FBN Holdings Plc has announced a 9.2 per cent rise in profit before tax (PBT) to N45.2 billion in its unaudited financial results for the half year (H1) ended June 30, 2021 compared with N41.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
Profit after tax (PAT) stood at N38.1 billion against N35.6 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2020, indicating an increase of 6.9 per cent.
This comes even as the bank’s gross earnings fell slightly by 1.7 per cent to N291.2 billion in the period under review against N296.4 billion recorded year-on-year.
A statement from the bank also showed operating expenses were up 9.6 per cent to N152.6 billion from N139.2 billion recorded in the same comparative period.
Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director, Mr Urum Kalu Eke, was quoted as saying that the result was reflective of FBN Holdings’ focus on strengthening the organisation as well as commitment to strategic objectives to drive stability in performance and delivering sustainable growth.
“In line with our focus on revenue diversification, we continue to grow our non-interest income as we progressively become a more transaction-led institution and implement innovative and technological driven measures to improve overall efficiency.
“The macro and socio-economic conditions remain challenging given the COVID-19 pandemic and the low-interest rates environment. While these points negatively impacted overall revenue generation, we are confident that FBN Holdings can navigate this challenging operating environment and keep delivering sustained innovative solutions that enrich customer experience,” he said.
These results were delivered despite the challenging macro-economic conditions that were further exacerbated by the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the prevailing low yield environment which continues to compress margins.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer, FirstBank, a member of the Group, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, said: “The commercial banking group’s financial performance in H1 was impressive with a 17.9 per cent and 14.9 per cent uplift in PBT and PAT, respectively. These results were delivered despite the challenging macro-economic conditions that were further exacerbated by the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the prevailing low yield environment which continues to compress margins.
“The effects of these factors resulted in the slight drop recorded in gross earnings and net interest income. Going into the second half, the bank will fully harness the returns from the strong and quality risk assets portfolio created in the first half of the year, taking advantage of the uptick in interest rates.”
He said accelerated growth in the second half of the year would be supported by the bank’s dominance and increased opportunities in the financial inclusion and digital banking businesses.
