By Peter Egwuatu
FCMB Group Plc has recorded a profit before tax ofN104.4 billion, a 186 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) increase compared to N36.6 billion in 2022 and earnings growth across its business segments.
Specifically, Banking Group recorded 212.6%, Consumer Finance 67.3%, Investment Management 40%, and Investment Banking 89.7%.
The results released on the Nigeria Exchange Limited, NGX, showed that FCMB Group, which proposed a dividend of 50 kobo per share for its shareholders, contributed to food security and import substitution in Nigeria by increasing lending to the agricultural sector by 38.4% to N204.3 billion in 2023 from N147.4 billion in 2022. In addition, the Bank supported over 300,000 smallholder farmers, 56% of whom were women in agriculture, in rural communities to support the sector. Over $280 million of funding from DFIs and donor agencies was raised during the year to support the attainment of sustainable development goals in critical sectors of the economy. Leveraging its core banking business, the Group facilitated over $700 million and $100 million in export and remittance flows into Nigeria, respectively, as at December 2023.
In safeguarding the environment, it switched six additional branches of its retail and commercial banking subsidiary (First City Monument Bank Limited) from grid/diesel generators to solar power last year, taking the number of branches running on renewable energy to 160, which represents 78% of total branches. In addition, the Bank secured funding of up to N13 billion from local development finance institutions for on-lending to customers requiring solar energy solutions to further support its commitment to driving renewable energy.
FCMBs customer base grew by 15.6% YoY from 10.9 million to 12.5 million for the period ended December 2023, whilst users of its mobile app that offers lending, wealth and payment solutions grew by 31% YoY to 3.4 million. Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive of FCMB Group Plc, Mr Ladi Balogun, said: We continue to leverage our unique Group structure to build a technology-driven ecosystem that is fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the communities we serve. This strategy is enabling us to deliver robust performance in spite of the challenging domestic and global environment. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we believe this trend will be sustained and accompanied by improving efficiencies arising from greater scale and ongoing digitisation.
