By Peter Egwuatu

FCMB Group Plc has achieved a track record of strong balance sheet growth, coupled with robust profitability, healthy asset quality and returns for stakeholders.

The company recorded double-digit growth in virtually all  performance indicators . As of full year 2024, gross revenue, total assets and profit before tax grew at 54%, 59% and 7% respectively year-on-year (YoY). Dividend distribution also grew by 10% YoY to 55 kobo per share in 2024.

According to a statement from the Company, going forward, the Group is expected to maintain its consistent, long-term dividend trajectory, while retaining the flexibility to plough back a higher portion of its profits in the near term as needed to address capital requirements. FCMB Group has embarked on a recapitalization to increase the Bank’s paid-up capital from N102 billion (as at March 2024) to a minimum of N500 billion by March 2026, in compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new requirements.

FCMB Limited will utilise 85.49% of the net proceeds of the offer for business growth and expansion, investment in IT & cybersecurity infrastructure will take up 11.12%, while human capital will take up 3.39%.

Business Growth and expansion is further broken down into: Lending to wholesale banking amounting to N43.67 billion or 27.89% of net proceeds. This will involve deployment of capital for creating loans in the corporate, commercial and public sector segments. Lending to retail and SME segments will take up N37.44 billion or 23.92% of the net proceeds, involving the deployment of capital for creating loans for personal, premium and SME customers.

Further analysis showed that

lending by FCMB Limited to agricultural and non-oil export will take up N14.87 billion or 9.5% of the loan proceeds, involving loan creation for opportunities in the agriculture value chain and supporting customers in the non-oil export space. International expansion will take up N37.87 billion or 24.19% of loan proceeds for investment in international subsidiaries outside Nigeria, within or outside Africa.

Under Investment in IT and  cybersecurity infrastructure, the upgrade of information technology infrastructure will gulp N11.545 billion or 7.37% of net proceeds. This would involve investment in hardware upgrade, cloud infrastructure and AI. The Objective  according to the statement is to drive innovation and efficiency across the FCMB group’s operations by streamlining processes, improving customer experiences, and supporting growth initiatives.

Investment in cybersecurity capabilities (under IT Investments) will cost N5.86 billion or 3.74% of net proceeds. This would involve boosting cyber security capabilities for fraud prevention, enhancing technological defenses, reinforcing operational resilience and initiatives around advanced threat detection & response, as well as data protection and privacy.

The statement further revealed that  under human capital, FCMB Group will invest N1.326 billion or 0.85% of net proceeds on investment in attracting and retaining talent, while N3.98 billion or 2.54% of net proceeds will be invested in Training and Development. The goal would be Investment in attracting and retaining top talent as well as training and development programs to grow and equip human capital with required skills and knowledge in today’s dynamic marketplace. This would be achieved within 24 months upon receipt of net offer proceeds.

The Banking division (First City Monument Bank Limited) recorded a pretax profits of ₦77.7 billion for the year 2024. Total assets grew by 60% to ₦6.9 trillion in 2024. While Deposits and loan to customers grew by 40% and 27% respectively to ₦4.3 trillion and ₦2.3 trillion respectively.

The performance of the Capital Markets business (FCMB Capital Markets) was sustained by increased capital market activities in 2024, as companies continued to explore capital market activities, with gross earnings and profit before tax growing YoY by 57% and 62% respectively. The Capital Markets business led or participated in 45 transactions in 2024 helping to raise over ₦1.39 trillion for clients.

FCMB’s Investment Management businesses (FCMB Pensions Limited, FCMB Asset Management Limited and FCMB Trustees Limited) collectively grew their assets under management (AUM) by 35% YoY to ₦1.37 trillion at the end of 2024.

For the period, FCMBs Pensions business grew Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) by 3% YoY to 772,593 with Registrations via its digital platform contributing 54% of the YoY increase.

Profit before tax increased by 27% YoY in 2024, to close at ₦6.5bn. FCMBs Pensions business accounted for 55% of PBT, with other business lines contributing the balance of 45%, reflecting the positive effects of Business Development initiatives on AUM, Revenue, and PBT growth.