Kayode Tokede
For the six months ended June 30, 2022, FCMB Group Plc has reported better-than-impressive Earnings, Revenue, Deposits, Loans and Asset Under Management growth, and impressive environmental, social, and corporate governance scorecard.
The Group in a statement said it recorded a profit before tax of N15.4 billion, a 73.2% year-on-year growth compared to N8.9 billion in 2021 and double-digit growth across its business segments: 84.2% in the Banking Group, 42.7% in Consumer Finance, 41.9% in Investment Management, and 253.8% in Investment Banking.
Gross revenue was up 34% to N126.2 billion from January to June this year, as against N94.2 billion in H1, 2021.
Commenting on the half-year financial results, the Group Chief Executive of FCMB Group Plc, Mr Ladi Balogun, said: “We continue to leverage our unique group structure to enable a technology-driven ecosystem of platforms, customers, partners, talents, and capital to contribute to the sustainable and inclusive growth of the communities we serve. We believe that despite the challenging domestic and global environment, FCMB Group is well positioned to sustain its performance trend in financial and non-financial metrics”.
In compliance with its commitment to safeguarding the environment, FCMB Group further reduced its carbon footprint by moving eight (8) branches of its retail and commercial banking subsidiary to Solar Power. Thus, taking the number of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited branches running on renewable energy to 150 (73% of its branch network) – from grid/diesel generators to solar power.
He added, “In the period under review, the Bank disbursed over 442,000 loans, totalling N21.0 billion, to more than 171,000 persons via its digital channels in the first six months of 2022. It also gave loans to over 12,000 small businesses, totalling N93.4 billion disbursed through its digital channels in H1, 2022. FCMB’s focus on financial inclusion and MSMEs has been further bolstered by a $17.3 million funding partnership with Mastercard Foundation to provide affordable loans to 100,000 MSMEs over the next five years with a focus on 90% participation by women.
“In addition, it contributed to food security and import substitution in Nigeria by growing its lending to the agricultural sector from N53.6 billion in H1 2021 to N87.9 billion in H1 2022, a net disbursement of N34.3 billion over the last year, which represents 16.5% of total loan growth over the period. Customer confidence in FCMB remained strong, as deposits rose by 22.3% to N1.6 trillion in June 2022, Year-on-Year (YoY), from N1.3 trillion achieved in June 2021. In addition, loans and advances disbursed by the financial institution to customers, including businesses, grew by 22.3% to N1.1 trillion from N916.7 billion. The Group’s total assets also increased by 18.3% to N2.7 trillion in June 2022, as against N2.2 trillion within the same period last year.”
