three years to establish our digital banking footprint and with a network of over 53,000 agents across Nigeria as well as over thirteen million customers actively transacting on our digital platforms (FirstMobile and USSD), we have built capacity to continue to offer gold standard services to our customers while safeguarding our staff through the pandemic.” he said.

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