First Bank Nigeria (FBN) Holdings Plc has said at its Annual General Meeting (AGM), in Lagos that shareholders can expect better returns on their investments in the nearest future due to the drive for growth in each of its business lines.
Mr. Bello Maccido, FBN’s group chief executive officer, made the disclosure on behalf of the company on Thursday, saying efforts are at top gear to enhance the aggregate performance of the group.
Maccido explained that the growth would be complemented by reinforcing the superiority of FBN’s commercial banking franchise while harnessing its non-banking subsidiaries.
Despite the challenges of 2013 due to various regulatory challenges from Central Bank, Maccido, announced a total dividend of N35.89bn for the financial year ended 31st December 2013. The dividend translated to N1.10 per share, as against the N1 paid in 2012.
Maccido revealed that the company’s net interest income increased by 1.5 percent to N230.12bn, against N226.61bn achieved in 2012. He applauded the improved performance of the company’s non-banking subsidiaries for the growth.
“Our profit before tax declined by 2.8 percent to N91.34bn, when compared with the N93.9bn posted in 2012; while profit after tax stood at N70.63bn, as against the N76.80bn posted in 2012,” Maccido said.
“We posted a profit before tax of N87.46bn, over the N87.14bn achieved in 2012. This result indicates that the commercial banking group contributed 93.7 per cent of the total revenue of the company, While investment banking and asset management, insurance and other financial services contributed 4.9 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.”
