By Chioma Obinagwam
FBN Holdings has said that its shareholders should expect improved financial performance in the current year and subsequent years on the heels of proactive restructuring and provisioning.
Group Managing Director (GMD), of the company, Urum Eke, made this statement while reacting to the concern raised by shareholders on the provisioning made on impairment charges for credit losses in the result.
He said: “We took the period of recession that the economy was in to restructure the bank to prepare it for the gains that lies ahead as the economy recovers.”
Extracts from the result indicate that Impairment Charges for Credit loses grew to N226.04 billion in the financial year ended December 31, 2016 from the N118.79 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2015.
Other efforts by the group to improve its financial performance, Eke noted, is the lowering of its entire risk appetite by lowering its single obligor limit N90 billion to N30 billion.
The GMD further disclosed that the company has overhauled its manpower in charge of credit aimed to reduce its credit risk.
“We’ve also strengthened our oversight. We believe that with all these going forward we will not incure further loses,” he said.
“Having completed the most challenging period of our journey which saw us recognise an outsized impairment charge and now that we can clearly see improved results beginning from 2017 financial year, shareholders have every reason to be optimistic of higher return on investment,” he assured.
Corroborating, the Chairman of the group, Oba Otudeko noted that the company has strategically positioned its businesses to take advantage of the opportunities of the current year and beyond.
“We are confident that our group’s sound governance structure, resilient business model and the continued momentum reflected in our strategic businesses, will guarantee valuable returns in 2017 and beyond,” he stated.