FBN Holdings Plc says it has recorded a profit before tax of N206 billion for the first half of 2023 financial year.

The holding company said this in its unaudited financial results on Thursday in Lagos.

The holding company also recorded a growth of N656.6 billion in gross earnings respectively.

Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, said, “FBNHoldings has continued to deliver a strong financial performance despite the complex operating environment.

“Thanks to our reinforced foundations, deep market understanding, strong risk management and execution capabilities.

“On the back of this and in line with our focus of driving further improvement in revenue generation and profitability, the group delivered strong growth in gross earnings and profit before tax resulting in N656.6 billion and N206.3 billion, respectively, for the first half of 2023 financial year.

“Across our businesses, we continue to focus on customer-centric innovations with strong transactional and digital capabilities supported by sound risk management practices to anticipate and creatively deliver products and services that delight the different customer segments that we serve.

“Furthermore, we are committed to leveraging technology via digital platforms to enhance operational efficiency.

“Although, the current operating environment remains challenging, we are confident of successfully navigating the terrain in our transformation journey to deliver sustainable value to our stakeholders.”

Dr Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank (Commercial Banking Group), also said, “in the first half of 2023, FirstBank Group delivered the strongest financial performance in the almost 130 years of the bank’s history; with solid business momentum, increased revenue, and excellent returns.

“The result reflects the continued positive impact of our strategy and the tremendous progress that we have made in growing and transforming the group.

“The result also highlights the resilience of our business model, customer relationships and institutional capabilities.’’

Adeduntan also expressed confidence on the group’s right and purpose-driven strategies which had continued to position the group to continue to provide support to its customers.

“While the uncertainties in the macroeconomic and operating environment persist, I am confident that our purpose-driven strategy remains the right one.

“Our strong financial performance, alongside our business model and resilient portfolios, position the group well to continue to provide the required support to our customers as well as create robust and sustainable value to our shareholders.

“Given our extensive and diversified customer base of over 42 million customer accounts, our digital technology-enabled processing capabilities that ensure we process over 12 per cent of industry’s payment volume, our future-proof and cutting-edge digital banking platforms.

“This is with over 22 million users that enable us to process more than 95 per cent of customer-induced transactions on digital channels, the robustness of our balance sheet, and our institutionalised risk management culture and capabilities, we see a resilient franchise today and into the future,” he added. (NAN)