By Stanley Onyeka, Lagos
FCMB Group Plc has reported a significant rise in pre=tax profit to ₦104.4 billion for the year December 31, 2023, or 186% above the ₦36.6 billion posted in 2022.
FCMB Group, which proposed a dividend of 50 kobo per share for its shareholders, said it also contributed to food security and import substitution in Nigeria by increasing lending to the agricultural sector by 38.4% year-on-year (YoY) from N147.4 billion to N204.3 billion.
In addition, the Bank said it supported over 300,000 smallholder farmers, 56% of whom were women in agriculture, in rural communities to support the sector, according to a statement.
Over $280 million of funding from DFI’s and donor agencies was raised during the year to support the attainment of sustainable development goals in critical sectors of the economy.
Leveraging its core banking business, the Group facilitated over $700 million and $100 million in export and remittance flows into Nigeria, respectively.
In safeguarding the environment, it switched six additional branches of its retail and commercial banking subsidiary (First City Monument Bank Limited) from grid/diesel generators to solar power last year, taking the number of branches running on renewable energy to 160, which represents 78% of total branches.
Furthermore, the Bank secured funding of up to N13 billion from local development finance institutions for on-lending to customers requiring solar energy solutions to further support its commitment to driving renewable energy.
FCMB’s customer base grew by 15.6% YoY from 10.9 million to 12.5 million for the period ended December 2023, whilst users of its mobile app that offers lending, wealth and payment solutions grew by 31% YoY to 3.4 million.
Similarly, the Bank’s agency banking network grew to over 164,000 agents. With an enlarged customer base, an expanded distribution platform, and the use of artificial intelligence to automate and optimise loan underwriting processes, the Group successfully disbursed over 1.5 million loans worth N100.8 billion to individuals, N14.4 billion to micro-enterprises and N177.9 billion to SMEs during the period.
We continue to leverage our unique Group structure to build a technology-driven ecosystem that is fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the communities we serve.
Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive of FCMB Group Plc, Ladi Balogun, was quoted as saying: “We continue to leverage our unique Group structure to build a technology-driven ecosystem that is fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the communities we serve.
“This strategy is enabling us to deliver robust performance in spite of the challenging domestic and global environment.
“Barring unforeseen circumstances, we believe this trend will be sustained and accompanied by improving efficiencies arising from greater scale and ongoing digitization.”
Financial highlights
- Gross revenue rose to N516.4 billion, an 82.5% growth from N283 billion year-on-year.
- Net interest income grew by 44.8% from N122 billion in 2022 to N176.6 billion in 2023.
- Deposits rose by 58.5% YoY from N1.94 trillion to N3.08 trillion.
- Loans and advances grew by 54% from N1.20 trillion to N1.84 trillion.
- Total assets increased by 48.3% from N2.98 trillion to N4.42 trillion at the end of December 2023.
- Assets Under Management increased by 29.6% last year from N783.7 billion to N1.02 trillion.
- Investment banking transactions consummated rose to N945.3 billion, compared to N857.1 billion year-on-year.
