Highlights of the diversified Group’s unaudited six-month
results released on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) floor showed that
various divisions achieved robust earnings growth: Banking Group 185.5%,
Consumer Finance 10.3%, Investment Management 53.3%, and Investment Banking
54.3%.
In addition, FCMB Group’s gross revenue grew by 88.7% to
N238.2 billion for June 2023, as against N126.2 billion for the same period in
the previous year. This growth was driven by a 51.9% increase in interest
income and a 216.9% increase in non-interest income.
Commenting on the half-year financial 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
fosters inclusive and sustainable growth in the communities we serve. This
strategy enables us to deliver robust performance despite the challenging
domestic and global environment. Barring unforeseen circumstances, this trend
will be sustained and accompanied by improving efficiencies arising from
greater scale and ongoing digitization.”
Customer confidence in FCMB Group remained strong, as
deposits rose by 45.3% year-on-year to N2.38 trillion at the end of June, up
from N1.64 trillion in the corresponding period of 2022, whilst Loans and
advances also grew by 37.4% to N1.54 trillion, compared to N1.12 trillion in
the previous period.
The Group’s Assets Under Management (AUM) recorded an
increase of 23.6% year-on-year to N910.3 billion at the end of June 2023, up
from N736.4 billion at the end of June 2022.
The half-year results also showed impressive performance in
environmental, social, and corporate governance activities that contributed
significantly to the society’s sustainable and inclusive growth. For instance,
within the six months under review, FCMB Group contributed to food security and
import substitution in Nigeria by growing lending to the agricultural sector by
18.4% to N174.0 billion from N147.4 billion for the full year 2022. Working
with partners, access to finance was provided to 24,000 rural farmers, and the
rehabilitation of 80,000 farming households was supported in the North-East
geo-political zone of the country.
In the area of climate action, the company successfully
secured funding of up to N5 billion from local development finance institutions
for on-lending to customers requiring solar energy solutions in line with its
commitment to support renewable energy sources.
FCMB effectively leveraged its banking business to drive
foreign exchange flows by facilitating over $160 million and $81 million in
export and remittance flows into the country, respectively, during the first
half of 2023. The financial institution secured over N71.6 billion of funding
from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and donor agencies at the end of
June 2023, which was channelled to support the attainment of sustainable
development goals in critical sectors of the economy.
By democratizing access to comprehensive financial services,
FCMB Group acquired an additional 869,000 customers, thereby increasing its
customer base to 11.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, as
against 10.1 million in the corresponding period of 2022.
Digital banking initiatives continue to gain traction across the Group’s various businesses as users of its new mobile app that offers lending, wealth, and payment solutions grew by 20% year-on-year to 1.6 million.
With an enlarged customer base, an expanded distribution platform, and the use
of artificial intelligence to automate and optimize loan underwriting
processes, the company disbursed over 3 million loans worth N105 billion to
individuals, N5.2 billion to micro-enterprises, and N171 billion to Small and
Medium Scale Enterprises. Seventy-eight thousand customers accessed retail
investment products via FCMB’s digital channels. Similarly, its agency banking
network grew to over 115,000 agents nationwide.