FCMB Keeps Dividend at 14 Kobo as Post-Tax Profit Hits N17bn

By Dipo Olowookere

The board of FCMB Plc has recommended the payment of 14 kobo as dividend for the year ended December 31, 2019, the same amount paid in the prior year.

The lender, in the financial statements filed to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today, stated that the cash reward was subject to approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) as well as a 10 percent withholding tax.

During the year under review, the bank recorded N181.3 billion as gross earnings, higher than N177.3 billion over the same period of 2018.

Also, the interest income was N137.5 billion in contrast to N131.7 billion in FY18, while the interest expense was N61.5 billion, higher than N59.1 billion a year earlier, with the net interest income closing at N76.0 billion versus N72.6 billion in the previous year.

According to the results, fee and commission income brought in N29.7 billion into the company’s coffers, higher than N28.0 billion 12 months earlier, while it recorded N9.0 billion for fee and commission expense in the 2019 fiscal year, higher than N6.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. As a result, the net fee and commission income/expense dropped to N20.7 billion from N21.6 billion.

FCMB said in the 2019 earnings status that it had a net trading income of N6.9 billion compared with the N6.2 billion it recorded in 2018 and generated N4.1 billion from other revenue, lower than N9.9 billion in the previous year, while the other income dropped to N1.2 billion from N1.9 billion.

During the year, personnel expenses jumped to N29.6 billion from N25.9 billion, while general and administrative expenses gulped N31.9 billion in FY 2019 as against N29.7 billion in FY 2018, with other operating expenses taking away N8.7 billion from the purse of the financial institution, lower than N18.0 billion a year earlier.

At the close of business on December 31, 2019, FCMB made a profit before tax of N20.1 billion compared with N18.4 billion at December 31, 2018, while the profit after tax increased to N17.3 billion in FY19 from N15.0 billion in FY18.

From the financial status of FCMB analysed by Business Post, its total assets grew to N1.7 trillion from N1.4 trillion, while the total liabilities increased to N1.5 trillion from N1.3 trillion.

Also, loans and advances to customers moved up to N715.9 billion from N633.0 billion, investment securities rose to N239.9 billion from N235.9 billion, deposits from customers improved to N943.1 billion from N821.8 billion, borrowings increased to N133.3 billion from N108.7 billion, while retained earnings jumped to N34.2 billion from N29.0 billion.