E-Financial
NGX Group Aims to Deepen Value in Subsidiaries, Investee Companies
The Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) has disclosed that it would generate increased growth by deepening value creation in its subsidiaries, and associate companies and expand into adjacent businesses.
During its virtual 2022 Financial Year Investor and Analyst Presentation yesterday, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NGX Group, Mr Oscar Onyema, told investors that the company was focused on supporting its wholly owned subsidiaries and investee companies across multiple initiatives.
While responding to questions from analysts, Onyema noted that the Group doubled down on its investments in its associate company, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) seeing the strong dividend-generating potential of the firm.
“As a way to delve into new strategic investments, we doubled down on investment in CSCS, moving our ownership from 29per cent to about 44.18per cent. The essence of taking this initiative is so that we can work with the company and its stakeholders to drive improved revenues.
“Excitingly, they have demonstrated the ability to pay dividends and so we are constantly exploring more business expansion initiatives like the document utilization project with CSCS whilst growing the company.”
In addressing the rise in expenses driven by increased interest and personnel expenses, he said the company aimed to streamline debt to cut down on interest expenses with a keen interest in reducing operational costs for the business and optimising personnel expenses without overhead reduction in staff strength.
On the performance of the Exchange, Mr Temi Popoola, CEO, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) spoke on some of the year’s major achievements with highlights drawn from the rise of Equity capitalization, Fixed income market capitalization and Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Market Capitalization which rose by 25.20per cent, 17.58per cent and 17.58per cent respectively.
Additionally, the value traded for the derivatives (ETF) capitalisation reached N16.49million with a Market capitalization of N3.6billion at the close of 2022.
“NGX’s strategic business goal for 2023 will include forging more partnerships with development finance institutions and international banks to further develop the market.
“We aim to do more with our newly forged partnership with Afreximbank through the PAPSS initiative to allow for flexibility in Africa’s payment integrations system.”
CEO, NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo), the self-regulatory organization arm of the Group, Tinuade Awe said NGX RegCo embarked on a number of thought leadership steps, one of which was regulatory consulting and policy formulation for key players in the sector, Issuers Engagement Forum for stakeholders and formidable partnership with regulators.
“We will continue to enable a transparent and orderly market through investor protection, policy formulation and enforcement and compliance audit,” she said.
The Acting CEO, Mr Gabriel Igbeka, NGX Real Estate Limited (NGX RelCo) further highlighted that the company has been able to actualize a cost-saving mechanism of about N26.6 million in 2022, having introduced a property management solution that boosts efficiency, improves service quality and reduces cost.
Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial institutions, has announced a remarkable financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N105.8 billion, representing an impressive growth of 167.8% compared to N39.5 billion in Q1 2024.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc
The bank’s unaudited financial statements, released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 30, 2025, highlight a substantial increase in Gross Earnings, which rose to N315.4 billion, marking a year-on-year growth of 64.2% from N192.1 billion in the same period last year.
Growth in interest income was primarily led by 38.6% yoy (7.4% ytd) expansion in earning assets base, while the increase in non -interest revenue came from FX-related income, trade and commission on banking services, etc., supported by increased customer transactions.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe,OON, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, stated, “We started the year with triple-digit growth in profit and sustained the momentum in our earning assets growth.
This performance shows the resilience of our business model and reinforces our confidence in delivering a better result in the 2025 financial year.”
Other areas of the unaudited financial statements, equally show a marked improvement with Total Deposits growing by 11.1% ytd to N6.6tn from N5.9tn in December 2024, driven by 10.6% ytd growth in low-cost deposits to N6.1tn, which represents 92.2% of total customer deposits. Local currency deposits increased by 2.0% ytd while foreign currency deposits increased by 21.4% from $1.9bn in December 2024 to $2.3bn.
Net Loans and Advances increased by 5.0% ytd to N4.6tn. The growth in the bank’s Loan Book was skewed to LCY Loans as cost of risk declined to 0.6% from 1.5% in 2024FY.
“Beginning the year with such positive momentum reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of individuals and businesses, while enhancing our financial sustainability. As we go into the rest of the year, we remain focused on building a resilient banking franchise with a diversified earnings base,” Onyeali-Ikpe added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine.
Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a technology adoption assessment survey for registered capital market operators as part of efforts to deepen innovation and efficiency in the Nigerian capital market.
In a circular, the SEC stated that the exercise was designed to evaluate the level of adoption of advanced technologies among CMOs operating within the Nigerian capital market.
According to the notice, “The following technology adoption survey is designed by the Commission to assess the adoption of advanced technologies among registered Capital Market Operators.”
The SEC directed all registered operators to log into the e-portal at using their current access credentials to complete the survey. The exercise will run for two weeks, from 5 to 20 May 2025.
Speaking recently on the role of innovation in the capital market, Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, urged stakeholders to embrace technology as a catalyst for growth, improved transparency, operational efficiency, and market resilience.
He noted that the SEC recognises the emergence of new financial products and services driven by technological advancements, and remains committed to adapting its regulatory framework to meet the evolving needs of the market.
According to him, the commission’s approach to innovation is anchored on three pillars: investor safety, market deepening, and problem-solving aimed at building a robust and efficient capital market ecosystem.
Agama also highlighted the commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme, which allows fintech startups to operate within a controlled environment for one year while appropriate rules are developed to govern their activities.
He said the programme is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to support innovation while safeguarding market integrity and investor interests.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid about US$3.4 billion loan it got in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.
IMF said the loan has been repaid as of April 30, 2025 in a statement issued in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Thursday.
However, IMF said Nigeria is still expected to honour some additional payments in forms of Special Drawing Rights charges hat will amount to US$30 million annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) (US$4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) (US$5.5 billion)
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount,” IMF said in the statement. Online fitness
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Fidelity Bank grows PBT by 167.8% to N105.8 billion in Q1 2025
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