Shareholders approve FBN Holdings N8.97billion dividend 

Shareholders of FBN Holdings Company (Holdco) Plc, has endorsed the bank’s N8.97billion total dividend, culminating to 25 kobo per share due to every investor of the bank for the 2017 financial year.
 
The shareholders, who spoke at the 6th yearly general meeting of the company in Lagos over the weekend, commended the management for the efficient running of the affairs of the Group as well as the dividend payout amid harsh economic environment.
 
Specifically, the National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sunny Nwosu, commended the management for the significant reduction of its Non Performing Loan from 24.4 per cent in 2016 to 22.8 per cent during the year under review.
 
The President, Nigerian Shareholders Solidarity Association, Matthew Akinlade, applauded the group for maintain consistent growth in the group’s gross earnings since 2013.Akinlade, who commended the bank’s expansion exercise, also urged the management to intensify efforts in the area of loan recovery in order to boost its earning for a robust dividend payout in the next financial year.
   
Reviewing its performance, the Chairman, FBN Holding, Oba Otudeko, said there was 2.3 per cent rise in gross earnings to N595.4billion, up from N581.8billion achieved in the corresponding period in 2016.
Similarly, the bank’s PAT stood at N47.8billion, representing 178.8 per cent increase compared to N17.1billion posted in the previous year.
   
Its profit before tax stood at N56.8billion, a 147.6 per cent rise over the N22.9billion achieved a year before.Furthermore, he noted that the bank’s net interest income rose from N304billion to N331.5billion during the period under review, while impaired charges for credit losses stood at N150.4billion, representing 33.5 per cent reduction over N226.0billion recorded in 2016.
   
He added that the bank’s total assets rose from N4.7trillion to N5.2trillion during the year under review representing 10.5 per cent increase, while customer deposit stood at N3.14trillion higher than N3.10trillion in 2016.
   
The Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings, UK Eke, explained that the strategy adopted to reposition the bank is currently yielding a positive result.“As evident by the continually improving set of results, the initiatives we have put in place are producing encouraging results ahead of our projections.”He assured shareholders that the bank would continue the implementation of the various initiatives in order to boost the financial position of the bank in a sustainable manner.