The Group Managing Director, GMD, First Bank Holdings Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo says the company has succeeded in its core focus of growing business and profitability.
Financial experts said the chief executive of FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank Nigeria, FBN Ltd, Nigeria’s first-generation commercial bank, is right considering the milestones recorded by the financial services provider in key performing metrics in the last one year.
Okonkwo spoke following the holder’s release of its third quarter 2022 unaudited financial statement, which showed that the financial congloromate’s profit before tax, PBT doubled to N105.5 billion year-on-year from N52.9 billion reported in the corresponding year 2021.
The GMD said the recent Fitch rating upgrade of the holding company to ‘B’ with Stable Outlook is a testimonial to its stellar performance across key performance areas.
According to him, “FBNHoldings has again in Q3 2022 delivered a stellar performance, growing sustainable income from our core businesses. This is a testament to the success of our focus on carefully growing the business and driving profitability.
“As a result, Gross earnings grew 26.6per cent y-o-y to N546.2 billion, while profit before tax doubled y-o-y to N105.5 billion. I am particularly delighted by the significant improvement in our credit risk portfolio.
“Specifically, the NPL ratio closed at 4.7per cent within the regulatory threshold of five per cent, while the coverage ratio increased to 75.1per cent from 62.2per cent in FY 2021.
“Furthermore, during the period under review, in attestation of the progress made by the Group, Fitch upgraded the credit ratings of FBNHoldings and FirstBank to ‘B’ with a Stable Outlook.
“Value creation remains our overarching objective as we continue to leverage the strengths of our unique brand and heritage to optimise our diverse business portfolio.
“We are confident of making further progress, with the capacity to generate sustainable performance that delivers superior returns to all our stakeholders,” he said in the statement.
The statement further indicates that the holding company also grew its profit after tax to N91.2 billion in nine months of 2022, representing an increase of over 120 percent compared to 2021.
The figures also showed that the company recorded over N547 billion in gross earnings in nine months of 2022, an increase of over N432 billion compared to the same period in 2021.
Total assets within the period stood at N9.85 trillion, while customer deposits closed at N6.6 trillion by September 30, 2022.
