Fidelity Bank Plc has reported a pretax profit of N92.4 billion for the first quarter of 2026, representing a 12.57 per cent decline from the N105.7 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2025.
The bank’s performance was underpinned by strong growth in interest income, which rose to N314.4 billion from N256.1 billion a year earlier, largely driven by earnings from loans and advances to customers that contributed N198.6 billion.
However, the lender’s bottom line came under pressure from a sharp increase in interest expenses, which surged to N172.5 billion from N90.6 billion in Q1 2025, offsetting the gains from higher revenue generation.
A closer examination of Fidelity Bank Plc’s first-quarter 2026 financial results shows that gross earnings rose significantly to N434.9 billion, representing a strong increase from the N315.4 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Interest income of N314.4 billion was largely driven by loans and advances to customers, which contributed N198.6 billion, followed by treasury bills and investment securities at N96.3 billion.
Placements and short-term funds added N19.1 billion to interest income, while advances under finance lease accounted for N438 million during the period.
Despite the strong growth in interest income, higher interest expenses of N172.5 billion weighed on performance, bringing net interest income down to N180.7 billion, compared with N190.8 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
After accounting for credit loss expenses of N29.2 billion, the bank’s net interest income settled at N151.5 billion for the quarter.
On the non-interest income side, fees and commission income increased to N33.2 billion from N23.8 billion, while foreign exchange revaluation gains surged sharply to N47.9 billion, up from N9.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
However, after factoring in operating expenses and tax charges, the bank’s bottom-line performance weakened, with post-tax profit declining to N74.4 billion from N91.1 billion recorded in the prior year period.
