FCMB Group grows PBT by 109%, proposes 10kobo dividend

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Group Plc has announced 109 per cent increase in profit before tax (PBT) to N16.3 billion in financial year ended December 31, 2016 from N7.8 billion recorded in 2015.
The management proposed dividend payment of 10 kobo per share for the full year 2016.
From the Group income statement, gross earnings closed the year under review at N176.4 billion, a 16 per cent increase from N152.5 billion for the same period prior year.
Non-interest income recorded N47.7 billion, an increase of 86 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY), from N25.6 billion for the same period prior year. The increase according the FCMB was mainly driven by N29.3 billion in foreign exchange revaluation gains.
Also from the Group profit & loss figures, Net impairment on loans up 288 per cent YoY to N31.8 billion for the year ended December 2016, from N8.2 billion for the same period prior year, primarily due to deterioration in the loan book which was caused by oil revenue shocks, delayed salary payments for government workers (affecting the micro-lending business) and poor macroeconomic indices.
The Group in a statement said, the 2016 financial year results were headlined by a 109 per cent increase from prior year in Profit before Tax, and showed marked improvement across most indices.
“Earnings were buoyed by revaluation gains arising from the substantial foreign currency balance sheet. The banking group took the opportunity to continue to aggressively provision for impairments in the face of a weak macroeconomic environment. Ongoing automation and digital migration initiatives enabled the group reduce operation expenses by two per cent in spite of the 19 per cent increase in gross earnings and 20per cent in total customers to 3.7 million.
“Low activity levels in the capital markets adversely affected non-banking subsidiaries, whilst the holding company was able to realise N1.7 billion in income from its financial investments. 2017 will continue to be a challenging year for the banking sector, which is the key driver of our earnings.
“However, we expect continued momentum in retail banking and growth in the asset management subsidiary to provide the impetus for improved performance,” the financial institution said in a statement.
However, the Group Loans and advances up 11 per cent YoY to N660 billion in 2016 from N593 billion in 2015, attributable to revaluation of foreign exchange denominated facilities.
Total assets inched up by one per cent to N1.17 trillion in 2016 from N1.16 trillion in 2015.