FCMB Group Plc has recorded a 34 per cent drop in its Profit after tax (PAT) for financial results for the year ended December 31, 2017 as it declined from N14.338 billion in 2016 to N9.410 billion in 2017.

The firm equally posted decline in its gross revenue as it dipped to N169.9 billion, compared with176.352 billion in 2016.

The Group recorded a profit before tax (PBT) of N11.5billion, showing a decline of 29 per cent from N16.251 billion in 2016.

Despite the decline in profit, the financial institution has recommended a dividend of 10 kobo per share to be paid to shareholders.

However, net interest income increased to N70.525 billion, from N69.533 billion, while other income fell from N33.559 billion to N15.895 billion in 2017. Net impairment loss on financial assets also reduced from N35.522 billion to N22.667 billion.

Deposits equally grew to N689.9billion as at the end of December 2017, an increase of five per cent from N657.6billion in 2016. The Group’s capital adequacy ratio also improved to 16.9 per cent from 16.7 per cent, just as asset base increased to N1.19trillion, compared to N1.17trillion at the end of 2016. Loans and advances stood at N649.8billion.

Commenting on result, FCMB Group stated; “In spite of the reduction in the headline numbers, the group’s performance for the year 2017 witnessed an improvement in core operating performance over the previous year after adjusting for the significant foreign exchange revaluation income enjoyed in 2016. In line with the repositioning strategy of the group for better performance, the key drivers of the performance include increase in income from our non-banking activities, lower impairment charges from the bank and its subsidiaries, and improved operating efficiencies through more pervasive use of technology’’.

The lender assured stakeholders that that, ‘’barring any unforeseen circumstances, we see improved operating performance in 2018 based on the improving macro-economic and capital markets environment, declining cost of funds for the bank, and the growing contributions of asset and wealth management following last year’s acquisitions.’’

In November 2017, FCMB completed the acquisition of an additional 60 per cent stake in Legacy Pension Managers Limited, which increased FCMB’s stake from 28.2 per cent to 88.2 per cent , thereby making Legacy a subsidiary of FCMB.

According to FCMB, the acquisition has helped achieve further diversification of service offerings and, consequently, earnings within the FCMB Group, which will be felt from the 2018 financial year.