Fidelity Bank approves payment of 22k dividend per share for FY2020

The shareholders of Fidelity Bank Plc have unanimously endorsed the payment of a cash dividend of 22 kobo per share to all Shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members at the close of business on April 16, 2021.

This translates to a dividend yield of 9.2 per cent, making it the 4th most rewarding Bank to investors in the Nigerian Capital Market.

This announcement was made at the 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos on April 30, 2021.

Shareholders who spoke at the event praised the Board of Directors and the management team for the 38.7 percent increase in total customer deposits, which rose from N1,225.2 billion in 2019FY to N1.699.0billion and was driven by strong double-digit growth in both local and foreign currency deposits.

Chairman, Board of Directors, Fidelity Bank, Mustapha Chike-Obi reassured shareholders at the AGM that the board and management of the bank would maintain the high corporate governance standard synonymous with Fidelity Bank and also ensure the bank continued in its growth trajectory in the years ahead.

“We will continue to strengthen our enterprise risk management capabilities to ensure the sustainability of our business, while modeling our governance practices to align with international best practice”, said Chike-Obi.

Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe echoed the Chairman’s sentiments, stating that the bank’s financial performance for the period reflected the resilience of its business model in a challenging operating environment.

Mrs. Ikpe disclosed that local currency deposits grew by 49.6 percent to N1,400.8 billion and constituted 82.5 percent of total customer deposits while foreign currency deposits grew by 3.3 percent to N298.2 billion and now accounts for 17.5 percent of total deposits.

Speaking on the strategy for the current financial year, Mrs. Onyeali-Ikpe, said,

“We will continue to focus on redesigning our systems and processes to enhance service delivery, deepen our cost optimization initiatives to reduce operating expenses, and enhance our overall risk monitoring capabilities to ensure both internal and external risks are identified and mitigated. Our growth aspirations will be sustained while we continue to identify new opportunities in the new normal.

“On the back of the evolving dynamics in the economy, we will continue to increase the adoption and migration of customers to our digital platforms and increase our retail banking market share through innovative products and services”, she concluded.

The shareholders expressed their continued confidence in the Bank for its 2020 performance which saw a 50.9 percent increase in core operating profit to N44.9 billion. The share price also rallied 22.9 per cent, outperforming the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Index, which only gained 10.1 percent.

According to Mrs. Onyeali Ikpe, the Bank showed “strong resilience to the adversities the global economy witnessed in 2020”.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr Farouk Umar, President, Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigeria Shareholders, commended the bank for posting encouraging performance in 2020 despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also speaking, Mrs Bisi Bakare, National Coordinator, Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, commended the bank for declaring dividend in spite of unfriendly economic environment and the COVID-19 pandemic challenges.

Bakare who welcomed Mrs. Onyeali-Ikpe and Mr. Chike- Obi, urged them to sustain the growth and ensure higher dividend in the years ahead. In compliance with the guidelines of the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC), the meeting was held by proxy and had in attendance very few shareholders because of the COVID-19 precautionary measures.