FBN Holdings Plc, on Thursday at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), declared N206.3billion profit before tax (PBT) in its unaudited half year (H1) account ended June 30, 2023, which was a new record high for the oldest financial institution in Nigeria.
The PBT recorded was about 213.8 per cent higher, when compared with the N65.7 billion declared by the parent company of First Bank in the first half of 2022.
FBN Holdings in 2022 full year result and accounts declared N157.7billion PBT and in 2021, it announced N166.7billion PBT.
Key factors that contributed to the outstanding increase in the FBN Holdings PBT and profit after tax figures included: N656.5billion gross earnings reported in H1 2023, an increase of 83 per cent from N359.2billion reported in H1 2022, and N257.9billion non-interest income in H1 2023, a growth of about 113.8 per cent from N120.6billion in H1 2022.
The group’s balance sheet position improved significantly, as total assets crossed the N14trillion mark as of June 30, 2023.
FBN Holdings declared N14.18 trillion total assets as of June 30, 2023, an increase of 34 per cent, from the N10.58 trillion reported in 2022 full year.
The increase in total assets was driven by N5.26 trillion customer loans and advances (Net) as of June 30, 2023, an increase of 39 per cent from N3.79trillion and N9.04 trillion customer deposits as of June 30, 2023, a growth of about 27 per cent from N7.21trillion reported in 2022FY.
Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, said in a statement, “FBN Holdings has continued to deliver a strong financial performance despite the complex operating environment, thanks to our reinforced foundations, deep market understanding, strong risk management, and execution capabilities.
“On the back of this and in line with our focus of driving further improvement in revenue generation and profitability, the group delivered strong growth in gross earnings and profit before tax, resulting in N656.6 billion and N206.3 billion, respectively, for the first half of 2023 financial year.”
Okonkwo added, “Across our businesses, we continue to focus on customer-centric innovations with strong transactional and digital capabilities supported by sound risk management practices to anticipate and creatively deliver products and services that delight the different customer segments that we serve. Furthermore, we are committed to leveraging technology via digital platforms to enhance operational efficiency.
“Although the current operating environment remains challenging, we are confident of successfully navigating the terrain in our transformation journey to deliver sustainable value to our stakeholders.”
Further checks revealed that First Bank of Nigeria Limited, the commercial bank subsidiary of the group, declared a profit before tax of N188.8 billion in H1 2023, up 214.6 per cent from N60billion reported in H1 2022, while profit after tax hit N174.9 billion in H1 2023, an increase of 228.3 per cent from N53.3 billion in H1 2022.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer of First Bank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, in a statement, said, “In the first half of 2023, First Bank Group delivered the strongest financial performance in the almost 130 years of the Bank’s history; with solid business momentum, increased revenue, and excellent returns. The result reflects the continued positive impact of our strategy and the tremendous progress that we have made in growing and transforming the Group. The result also highlights the resilience of our business model, customer relationships and institutional capabilities.
“While the uncertainties in the macroeconomic and operating environment persist, I am confident that our purpose-driven strategy remains the right one and that our strong financial performance, alongside our business model and resilient portfolios, position the Group well to continue to provide the required support to our customers as well as create robust and sustainable value to our shareholders.
“Given our extensive and diversified customer base of over 42 million customer accounts, our digital technology-enabled processing capabilities that ensure we process over 12 per cent of industry’s payment volume, our future-proof and cutting-edge digital banking platforms with over 22 million users that enable us to process more than 95 per cent of customer-induced transactions on digital channels, the robustness of our balance sheet, and our institutionalised risk management culture and capabilities, we see a resilient franchise today and into the future.”Kayode Tokede
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