NGX lists Fidelity Bank’s 3.04 billion additional units of shares

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THE Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has admitted Fidelity Bank’s 3,037,414,308 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N4.60 of Fidelity Bank Plc on its Daily Official List.

According to a notice from the NGX, the listing follows the conclusion of the bank’s private placement.

“Trading Licence Holders are hereby notified that additional 3,037,414,308 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N4.60 of Fidelity Bank Plc (Fidelity or the Bank) were on Friday, August 11, 2023, listed on the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

The additional shares listed on NGX arose from Fidelity’s private placement. With this listing of the additional 3,037,414,308 ordinary shares, the total issued, and fully paid-up shares of Fidelity Bank Plc has now increased from 28,974,797,023 to 32,012,211,331 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each”, the notice said.

It will be recalled that Fidelity Bank in it’s recently released financial statement continued to record impressive performance across key income and balance sheet lines.

A review of the bank’s 2022 FY audited financials showed the bank’s profit before tax hit N53.677 billion, the highest in five years and higher than its peer’s (FCMB) PBT of N38.570 billion for the same period. Not all.

The record PBT figure surpassed the 2022 FY target of N48 billion. Looking at its Q1 2023 results, it is most likely it will beat the 2023 guidance. The Tier-2 bank recorded a 74 percent QoQ growth in PBT to N17.94 billion.

On the back of the impressive performance, the bank has proposed the payment of a final dividend of 40 kobo per share for 2022FY to be paid on May 23, 2023, for members that appear on the Register of Members on May 15, 2023.

One of the key factors driving earnings growth is the impressive growth in gross earnings fueled by reasonable growth in interest and similar income.

For instance, in 2022FY, the bank recorded a 34.40% growth in Gross Earnings YoY to N337.05 billion, slightly above FCMB’s 33.47 per cent YoY.

While the growth in gross earnings was driven by 45.2 per cent growth in interest and similar income to N295.578 billion, the increase in interest income was led by a combination of improved yield on earning assets and 19.1 percent YoY expansion in earning assets to N2.64 trillion.

This trajectory was sustained in Q1 2023, with gross earnings up 42 per cent to N101 billion buoyed also by a 43 percent growth in interest and similar income.

But unlike in 2022, the growth in interest income in Q1 was driven more by improved yield on loans than expansion.

In Q1 2023, the bank expanded its loan book by N45.236 billion compared to N167.588 billion in Q1 2022.

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