The Group Managing Director, GMD of First Bank Holdings Nnamdi Okonkwo, says the oldest commercial bank in the country has shown through its half year 2022 results that the challenging business environment will not stop its strategic goals of improving earnings and making profit for its teeming shareholders.
Okonkwo spoke on the back of the release of the bank’s unaudited results for the half year ended June 30, 2022, which indicates a spike in its profit before tax, PBT by 45 per cent to N66 billion. He said the bank remained focused in its strategic focus to continue to provide opportunities, increase revenue and profitability for its investors.
“This is a good showing by the Okonkwo-led group considering the economic headwinds since the beginning of the year. The result is an indication that the bank has consolidated its position as the leading lender in the country,” an analyst said.
Speaking Okonkwo said the bank has demonstrated, “resilient performance despite the challenging operating environment with an impressive improvement in revenue and profitability.
“For the half year 2022, gross earnings and profit before tax grew by 22 per cent y-o-y and 45 per cent y-o-y to N359.2bn and N65.7bn respectively. Furthermore, we continue to see good progress across our performance metrics, which remain in line with our focus on driving sustainable growth.
“The Group remains committed in its transformation drive, which has resulted in stronger balance sheet and better asset quality with non-performing loans closing at 5.4 per cent at H1 2022. Similarly, risk management capability remains robust across the Group supporting the drive for enhanced earnings for sustainable capital accretion.
“During the period, cost to income ratio remained flat y-o-y despite the inflationary and currency pressure, as we continue to focus on optimising overall efficiency. Our strategic intent remains unchanged in optimising opportunities that drive growth in revenue, profitability, capital accretion and overall operational efficiency that delivers sustainable value to our stakeholders.”
