Fidelity Bank reports N36bn PAT in 2021 audited report, declares N10.14bn dividend
Fidelity Bank reports N36bn PAT in 2021 audited report, declares N10.14bn dividend
Nigerian lender, Fidelity Bank’s plc net profit for the year ended 31, December 2021, expanded by more than one-third to N35.6 billion, its peak level ever, according to the bank’s audited financial result issued on Friday.
Analysts said the growth owed its debt largely to higher interest income from credit to customers and to earnings from fee and commission, both helping to lift turnover by 21.6 per cent to N250.8 billion from a year earlier.
Within the period under review, the bank provisioned N7 billion for credit facilities that are liable to go bad on account of default, compared to the N16.9 billion it allocated for the same purpose in the previous year, easing the impact of operating expenses on earnings.
“As at 31 December 2021, gross loans and advances were N1.73 trillion comprising local and foreign denominated loans against which total loan impairment of N74.1billion was recorded, resulting in a net loan balance of N1.66 trillion,” Deloitte & Touche, the independent auditor, said in its report.
Based on the sterling performance, the bank has announced a dividend payment of N0.35 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share for the financial year ended 31 December, 2021. The dividend declared for the period is a 59% increase from what the bank paid its shareholders in 2020 (N0.22 kobo).
This dividend payment will be subject to appropriate withholding tax on the day of payment.
According to the disclosure filed with the Exchange (NGX), shareholders are to ensure their names are registered in the Register of Members by the qualification date of April 22, 2022.
On Thursday, May 5, 2022, the dividend, which amounts to N10.14 billion will be disbursed electronically to ordinary shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members as at Friday, April 22nd 2022, and those who have completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the Registrar to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts.
The company’s registrar is First Registrars & Investor Services Limited and the e-dividend mandate form can be downloaded or filled online on the registrar’s website.
The bank has 28,974,797,023 outstanding shares and a market capitalization of N99.38 billion at the time of filing this report. The company’s shares opened trading on 1st of April, 2022 at N3.20 per share and closed at N3.43 per share.
The bank had released its Audited 2021 financial results for the period ended 31 December, 2021, reporting a profit of N35.58 billion, representing a 33.50% growth year on year. Net interest income of N94.88 billion was reported in the full-year period compared to N104.12 billion in the same period of 2020.
Earnings per share was recorded as N1.23 kobo against N0.92 kobo recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
Year-to-date, the company’s shares have appreciated by 34.51% from N2.55 at the beginning of the year to N3.43 as at the time of writing this report.
