Backed by a successful capital raise, First HoldCo Plc finished 2025 with a stronger balance sheet and better asset quality.
The company’s unaudited year-end results reflect a deliberate shift toward more resilient, long-term growth.
As stated in the unaudited Group financial statement, FirstHoldCo recorded a 4.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in its Gross earnings to N3.4 trillion, supported by a 36.3% y-o-y growth in net interest income of N1.9 trillion on the back of enhanced earnings yield and margins of 17.11% and 11.0%, respectively.
Similarly, net fees and commissions improved by 18.7% y-o-y to N290.7 billion.
These are clear indications of the strength of the revenue generating capacity of the core business which continues to be solid.
Earnings for the year were, however, lower than the prior year, primarily due to higher impairment charges in the commercial banking segment.
This is in line with a deliberate strategic decision to accelerate balance sheet clean-up and adopt more aggressive provisioning standards.
Management views this as a prudent step that enhances transparency, strengthens investor confidence, and aligns fully with evolving regulatory expectations.
Additionally, increased regulatory costs affected profitability.
These charges, while weighing on the results, underscore the Group’s compliance with Nigeria’s financial system stability framework and its commitment to ensuring systemic confidence.
Despite these pressures, underlying performance of the Group remains strong.
Deposit liabilities grew by 10.0% y-o-y, driven by sustained deposit mobilisation and continued investment in digital banking platforms.
This growth reflects strong customer confidence and deepening engagement across key segments.
The deposit mix also showed a deliberate reduction in foreign currency deposits, resulting from the repayment of expensive funding and the impact of naira appreciation.
This shift supports improved funding efficiency and reduces foreign exchange risk.
Gross loans and advances declined marginally, reflecting a disciplined approach to credit growth, strengthened risk management, loan repayments, write-offs, and the translation impact of a stronger naira on foreign currency facilities.
The Group intensified its commitment to ensuring a high-quality, cleaner asset base, aiming to optimise the portfolio and enhance future earnings potential.
Furthermore, performance in earnings was impacted by a decline in non-interest income, mainly due to lower fair value gains on financial instruments following the naira appreciation in 2025.
However, this was partially offset by stronger foreign exchange (FX) trading income and reduced FX revaluation losses.
Net fees and commission income also grew, supported by higher electronic banking fees, letters of credit commissions, custodian fees, and account maintenance income, reflecting the continued success of the Group’s digital-innovation strategy.
While impairment charges increased following the end of regulatory forbearance, management has intensified recovery initiatives and reinforced credit oversight.
Excluding impairment and fair value gains, pre-provision operating profit grew by 23.9% y-o-y to N973.3 billion demonstrating robust performance of the core business.
Apart from the commercial banking impairments, performance across the rest of the Group remained resilient, supported by steady customer activity and disciplined execution.
Looking ahead, the Group will continue to prioritise disciplined execution of its strategic objectives, with emphasises on enhancing efficiency and profitability, continuing to build on the Group’s digital and data capabilities, while sustaining a robust balance sheet to support increased value creation and returns for shareholders.
Alongside this, the Group will pursue selective growth initiatives, including new revenue streams, additional business verticals, and deeper participation in targeted African markets, in line with our strategy and risk appetite.
Further details and insights are to be provided when the audited full-year results are published and during the subsequent investor and analyst earnings call.
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