Fidelity Bank Plc opened its Q1 2026 report with mixed outcomes, as it grew revenue but faced profit pressure.
The bank recorded a pretax profit of ₦92.4 billion, and it actively drove this down 12.57% from ₦105.7 billion in Q1 2025.
Fidelity Bank Gross Earnings Surge
However, the bank strongly expanded gross earnings, and it lifted them to ₦434.9 billion from ₦315.4 billion.
Interest income rose sharply, and the bank pushed it to ₦314.4 billion from ₦256.1 billion.
Loans and advances to customers drove the bulk, and they contributed ₦198.6 billion.
In addition, treasury bills and investment securities strengthened income, and they added ₦96.3 billion.
Meanwhile, placements, short-term funds, and finance leases contributed smaller amounts.
Rising Cost Pressure
However, rising interest expenses pressured earnings, and the bank increased them to ₦172.5 billion from ₦90.6 billion.
Consequently, this rise reduced net interest income to ₦180.7 billion from ₦190.8 billion.
After that, credit loss charges of ₦29.2 billion further reduced performance.
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As a result, net interest income settled at ₦151.5 billion.
Stronger Balance Sheet Position
On the non-interest side, Fidelity Bank improved fee income, and it raised it to ₦33.2 billion.
Likewise, the bank boosted foreign exchange gains sharply to ₦47.9 billion from ₦9.8 billion.
However, operating costs and taxes weighed on profitability.
Ultimately, post-tax profit fell to ₦74.4 billion from ₦91.1 billion.
Meanwhile, the balance sheet strengthened significantly.
Customer deposits rose to ₦7.3 trillion from ₦6.8 trillion.
Total assets expanded to ₦11.3 trillion as the bank scaled operations.
Loans and advances remained dominant at ₦4.6 trillion.
Furthermore, retained earnings climbed 42.93% to ₦247.9 billion.
This growth strengthened internal capital and future payout capacity.
Finally, the market reacted negatively, and shares fell 9.05% on May 26, 2026.
Nevertheless, the stock still rose over 13% year-to-date to ₦21.60.
Overall, investors balanced short-term pressure with longer-term confidence.
