FBNQuest Merchant Bank, part of the investment banking and asset management group (IBAM) of FBN Holdings Plc, has declared a profit before tax of N16.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018.
This was made known by the merchant bank at its 4th Annual General Meeting in Lagos recently.
The merchant bank said despite strong growth in other income, which was driven by net gains from fees, commission and sundry income, it reported a shortfall compared to the previous year’s performance.
The company’s Chairman, Bello Maccido, in his statement, noted that the operating environment in 2018 was particularly challenging for the business, which was characterized by contracting spreads in the fixed income market, a sluggish equity/merger and acquisition (M&A) market, fewer transactions, and a competitive landscape that has become more intense.
“Nonetheless, the IBAM business group maintained profitability and recorded steady growth in certain business lines. Total revenue increased by 8.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to N40.96 billion from N37.72 billion in December, 2017, while profit before tax grew by 56.2 per cent y-o-y to N16.4 billion from N10.5 billion in December, 2017,” Maccido said.
He noted that the main contributors were the Asset Management, Corporate Banking and Fixed Income, Currencies and Trading (FICT) businesses, adding that this again demonstrates the resilient and diversified nature of the business portfolio. Assets under management (AuM) across the group (FBNQuest Asset Management) increased by five percent to close at N261 billion from N248.5 billion in December, 2017.
He pointed out that the Asset Management business has remained strong in competitive ranking among its peers, based on the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) registered funds, maintaining the second position in the industry, same as the 2017 financial year.
Overall, total assets closed at N218.6 billion, representing a 1.1 percent y-o-y increase from N216.2 billion in December 2017. The businesses in the group remain well capitalised with total group equity of N44 billion.
Also speaking, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Mr. Kayode Akinkugbe said, “Despite the challenges of 2018, we have taken learning, and in 2019, are more determined to find ways of creating more value for our customers. We will focus on our strategic goals of increasing group collaboration and enhancing revenue generation across all businesses, improving efficiencies as well as deepening innovation and digitisation to enhance the client experience.”
