First Bank makes N38.1bn profit in six months

First Bank Nigeria (FBN) Holdings Plc has announced that it made N38.1 billion profit after tax (PAT) in the first half of 2021 which ended on June 30. This was disclosed in a statement made available to the press by the Group Managing Director of the company, Urum Kalu Eke.

The PAT rose by 6.9 per cent from the corresponding period in 2020 which was N35.6 billion. The company’s profit before tax (PBT) also rose by 9.2 per cent in H1, amounting to N45.2 billion. In H1 2020, the PBT was N41.4 billion. These were contained in the unaudited financial results for the first half of the year which ended June 30. However, the company’s gross earnings decreased by 1.7 per cent to N291.2 billion in the period under review against N296.4 billion recorded in the preceding period. The company’s operating expenses recorded an increase of 9.6 per cent of N152.6 billion from N139.2 billion posted in the comparative period. Eke said that the financial report reflected FBN Holding’s focus on strengthening the organisation as well as its commitment to strategic objectives to drive stability in performance and deliver sustainable growth.

He said, “In line with our focus on revenue diversification, we continue to grow our non-interest income as we progressively become a more transaction-led institution and implement innovative and technological driven measures to improve overall efficiency. “The macro and socioeconomic conditions remain challenging given the COVID-19 pandemic and the low-interest rates environment. While these points negatively impacted overall revenue generation, we are confident that FBN Holdings can navigate this challenging operating environment and keep delivering sustained innovative solutions that enrich customer experience,” he said. Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, and its subsidiaries, said, “The commercial banking group’s financial performance in H1 was impressive with a 17.9 per cent and 14.9 per cent uplift in PBT and PAT, respectively.

“These results were delivered despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions that were further exacerbated by the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the prevailing low yield environment which continues to compress margins. “The effects of these factors resulted in the slight drop recorded in gross earnings and net interest income. Going into the second half, the bank will fully harness the returns from the strong and quality risk assets portfolio created in the first half of the year, taking advantage of the uptick in interest rates.”