The much-anticipated Fidelity Bank Plc 2019 financial report is out and it all depict a show of resilient and sustainable growth on the party of the bank. The bank recorded well-rounded performance in 2019 as the commercial bank grew top-line and bottom-line by double-digits. The board of the bank has recommended 81.8 per cent increase in dividend payout, from 11 kobo to 20 kobo per share.
Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Fidelity Bank for the year ended December 31, 2019, showed that gross earnings grew by 14 per cent to N215.5 billion in 2019 as against N189 billion in 2018. Profit before tax rose by 21 per cent to N30.4 billion compared with N25.1 billion while profit after tax increased by 24 per cent from N22.9 billion in 2018 to N28.4 billion in 2019. Net operating income had risen by 15.6 per cent from N97.2 billion to N112.3 billion. Total assets grew by 22.9 per cent from N1.72 trillion in 2018 to N2.11 trillion in 2019.
The board of the bank has recommended distribution of N5.8 billion as cash dividend for the 2019 business year, representing a dividend per share of 20 kobo compared with 11 kobo paid in 2018
Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, said the results showed that the bank was on a sustainable growth path.
“We are delighted at the results which clearly showed that we sustained our performance trajectory and continued to increase our market share driven by significant traction in our chosen business segments,” Okonkwo said.
He noted that the 2019 performance was enhanced by new initiatives in the retail lending segment and the deepening of the bank’s existing digital products, poting out that the bank now has 47.4 per cent of its customers enrolled on the mobile and internet banking products with 82 per cent of total transactions now done on digital platforms and 31.1 per cent of fee-based income now coming from the digital banking business.
