Financial services provider FBNBank has seen its profit before tax more than double for the 2021 fiscal year, as it grew by 112 percent to close at GH¢111.8million, its audited financial statement for the period under consideration has shown.
The growth was anchored on year-on-year (YoY) appreciation in net interest income (16.9 percent) and income from fees and commission (24.7 percent). Consequently, revenue and pre-tax profit for the year saw a jump of 55.8 percent and 112.3 percent to end the period at GH¢219.8million and GH¢111.8million respectively.
Despite the tight economic conditions occasioned by the emergence of the Delta variant of COVID-19, FBNBank grew its loan book by 13 percent from GH¢533.2million in 2020 to GH¢602.2million in 2021.
This contributed to a growth in total assets to GH¢1.9billion from the GH¢1.8billion recorded in the previous year.
Other asset classes which saw growth over the period included cash and cash equivalents, investment securities as well as trading assets.
The bank also bucked the trend of rising non-performing loans (NPLs), as it recorded a 3.33 percent drop in the key ratio to end the year at 4.25 percent.
On another key quantitative metric, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) – which measures the bank’s available capital relative to its risks, especially loans and advances – FBNBank recorded a ratio of 63 percent, far above the regulatory minimum of 11.5 percent as well as the industry average of 20 percent.
Additionally, the lender closed the year with its liquidity and leverage ratios at 98 percent and 26.7 percent respectively.
According to the statement, FBNBank also doubled its earnings per share (EPS) from 9 pesewas in 2020 to 18 pesewas in 2o21.
Commenting; Victor Yaw Asante, FBNBank Managing Director said: “We are focused on delivering growth on all the key indicators, ensuring that we stay connected to our core business of placing the customer at the heart of what we do. Our twin engines of retail and corporate banking have propelled our performance in the right direction, and we are happy to note that we are on track with the right momentum to claim our place in the industry. We look forward to a more engaging 2022, when we will be more committed to our stakeholders by meeting their needs, delivering our gold standard of value and excellence”.
Earlier this year, FBNBank Ghana announced its aim of becoming a tier-one bank, and by so doing contribute significantly to the country’s economy. The bank’s declared focus areas for this year are the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment, Retail and the Youth.
Already, two new branches have been opened for business at Atomic Junction and Abossey Okai since January – indicating a strong commitment to deliver on its objective through a greater engagement with key segments. With the expected roll-out of the bank’s planned programme to support government’s YouStart Initiative, there should be considerable momentum on the youth entrepreneurship side of the SME segment, too.
According to Semiu Lamidi, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer: “FBNBank has indicated clearly through our 2021 performance and recent commitments that it aims to deliver significant contributions to the economy of Ghana.
“Our value contribution to all stakeholders has increased, and the good thing is that we are even more committed to deliver improved performance this year. This is founded on good trajectory plus the passion of our people to meet our customers and other key stakeholders at the point of their need”.
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