Following the successful acquisition of majority (88.2 per cent) stake in Legacy Pension Managers Limited, FCMB Group Plc has expressed optimism on the bank’s sustained growth trajectory, as the benefits of key investments begin to reflect in its operations.

The Group Chief Executive Officer, Ladi Balogun, speaking at the 2017 yearly general meeting of the bank in Lagos, at the weekend, said the acquisition will help it achieve further diversification of service offerings and consequently improve earnings within the group.

Besides, the shareholders of the bank approved a total dividend of N1.98billion, culminating to 10 kobo per share due to every investor of the bank for the 2017 financial year.



Balogun said: “We see significant growth opportunities in the Pension management industry in Nigeria, as it is yet to achieve maturity and will support and facilitate strategic organic and inorganic growth initiatives that will position Legacy in the top-tier of its industry over the next few years.”
He explained that the performance of the holding company, First City Monument Bank Limited, the commercial and retail banking member of FCMB Group Plc, showed signs of improvement with growth in income levels.
Furthermore, he noted that the investment-banking arm exhibited improved performance, from a loss position in 2016 of N84.0million after tax to a profit position of N430.3million after tax in 2017.
He added that the growth was largely driven by activities in its stockbroking business, which according him, participated as the sell-side broker of the largest ever trade on the Nigeria Stock Exchange in December 2017.
“In spite of the reduction in headline numbers, Group performance is an improvement over the previous year after adjusting for the significant FX (foreign exchange) revaluation income enjoyed in 2016.
“The key drivers of the Group’s 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.”

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