Boom in commercial banking business pushes FBN Holdings’ quarterly profit up by 54%

The first quarter profit of the financial services group FBN Holdings climbed by more than half to N50.1 billion compared to the same period of last year, latching on to a boom in its commercial banking subsidiary to pivot growth.

The division, whose business centres on lending, was responsible for 96 per cent of net profit, while the investment banking unit encompassing merchant banking, trusteeship, insurance brokerage, and capital market operations accounted for the rest.

Revenue for the period climbed to N259.5 billion, according to its earnings report, up from N180.5 billion a year earlier.

“We remain focused on innovating and deepening our value propositions and delivery model while optimising operational efficiencies, using technology, to drive sustainable earnings and returns for our shareholders,” Managing Director Nnamdi Okonkwo said in a document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Okonkwo has assured that the performance tempo will be sustained throughout the year.

FBN Holdings has a presence in the UK, France, the Democratic Republic of Congo and parts of West Africa, even though its home market, Nigeria, still provides over 80 per cent of revenue.

The expansion in top line owed its debt to a much stronger interest income which, advancing by 64.1 per cent to N179.6 billion, was more than twice bigger by every other income put together.

The group incurred N2 billion in net loss from financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss unlike in Q1 2022, when it made gains worth N14.8 billion.

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In a boost to credit quality, non-performing loan ratio, the metric that measures bad loans in proportion to the entire loan portfolio, stood at 4 per cent, a noble shift from 2018, when the figure was as high as 25.9 per cent.

The financial institution grew profit before tax by 53.6 per cent to N56.1 billion and after-tax profit to N50.1 billion from N32.4 billion a year prior.

To enlarge its custody business, the group’s pension arm, First Pension Custodian Nigeria Limited, fully acquired Access Pension Fund Custodian from rival, Access Holdings.