Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of FBN Holdings Plc has proposed the payment of 50 Kobo as dividends to shareholders of the company for the 2022 fiscal year.
This information was contained in the financial statements of the firm filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
This cash reward will be presented to the shareholders at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) for approval. The total amount to be shared is N18.0 billion, higher than the N12.6 billion paid in 2021.
FBH Holdings raised the dividend payout in the year under review despite recording a 9.86 per cent shortfall in net profit, as this stood at N136.2 billion versus N151.1 billion in FY 2021.
This was largely impacted by the higher income tax paid by the company to the government in the accounting year (N21.6 billion versus (N15.5 billion in FY’21) and a 5.28 per cent decline in the pre-tax profit to N157.9 billion from N166.7 billion in the preceding year.
However, the gross earnings of FBN Holdings jumped by 6.31 per cent to N805.1 billion from N757.3 billion in 2021, with interest income at N551.9 billion in the reporting year versus N369.1 billion in the previous year and the interest expense rising to N188.7 billion from N140.8 billion, leaving the net interest income at N363.3 billion, in contrast to N228.2 billion in FY 2021.
The company said it generated N144.0 billion from fee and commission income, higher than the N140.6 billion raked in a year earlier, while foreign exchange income jumped to N22.4 billion from N7.0 billion.
However, due to higher operating expenses (N218.5 billion in FY 22 versus N177.1 billion in FY 21), the operating profit shrank to N157.7 billion from N166.9 billion, despite the management trimming the personnel costs to N117.4 billion from N128.8 billion.
Business Post reports that deposits from customers increased to N7.1 trillion in the year under consideration from N5.9 trillion in the previous year, resulting in an increase in loans to customers to N3.4 trillion from N2.9 trillion.
