WorldStage Newsonline– FBN Holdings (FBNH) on Thursday released its nine months 2024 unaudited results which showed triple-digit growth across key as Pre-tax profits grew by 126.0% to N610.9bn from 9M 2023.
The 9M 2024 results showed Interest income reaching N1.63tn, a substantial increase of 157.7% from N633.8bn in 9M 2023.
This showec that the bank was able to capitalise on the interest rate environment to drive earnings.
The result showed that the growth was primarily driven by triple-digit growth from loans to customers and investment securities.
This resulted in Net interest income of N873.9bn, a 131.4% y/y increase. The net interest margin improved to 7.2%, up from 5.7% in 9M 2023. Interest expenses also rose to N759.1bn due to rising expenses incurred on deposits from customers and interbank funding. This led to an increase in the firm’s Cost of Funds, which increased to 5.5% from 3.4% in 9M 2023.
Additionally, fees and commissions grew 44.0% y/y to N171.3bn, buoyed by electronic banking fees and letters of credit, commissions and fees.
As trading revenues rose by 73.9% to N335.6bn, operating expenses rose by 92.1% y/y while the Cost to Income ratio improved to 46.4%, declining by 358bps.
Operating efficiency is reflected in the firm’s Pre-provision operating profit, which grew 121.9% to N781.9bn.
After accounting for loan impairment provisions of N171.4bn, which rose by 108.1% y/y due to increased provisioning for expected credit losses, pushing the Cost of Risk up by 46bps to 2.8%, Pre-tax profits stood at N610.9bn, 126.0% up from 9M 2023.
Net profits for the period reached N520.7bn, translating to earnings per share (EPS) of N14.51, marking a year-on-year growth of 121.7%.
The return on average equity (ROAE) improved to 32.3%, while the return on average assets (ROAA) rose to 3.2%.
