First City Monument Bank (FCMB) announces a robust N111.9 billion Profit Before Tax for 2024

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has reported a significant Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N111.9 billion for the financial year ending December 31, 2024. The bank confirmed this achievement in an official statement released via the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.

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The statement highlighted a substantial 71 per cent growth in PBT compared to the previous year.

This increase occurred despite a 56.6 per cent reduction in revaluation income and a marginal 1.9 per cent decrease in Net Interest Margin.

The FCMB Group demonstrated strong overall financial performance, with gross revenue reaching N794.4 billion for the year ending December 2024.

This represents a notable 53.9 per cent increase from the N516.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

The revenue growth was primarily fuelled by a substantial 75.2 per cent surge in interest income and a solid 8.7 per cent rise in non-interest income.

However, the growth in non-interest income was partially offset by a significant 55.7 per cent year-on-year decline in other gains, which fell from N89.3 billion to N39.6 billion.

Net interest income also saw a healthy increase of 27.6 per cent, climbing from N176.6 billion in the previous year to N225.3 billion by the end of December 2024.

The yield on earning assets improved to 16.2 per cent. Nevertheless, the Net Interest Margin experienced a slight dip of 1.9 per cent, primarily attributed to a 122 per cent increase in funding costs.

Operating expenses for the Group rose by 45.7 per cent year-on-year to N229.1 billion.

This increase was driven by higher personnel costs, regulatory expenses, foreign currency-linked expenditures, and the impact of inflationary pressures.

Consequently, the cost-to-income ratio for the period ending December 2024 stood at 59.9 per cent.

In a positive development, the net impairment loss on financial assets saw a significant reduction of 30.7 per cent year-on-year, falling to N41.2 billion from N59.5 billion.

This improvement led to a lower cost of risk, which decreased from 3 per cent to 1.8 per cent.

Across the Group’s various divisions, year-on-year growth was evident in consumer finance (83.5 per cent) and investment management (27.9 per cent), although the banking group experienced a moderate decline of 7.7 per cent.

FCMB Group’s earnings remained well-diversified, with non-bank subsidiaries contributing over 30 per cent of the overall profits.

The Group also reported a strong growth in its loan portfolio, with loans and advances increasing by 28 per cent year-on-year, from N1.84 trillion to N2.36 trillion as of December 2024.

Total assets saw a substantial expansion of 59.5 per cent year-on-year, growing from N4.42 trillion to N7.05 trillion by the end of December 2024.

Customer deposits also witnessed significant growth, rising by 39.4 per cent year-on-year to reach N4.30 trillion, up from N3.08 trillion in December 2023.

Addressing the ongoing recapitalisation efforts, the FCMB Group stated, “In line with the CBN’s directive, the FCMB Group focused on strengthening the banking franchise and building a more resilient balance sheet in 2024.

” The statement further detailed the completion of the first phase of their capital-raising programme, which successfully secured N144.6 billion through a public offer.

This capital injection doubled the issued shares from 19.8 billion in 2023 to 39.6 billion in 2024, which had an impact on Earnings Per Share (EPS).

The Group confirmed that subsequent phases of its capital programme are currently underway to ensure First City Monument Bank Limited meets the minimum capital requirement necessary to retain its International Banking License.

The capital raised has already enabled First City Monument Bank Ltd. to secure its National Banking License and increase its capital adequacy ratio to 18 per cent, providing crucial buffers to support asset creation in key market segments.