FCMB Posts N177bn Profit, Approves N23bn Dividend Payout

FCMB Group Plc closed out 2025 with numbers that told a story of momentum. The financial services conglomerate reported a profit after tax of N177.3 billion—a jump of 142 percent from the year before—and shareholders gathered in Lagos to approve a dividend payout of N23.08 billion. It was the kind of performance that tends to quiet skeptics, especially in an operating environment that had been anything but forgiving.

The scale of the earnings growth was striking. Profit before tax had climbed 81 percent to N202.1 billion, while gross revenue expanded by 42.5 percent to reach N1.13 trillion. Return on equity improved to 23.2 percent. These were not marginal gains. They reflected something the company's leadership kept emphasizing: the power of having multiple business engines running in concert. The Banking Group's profit before tax rose 110 percent. Consumer Finance grew 107 percent. Investment Banking climbed 90 percent. Investment Management added 29 percent. Each division had its own trajectory, but together they created velocity.

At the 13th Annual General Meeting where shareholders approved the results, the board also secured re-election of chairman Ladi Jadesimi and ratification of director Adepeju Adebajo, along with approval for the Audit Committee and authorization for directors to set external auditor fees. The resolutions passed without friction—a sign that shareholders saw the numbers as vindication of the strategy being pursued.

Ladi Balogun, the Group Chief Executive, framed 2025 as transformative, attributing the performance to what he called "the true impact of 'The Power of the Group.'" He pointed to synergy across the banking, consumer finance, investment banking, and investment management divisions as the core driver. The company had also completed its recapitalisation programme, which Balogun said positioned the organisation for the next phase of long-term growth. The focus going forward, he said, would be deepening digital transformation, strengthening excellence in culture, and amplifying the collective power of the ecosystem.

Jadesimi, in his remarks, struck a more measured tone. He acknowledged the tension between returning cash to shareholders now and retaining capital for future expansion. "We remain steadfast in our objective of balancing immediate shareholder returns with the need to retain sufficient capital to support long-term expansion, strengthen our competitive positioning and optimise value creation for all stakeholders," he said. It was a reminder that even in a year of strong results, the board was thinking about what came next.

The dividend approval reflected confidence, but so did the operational metrics. Total assets rose 8.2 percent to N7.63 trillion. Consumer and SME lending increased 24 percent to N930 billion. Assets under management grew 24.2 percent to N1.70 trillion. The group had also extended N537.5 billion in financing to small and medium-sized enterprises during the year, including N51 billion to women-owned businesses—a detail that shareholder representatives highlighted as evidence of the company's commitment to supporting the broader economy.

One of the most telling numbers came from asset quality. The non-performing loan ratio declined to 5 percent from 5.95 percent, a sign that the group was not just growing faster but also managing risk more tightly. Shareholders noticed. Eric Akinduro, one of the representatives present, specifically commended the improvement. Bisi Bakare, National Coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said the dividend reflected management's commitment to delivering value despite prevailing economic headwinds. Boniface Okezie, National Chairman of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, echoed the sentiment, noting the group's continued support for small businesses and women entrepreneurs.

The approved dividend was scheduled to be paid on July 30, 2026, to shareholders whose names appeared in the register as of June 15, 2026. By then, the company would be well into 2026, and according to its own statements, the momentum had already continued into the first quarter. The question now was whether the group could sustain this pace, or whether 2025 would prove to be a peak year before the operating environment tightened again.