Yemisi Izuora
The FBN Holdings has reported N4.3 trillion customer deposits for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2020.
The figure represents 6.7 per cent up when compared to the ₦4.0 trillion recorded in December 2019.
In its unaudited results announced on Monday, FBN Holdings explained that Gross Earnings for the period was ₦159.7 billion, up 14.5% when compared to ₦139.4 billion recorded in March 2019.
Also, Profit after tax stood at ₦25.7 billion, up 62.7% as against ₦15.8 billion in March 2019 with operating income of ₦110.0 billion, up by 12.2% (Mar 2019: ₦ 98.0 billion)
Commenting on the results, UK Eke, the Group Managing Director of FBN Holdings said:
“The financial results of Q1 2020 is a further testament of the turnaround of our business which began to manifest in 2019. The Group posted a Q1 2020 PBT of ₦28.7 billion, representing a growth of 61.5% year-on-year. From an efficiency standpoint, return on average equity increased from 12.4% at year-end to 15.3% at the end of March 2020, while the cost-to-income ratio decreased to 65.1%, 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”.
Other Details Includes:
• Impairment charge for credit losses of ₦9.7 billion, down 29.9% y-o-y (Mar 2019: ₦13.8 billion)
• Operating expenses of ₦71.6 billion, up 7.9% y-o-y (Mar 2019: ₦66.4 billion)
• Profit before tax of ₦28.7 billion, up 61.5% y-o-y (Mar 2019: ₦17.8 billion)
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Statement of Financial Position
• Total assets of ₦7.0 trillion, up 13.2% year-to-date (y-t-d) (Dec 2019: ₦6.2 trillion)
• Customer deposits of ₦4.3 trillion, up 6.7% y-t-d (Dec 2019: ₦4.0 trillion)
• Customer loans and advances (net) of ₦2.1 trillion, up 10.7% y-t-d (Dec 2019: ₦1.9 trillion)
Key Ratios
• Post-tax return on average equity 15.3% (Mar 2019: 11.8%)
• Post-tax return on average assets 1.6% (Mar 2019: 1.1%)
• Net-interest margin 6.3% (Mar 2019: 7.7%)
• Cost to income ratio 65.1% (Mar 2019: 67.7%1)
• NPL ratio 9.2% (Dec 2019: 9.9%)
• 30.1% liquidity ratio (FirstBank (Nigeria)) (Dec 2019: 38.2%)
• 15.3% Basel 2 Capital Adequacy Ratio (FirstBank Nigeria: Dec 2019: 15.5%)
• 17.1% Basel 2 CAR (FBNQuest Merchant Bank) (Dec 2019: 17.1%)