Fidelity Bank’s rising profile, as a top lender in the Nigerian Financial institute has come as nothing short of the expectations of many stakeholders in the industry.
Fidelity Bank has provided outstanding Online, Personal Banking, SME Banking, Corporate, Investment, Agric and Private Banking Services.In the industry, Fidelity Bank is one of the few institutions that has a great assemblage of such a strong team of Professionals. This may be due to the bank’s reputation for world-class corporate governance and risk management. The bank, today, boasts of highly experienced and top-quality management and one of the strongest Board of Directors in the banking industry.Ably led by its Managing Director/CEO of the bank, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, who is unarguably respected and admired by many in the industry. She is a trailblazer and one of the few female CEOs in the banking industry.Onyeali-Ikpe has over three decades of experience, having previously worked at various other top financial institutions, including Standard Chartered Bank and Zenith Bank.
In October, 2021 the institution concluded a highly successful Eurobond offering, raising US $400 Million from the international capital markets through a five-year tenor Eurobond, with a 7.765% coupon. This is Fidelity Bank’s third highly successful outing in the Eurobond market, having previously issued Eurobonds in 2013 and 2017, building an impressive track record in the global markets.
The Eurobond was managed jointly by JP Morgan, the No. 1 Globally Ranked Investment bank in the global Eurobond league tables, along with Citigroup, who are No. 2 globally behind JP Morgan; and are No. 1 in Nigerian Bank Eurobonds specifically. The other Joint Lead Manager (JLM) was the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which is one of Africa’s top-rated financial institutions. Little wonder the bank started carting away top awards in the industry. In November, Fidelity Bank Plc clinched two awards at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks & Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards. The bank emerged winner for the “Fastest Growing Bank Award” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” awards.About ten years ago, Fidelity Bank launched the Small businesses department, which has provided succor and dedicated service to the small scale segment through financial and non-financial initiatives.
The bank also hosted regular Export Management training in partnership with LBS and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). Since Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe resumed as MD of the Bank on 1 January 2021, Fidelity announced seven key imperatives that will guide its strategy to be a tier one Bank by 2025. Fast forward to December, 2021, the bank has not reneged in its vow. The bank is still on track to achieving its set goals. The BAFI Awards is supported by the BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU) and nominations for the award are the culmination of a rigorous review process. Lest we forget, the total order book from investors peaked at over $750m before the tightening of the price. However, Fidelity Bank took $400 million which fell within the acceptable coupon rate in line with the Bank’s expectations and cost optimization aspirations. The Eurobond was oversubscribed by nearly twice the book size.Investors in the Eurobond include some of the most selective and best quality institutions from around the world, including investors from the UK, Europe, the United States, Asia, Middle East and Africa.
According to a release by the institution, Fidelity clinched the price amongst 250 institutions, carefully evaluated by an independent panel of judges and benchmarked them against their global peers using several indices in a thorough evaluation process and nominees are assessed for their vision, execution, and market leading propositions. They considered factors like corporate values, integrity, workplace culture, gender balance and other human issues.The BAFI award categories cut across banking, insurance, capital markets, investment, pension funds, trustees, registrars, stockbroking and private equity. Established in 1988, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged commercial bank with over 6 million customers who are serviced across its 250 business offices and various digital banking channels. The Bank is focused on select niche corporate banking sectors, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and has rapidly implemented a digital-led retail banking strategy.According to a tier-A tabloid, in September, 2021, Fidelity Bank Plc announced a profit before tax of N20.6billion for half year ended June 31, 2021 as against the N12billion in reported in half year ended June 30, 2020.The audited results at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) showed a 6.2 per cent increase in Gross Earnings to N112.3billion on account of 27.8 per cent growth in Non-Interest Revenue (NIR) to N23.8billio from N18.1billion in H1 2020. Its Non-Interest Revenue was driven by strong growth in Commission on Banking Services (57.7 per cent), Account Maintenance Charges (50.6 per cent), Digital Banking Income (49.4 per cent) and Trade Income (33.7 per cent) etc. as total customer induced transactions across all distribution channels increased by 58 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY).
The Bank showed a good appetite in funding the real sector with Net Loans and Advances increasing by 15.8 per cent YTD to N1,535 billion from N1,326 billion in 2020FY.However, the actual growth was 14.7 percent while the impact of the currency adjustment (2020FY: N400.3/$ – H1 2021: N410.6/$) accounted for a 1.1per cent YTD growth in the loan book.The bank’s unique initiatives under the leadership of its highly cerebral MD, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe and her unique Management team, are yielding fruits both for its customers and the bank. You will recall that we were also awarded the 2020 Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) service award for the highest disbursement to DBN-focused locations recently.”
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
