What is FCMB net worth in 2021? Well, for the second time running, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has emerged as Best SME Bank in Africa at the rigorous, prestigious, and transparent country-level honour programme for consumer financial services and technology in the Middle East and Africa.
The Nigeria’s leading lender headquartered in Lagos emerged Best SME Bank in Africa and Best SME Bank in Nigeria at the Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Regional Awards on the 25th of August 2021 after beating all other Nigerian and African banks.
“We are excited to win two awards this year, especially the Best SME Bank in Africa, for the second year. This shows that, we are meeting the specific needs of customers in this segment and are on a growth trajectory,” said the managing director of FCMB, Mrs Yemisi Edun while commenting on the award.
The awards, she stressed, will inspire the bank to further expand the frontiers of its innovation and go the extra mile to provide solutions that consistently enhance customer experience.
Thanking the Asian Banker for the awards, Mrs Edun dedicated them to the bank’s SME customers, adding that, FCMB would continue to offer exceptional services, including, funding and capacity building to small businesses.
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FCMB Group is a holding company divided along three business groups; Commercial and Retail Banking (First City Monument Bank Limited, Credit Direct Limited, FCMB (UK) Limited and FCMB Microfinance Bank Limited); Corporate & Investment Banking (The Corporate Banking Division of the Bank, FCMB Capital Markets Limited and CSL Stockbrokers Limited) and Investment Management (FCMB Pensions Limited, FCMB Asset Management Limited and FCMB Trustees Limited).
Automated lending process
The bank had earlier taken the lead in digitisation by automating its lending process for SMEs through the FCMB Quickloans platform.
Through this channel, the lender has disbursed over N100billion (US$243.07 million) in loans to entrepreneurs.
It processes over 25,000 digital loans, with disbursements hitting N9billion (US$21.89 million) in a month in the third quarter of 2021.
In addition, the bank provides market intelligence and technical assistance support to small businesses, access to intervention funds in partnership with Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), as well as provision of credit facilities to mitigate the credit risk and collateral gaps experienced in lending to SMEs.
So far, the bank has provided over N23 billion (US$55.91 million) loan guarantee support to SMEs with inadequate collateral or those in the start-up stage.
FCMB net worth
As of December 2019, the bank’s total assets were valued at US$4.4 billion (NGN: 1.7 trillion).
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and the business environment, the financial institution remained resilient and improved significantly on market fundamentals in 2020.
In 2020, FCMB Group’s gross revenue increased to N199.4 billion (US$484.7 million), a 10% increase from N181.3 billion (US$440.7 million) achieved in 2019.
The positive performance of the financial institution also manifested in profit before tax, which rose to N22billion (US$53.5 million) as against N20.1 billion (US$48.9 million) for the same period prior year.
Moreover, FCMB Group’s net interest income rose by 20% to N90.8 billion (US$220.7 million) for the full year 2020 from N76.0 billion( US$184.7 million) in 2019.
Non-interest income equally increased to N37.8 billion (US$ 91.9 million) , representing a 9% growth, as against N34.8 billion (US$84.6 million) prior year.
The Group’s Assets Under Management (AUM) also sustained its growth trajectory by rising to N495.2 billion (US$1.2 billion) for the year ended December 2020, up by 23%.
FCMB customer base
By 2017, FCMB had 4.3 million customers, 220 branches, and a banking subsidiary in the United Kingdom. In 2021, the bank’s customer base reached almost 8 million.
SME support
FCMB’s SME Advisory Service provides small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) with market intelligence, technical assistance, and intervention funds.
In 2019, the bank launched Hub One, a co-working space to give start-ups internet access.
In 2020, FCMB secured a $50 million loan facility from the IFC to help the bank expand their SMEs loans to support businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
By 2021, it had provided over N23 billion ( US$55.9 million) loan guarantees to SMEs with inadequate collateral coverage or those in a start-up stage.
In 2021, FCMB received a $50 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare and renewable energy sectors, with 30% of the funds going to women-owned businesses.
It also received a $10 million loan from Oikocredit to fund agricultural businesses, especially in low-income areas impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
History of First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
First City Merchant Bank was established in 1982 with seed capital from CSL. It was incorporated as a private limited liability company on 20 April 1982 and granted a banking license on 11 August 1983.
It was the first bank to be established in Nigeria without government or foreign support.
In 2001, the name of the bank was changed from First City Merchant Bank to First City Monument Bank Limited following the bank’s transformation to a universal bank.
A new subsidiary, FCMB Capital Markets Limited, was formed to support its corporate finance activities.
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On 15 July 2004, FCMB changed its status from a private limited liability company to a public limited liability company and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by introduction on 21 December 2004.
As a result of the 2010 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation, FCMB Group Plc was formed and became the financial holding company for FCMB’s direct subsidiaries.
