The shareholders of First Bank Nigeria (FBN) have been assured of brighter future, efficient service delivery and enhanced dividend in the years ahead.
Dr Oba Otudeko, Chairman of FBN Holdings Group, gave the assurance at the company’s seventh Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos .
Otudeko assured shareholders that the company had mapped out strategies aimed at ensuring enhanced value creation for the future.
He said that the board and management, would work together to create shareholder value and build strong foundation for the future.
“We are not resting on our laurels, and our renewed approach to synergy and innovation will be major drivers to unlocking earnings potential for our group.
“We believe that our efforts to integrate our offerings and provide end-to-end solutions for our customers will create a competitive advantage in our markets,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Mr Urum Eke, Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings, said that the company was committed to greater exploits in the future in its drive to deliver value to its shareholders.
“I will like to reiterate our promise to you and the entire market that 2019 represents for us the year of inflection.
“All leading indicators derived from our numbers, point to the commencement of growth across businesses, markets and indices.
“As we transition to a new strategic planning cycle post-2019, we are confident that the focused execution of our strategy, investment in future-enabling technologies, development of our talents and our re-engineered processes to repositioning the group for ultimate benefit of the shareholders,’’ Eke said.
He also commended the shareholders for their unwavering support to the group over the years.
The company for the period under review posted a profit after tax of N59.7 billion compared to N45. 5 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2017, an increase of 31.4 per cent.
Profit before tax stood at N65. 3 billion as against N54.5 billion recorded in 2017, representing a growth of 19.7 per cent.
Gross earnings stood at N583.5 billion compared to N595. 4 billion in 2017, a decrease of two per cent.
Its total assets rose by 6.3 per cent from N5.2 trillion in 2017 to N5.6 trillion during the review period.
Similarly, customers’ deposits expanded by 10.9 per cent from N3.1 trillion in 2017 to N3.5 trillion in 2018.
The year also recorded reduction in impairment charges which declined to N87. 3 billion from N150.4 billion, representing 42 per cent drop and a proof to the improving loan book of the commercial bank.
He assured the shareholders that the board and management had restructured the entire group for more sustainable growth.
“For liquidity perspective, you have a strong institution that will pay dividend on a regular basis.
“We have built capital buffet at the commercial bank and the other entities are also well capitalised.
“The year 2019 promises to be a much better year than 2018, all operating entities are in safe hands with good management teams.
“Non Performing Loan (NPL) ratio should be at single digit by end of 2019, we will pursue recovery and when it happens the commercial banks will contribute to dividend payment,’’ he said.
Eke noted that significant growth in the bottom line was due to several factors including the improved risk management processes which endured that impairment changes dropped year-on-year.
He also, attributed the growth to implementation of servers cost containment initiatives during the period.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Dr Adesola Adeduntan said that recovery efforts on all accounts provisioned were in progress.
Adeduntan said that the bank would ensure that no kobo would be left in the hands of third party, noting that the bank would work harder to resolve the entire legacy NPL.
He said that the number of banking agents had increased to 20,000, adding that the figure processed through agency banking platform had reached N1 trillion as at last week.
Mr Patrick Ajudua,the National Chairman, New Dimension Shareholders Association of Nigeria, who commended the growth of the agency banking, said that it had helped to increase the visibility of FirstBank across the country.
Ajudua said that 85 per cent of the bank’s customers initiated transactions through the channel.
He also lauded the company’s effort in NPL reduction and urged them to intensify efforts in loan recoveries to forestall further reoccurrence.
Dr Farouk Umar, Chairman, Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders Association, appreciated the company for dividends declared during the review period.
Umar who also commended the company’s risk management initiatives, said that it had impacted positively on its NPL ratio.
The shareholders at the meeting approved a total dividend of N9.3 billion, which translated to 26k per share to be paid on May 6.
