Goddy Egene
The Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc, Mr. Oba Otudeko, last Friday assured shareholders of brighter future and enhanced dividend in the years ahead.
Otudeko, gave this assurance while addressing the shareholders at the seventh annual general meeting (AGM) of the holding company held in Lagos.
He disclosed that FBN Holdings has mapped out strategies aimed at ensuring enhanced value creation for the future, noting that the board and management would work together to build strong foundation for the future.
He said: “We are not resting on our laurels, and our renewed approach to synergy and innovation will be major drivers to unlocking earnings potential for our group. We believe that our efforts to integrate our offerings and provide end-to-end solutions for our customers will create a competitive advantage in our markets,” he said.
In his address, Group Managing Director FBN Holdings, Mr. Urum Kalu Eke, said that the company was committed to greater exploits in the future in its drive to deliver value to its shareholders.
“I would like to reiterate our promise to you and the entire market that 2019 represents for us the year of inflection. All leading indicators, derived from our numbers, point to the commencement of growth across businesses, markets and indices.
“As we transition to a new strategic planning cycle post-2019, we are confident that the focused execution of our strategy, investment in future-enabling technologies, development of our talents and our re-engineered processes to repositioning the group for ultimate benefit of the shareholders,” Eke said.
He also commended the shareholders for their unwavering support to the group over the years.
FBN Holdings posted a profit after tax of N59.7 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared with N45. 5 billion recorded in 2017. Impairment charges were reduced from N150.4 billion to N87. 3 billion, which is an indication of improving loan book.
The board of directors recommended a dividend of N9.3 billion, which translated to 26 kobo per share.
Speaking further Eke said: “For liquidity perspective, you have a strong institution that would pay dividend on a regular basis. We have built capital buffet at the commercial bank and the other entities are well capitalised also. “2019 promises to be a much better year than 2018; all operating entities are in safe hands with good management teams.
“Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio should be at single digit by end of 2019, we will pursue recovery and when it happens the commercial bank will contribute to dividend payment.”
