By Dipo Olowookere
No doubt, the 2016 was difficult for Nigeria as well as many businesses in the country, but despite the challenges, some firms survived the tide, including Fidelity Bank, coming out stronger than before.
Over the weekend, the financial institution released its full year audited results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the top Nigerian lender posted a strong performance.
At the end of December 31, 2016, Fidelity Bank Plc made a turnover of N152 billion, showing a 3.5 percent growth in its gross earning, compared with N146 billion achieved in the corresponding period in 2015.
In other performance indices, net interest income grew by 1.7 percent from N60.9 billion to N61.9 billion, while the total deposits, a measure of customer confidence, grew by 3 percent, rising from N769.6 billion in 2015 to N793 billion.
In the same vein, total assets of the bank increased by 5.4 percent to N1.3 billion from N1.2 billion in the corresponding year.
However, Fidelity Bank’s profits were moderated in the period under review by the one-off staff cost incurred during the year.
Consequently its pre-tax profit stood at N11.1 billion down from N14 billion in 2015, while its post-tax profit fell to N9.7 billion in 2016 from N13.9 billion in 2015.
However, Fidelity Bank’s retail and electronic banking strategy continued to deliver impressive results with savings deposits growing by 30.1 percent to N155 billion while customer enrolments on its flagship Instant Banking (*770#) and Online Banking products grew by over 200 percent leading to a 44.6 percent growth in net e-banking revenues to N7.5 billion.
This performance, according to the CEO of Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, “driven by the upgrade of our core banking system which provides a superior architecture that enhanced our operational efficiency and deepened our electronic banking capabilities.”
Speaking further, Mr Okonkwo, explained that profits dipped due to the cost of N4.8 billion cost incurred as Fidelity Bank discontinued its legacy gratuity and retirement scheme.
“Excluding this one-off charge, PBT for the year would have been at N15.8 billion” he stated.
He added that, “Our financial performance in FY2016 reflects the sound fundamentals of our evolving business model as we continued with the disciplined execution of our medium-term strategy which positions the business for improved and sustainable profitability.”
Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank has proposed to pay a dividend of 14 kobo per share to shareholders.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale