FNB, one of South Africa’s big four banks, has announced its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2021.
The robust results show that pre-tax profits increased 31% and an improved Return on Equity (ROE) of 39.7%. Operational performance was bolstered by a macroeconomic recovery, deposit growth, and improved credit performance, coupled with continued platform innovation.
FNB increased its customer numbers by 3% to a combined total of 10.69-million, comprising 8.82 million customers in South Africa and 1.87 million customers in Rest of Africa.
eWallet users increased by 6% to 5.95 million. Ongoing investment in its digital platform continues to yield results, with digitally active customers increasing to 6.21 million and logins totalling 804 million for the period. A new record of 89.5 million logins on the App was recorded in the month of December 2021.
Other key highlights of the results include:
- SA pre-tax profits up 28%
- Rest of Africa pre-tax profits up 64%
- Total platform users up 4%
- Return on Equity (ROE) improved to 39.7%
- Significant reduction in impairments to $193-million
- App transacting base exceeds 4.4 million
- eBucks Rewards paid-out $65.2-million
“Our interim results demonstrate our ability to help and remain relevant to our retail and commercial customers in every economic context. Our investment in platform innovation puts us in a better position to assist customers across transactional activities, payments, investments, credit, insurance, telecommunications and value-added services such as rewards and lifestyle,” says Jacques Celliers, FNB CEO.
Growth Reported in Retail Sector
Retail, which services the needs of individual customers, recorded strong pre-tax profit growth of 38% with good deposit and customer growth, reduced impairments and impressive product innovation. Commercial pre-tax profits increased by 19%, supported by a rebound in transactional activity, management of impairments and the acquisition of new customers.
FNB reports that Rest of Africa delivered a 64% increase in pre-tax profits with sustained customer growth and improved credit performance.
Digital Transformation
Efforts to accelerate digital migration among customers in Rest of Africa continue to show progress, with digital penetration increasing to 32.8%. Rest of Africa has also expanded the footprint of its Cash Plus service with an additional 492 outlets in the six months to December 2021.
“In times like these, it is critical to ensure that claims are paid out proactively and seamlessly in order to reduce unnecessary additional anxiety for customers impacted by unforeseen events. This has been our primary focus during this period, demonstrating our continued dedication to helping customers overcome their specific challenges,” says Celliers.
FNB says that it saw 1.2 million virtual cards activated with over $156-million in spend values since the launch of the Virtual Card solution.
The bank is also scaling its growth in device payments, with customers performing 9.7 million transactions worth $221-million in value, during the 6 months to December 2021.
Money, a money management tool to track spending and credit status, has seen a 56% increase in usage to reach 2.5 million users, while Home has paid out $2.18-billion to place families in homes since inception. The Car digital garage has loaded 729,000 vehicles and 108,000 vehicle licences were delivered.
Third-party electricity, mobile and digital vouchers that are facilitated by FNB Connect on its digital platform increased by 3% to $594-million and FNB Connect provided customers with 3.96 billion megabytes (MB) of data over the 6 months to December 2021.
Edited by Luis Monzon
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