By Dipo Olowookere
The top and bottom-lines of Fidelity Bank’s financial statements for the first nine months of this year were mixed following a decline in the gross earnings and a rise in the net profit.
The lender, which released its financial status for the period ended September 30, 2020, to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, stated that the revenue went down by 3.8 per cent to N155.0 billion from N161.1 billion recorded in the same time of 2019.
In the period under consideration, the interest income reduced to N128.3 billion from N132.6 billion and this was because of lower amortised cost, placements and short-term funds, loans and advances to customers, and fair value through other comprehensive income.
After a lower interest expense of N57.5 billion versus N76.9 billion in 9-month 2019, the lender closed the period under review with a net interest income of N75.0 billion compared with N58.3 billion achieved a year ago.
The fee and commission dropped to N14.5 billion from N19.3 billion as a result of the decline in ATM charges, accounts maintenance charge and commission on e-banking activities.
However, the personnel costs rose to N18.6 billion from N17.0 billion despite the cut in the wages and salaries paid in the period under review.
Business Post observed that the personnel expenses went up due to the N2.0 billion paid as the end of the year bonus by the company, which was not done a year ago. The financial institution is under a legal obligation to pay staff bonus where profit has been declared.
In the first nine months of this year, Fidelity Bank recorded a profit before tax of N21.4 billion as against N20.6 billion of the same time of last year.
Also, the profit after tax rose by 6.8 billion to N20.4 billion from N19.1 billion, while the earnings per share (EPS) moved up to 70 kobo from 66 kobo.
Adedapo Adesanya