Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of FBN Holdings Plc on Thursday released the unaudited financial statements of the banking group for the year ended December 31, 2019.
From the brief analysis done by Business Post, the lender declared a profit before tax of N73.6 billion versus N65.3 billion in the same period of 2018. Also, the profit before tax grew to N62.1 billion from N59.7 billion, while the earnings per share remained flat at N1.65.
According to the financial status of FBN Holdings, its interest income appreciated to N440.6 billion from N434.4 billion, while the interest expense jumped to N154.2 billion from N150.2 billion, with the net interest income increased to N286.4 billion from N284.2 billion.
The company also posted N244.7 billion as net interest income after impairment charge for losses in 2019 compared with N197.3 billion in the same period of 2018 and a net insurance premium revenue of N11.4 billion in the period under review in contrast to N15.5 billion a year earlier.
The fee and commission income recorded in 2019 was higher than in 2018; N106.6 billion last year versus N92.7 billion 12 months earlier, while the fee and commission expense rose to N19.9 billion from N17.3 billion.
The net gains on forex stood at N9.3 billion in 2019 against N32.6 billion in 2018, while the net gains on investment securities was 19.1 billion in contrast to N5.7 billion in FY 2018, with N4.2 billion earned as dividend income, higher than N2.3 billion in 2018.
Business Post observed that personnel expenses gulped N99.3 billion in 2019 compared with N93.4 billion in 2018, with N27.7 billion incurred in the fourth quarter of last year.
In addition, operating expenses rose to N190.4 billion in FY 2019 from N148.0 billion in 2018, with N61.8 billion used in Q4 2019 versus N45.8 billion in the same period of 2018. This left FBN Holdings with an operating profit of N73.5 billion, higher than N65.3 billion in 2018, with N13.5 billion in the last quarter of 2019, lower than N14.0 billion in Q4 2018.
