Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe is a beautiful woman. She is also very stylish. She is a banker who is well respected within banking circles. She is the beautiful & adorable lady who runs Fidelity Bank Plc. As MD/CEO of the bank, she is quite good at what she does. She is an achiever who has made her mark in banking. That is why she is respected. Since she took over the running of the bank, a lot of positive things have happened. She has steered the bank towards the path of Growth & Profitability, which is a very rare feat in today’s economy.
The recent result of the bank speaks volume about her competence and capability. Let’s tell you more about Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, who assumed office as Managing Director/CEO of Fidelity Bank on January 1, 2021 and has been an integral part of the Transformation Team at the Bank in the last 7 years. She was formerly Executive Director, Lagos and South-West, overseeing the Bank’s business in the seven States that make up the South West Directorate of the Bank. She led the transformation of the Directorate to profitability and sustained its impressive year-on-year growth, across key performance metrics, including contributing over 28% of the Bank’s PBT, Deposits and Loans prior to her appointment as MD/CEO.
Nneka has over 31 years of experience across various banks, including Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Citizens International Bank Limited, where she held management and leadership positions in Legal, Treasury, Investment Banking, Retail/Commercial Banking and Corporate Banking, in addition to serving as an Executive Director on the Board of Enterprise Bank Plc. Nneka has been involved in the structuring of complex transactions in various sectors including Oil & Gas; Manufacturing, Aviation, Real Estate and Export. As an Executive Director at Enterprise Bank Plc, she received formal commendation from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) as a member of the management team that successfully turned around Enterprise Bank Plc. Nneka holds Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) degrees from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Kings College, London, respectively. She has attended executive training programs at Harvard Business School, The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania, INSEAD School of Business, Chicago Booth School of Business, London Business School and IMD amongst others. She is currently undergoing a Diploma programme in Organizational Leadership at Said Business School, Oxford University, UK. She is an Honorary Senior Member (HCIB) of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
According to latest reports, Fidelity Bank’s net profit has risen by 102% to N46.7bn, to pay N15.7bn dividends. And Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc has released its latest audited financial statement and accounts to the investing public. A major highlight of the report is a recommendation of a 42.9 per cent increase in dividend payout by the board of directors of the bank.
In one of the highest return growths in the stock market, Fidelity Bank, which set a personal record with its first interim dividend in 2022, is increasing cash dividends payable to shareholders for the 2022 business year from N10.137 billion in 2021 to N15.7 billion in 2022. According to regulatory filing at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), shareholders, who received interim dividend of 10 kobo per share earlier in 2022, will receive a final dividend per share of 40 kobo, totaling a payout of 50 kobo for the 2022 business year as against 35 kobo paid for the 2021 business year.
Key extracts of the audited statement and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2022 showed a double in profitability, driven by strong growths in the top-line and the structural balance of the bank’s operations. Gross earnings rose by 34.4 per cent in 2022 to N337.05 billion as against N250.78 billion in 2021. Segmental topline analysis showed that the bank’s performance was driven largely by its core commercial banking operations. Gross interest income rose by 45.2 per cent from N203.57 billion to N295.58 billion, representing 87.7 per cent and 81.2 per cent of gross earnings in 2022 and 2021 respectively. After interest expenses, net interest income stood at N152.70 billion in 2022 compared with N94.88 billion in 2021, an increase of 60.94 per cent. Total operating expenses stood at N120.78 billion in 2022 as against N96.31 billion in 2021, an increase of 25.4 per cent; lagging behind top-line growth. Expenses were driven by more than a quarter growth in other non-personnel operating expenses, reflecting the impact of spiraling hyperinflation that characterised the 2022 business year. After taxes, net profit rose from N23.10 billion to N46.72 billion, an increase of 102.2 per cent. With these, earnings per share rose correspondingly from 80 kobo in 2021 to N1.61 in 2022.
Total assets touched the N4 trillion mark at N3.99 trillion in 2022 as against N3.28 trillion in 2021, an increase of 21.65 per cent. Customer deposits, which underlines public acceptance and market status, grew by 27.7 per cent from N2.02 trillion to N2.58 trillion. The financial statement shows key ratios underlining corporate efficiency, profitability, asset management, sustainability, shareholders’ value creation, among others, all trended upward. Net Interest Income, which measures the profitability of the core banking operations, improved from N94.88 billion in 2021 to N152.70 billion in 2022. Pre-tax profit margin, which indicates the institutional profitability as a corporate entity, increased by about six percentage points from 10.05 per cent in 2021 to 15.93 per cent in 2022. Net profit margin also improved from 9.21 per cent to 13.86 per cent. Return on total equity- which denotes value creation as a business owned by shareholders, grew from 8.1 per cent in 2021 to 14.86 per cent in 2022. Return on total assets almost doubled in 2022 at 1.35 per cent as against 0.77 per cent in 2021. Dividend cover, which measures return sustainability and dividend outlook,
stood at 3.22 times in 2022 as against 2.29 times in 2021. This implies that in spite of about 43 per cent increase in dividend payout in 2022, the bank has a stronger prospect of sustaining such increased dividend payout, on the back of its enhanced earnings.
Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe said the 2022 performance reflected the bank’s continuing focus on its execution strategy, despite global and national macroeconomic headwinds. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe pointed out that improvements in the profitability was driven by a business-wide understanding of the key goals and strategies as the bank continued to prioritise investments in human capital and technology as enablers for growth.
