Fidelity Bank Plc has bolstered earnings performance as the top Tier-II lender grew profit by about 207 percent year on year, according to its recent unaudited financial statement filed with a regulator on Wednesday. Earnings triple as Fidelity Bank increases lending appetite with strong support from non-interest-related revenue.
Details from its unaudited financial statement showed that profit after tax rose by more than three times to an all-time high of N142.8 billion, resulting in an earnings per share of N4.93 from N1.460 in 2022.
The bank’s non-interest revenue and interest income came stronger than amounts posted in the comparable year in 2022. Specifically, non-interest income increased by 3.8x to N104.6 billion as policy reforms in the FX market led to a net foreign exchange gain of N44.1 billion, according to analysts.
The bank’s 54.8 percent increase in interest income masked the 25.8 percent rise in interest expense, raising net interest income by 81.9 percent to N277.8 billion. As a result, operating income surged by 112.5 percent to N382.3 billion, which offset the growth in operating expenses by 111.9 percent to N194.2 billion and moderated the cost-to-income ratio by 16.3 percent points to 50.8 percent.
The bank posted a material jump in impairment charges, up by 1114.1 percent to N66.1 billion in 2023. The rise in impairment charges was driven by the 9.1x jump in loan loss expenses to N61.9 billion. This drove cost-of-risk to 1.9 percent . Also, there was a surprise tax write-back of N20.8 billion for the year. IMF Estimates 3.1 percent Global Economic Growth for 2024.