Emmanuel Thomas l Friday, May 08.26
LAGOS — First HoldCo Plc, one of Nigeria’s most systemically important financial institutions, has reported a significant contraction in its bottom line for the 2025 financial year, as the Group undertook a “comprehensive reset” of its balance sheet.
Despite a record expansion in top-line revenue, the Group’s audited results reveal a deliberate strategy to aggressively provide for impaired loans, resulting in a 79.4% drop in post-tax profit.
The Top Line: Robust Growth Amidst Volatility
For the full year ended December 31, 2025, FirstHoldCo demonstrated the resilience of its core franchise, growing gross earnings by 6.9% to ₦3.435 trillion, up from ₦3.212 trillion in 2024.
This growth was largely propelled by a surge in interest income, which rose 24.9% to ₦2.99 trillion, benefiting from a high-yield environment and proactive asset repricing.
The Group’s ability to manage its margins remained a highlight; net interest income climbed 36.8% to ₦1.916 trillion, pushing the net interest margin (NIM) to 11.1% (2024: 9.9%).
However, this core strength was partially offset by a 50% decline in non-interest income, which fell to ₦377.4 billion, largely due to the normalisation of foreign exchange gains that had buoyed the previous year’s performance.
The Profit Squeeze: De-risking and Inflation
The headline story of the 2025 results is the dramatic spike in impairment charges for losses, which ballooned by 93.8% to ₦826.3 billion.
Wale Oyedeji, Group Managing Director, described the move as a “decisive action” to de-risk the Group’s portfolio in a post-forbearance landscape.
This aggressive provisioning, aimed primarily at exposures in the oil and gas sector, pushed the Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio to 12.0% (2024: 10.2%). Crucially, however, the NPL coverage ratio surged to 98.7%, nearly doubling from 54.8% in 2024, providing a significantly thicker cushion against future defaults.
The combination of these impairments and a 32.1% rise in operating expenses (which hit ₦1.233 trillion) led to a sharp decline in profitability:
Profit Before Tax (PBT): ₦235.0 billion (down 70.5%)
Profit After Tax (PAT): ₦139.5 billion (down 79.4%)
Return on Average Equity (ROAE): 4.6% (2024: 29.8%)
Capital Adequacy and Liquidity
While profits stalled, FirstHoldCo’s balance sheet size and capital position showed signs of strengthening.
Total assets grew 2.7% to ₦27.25 trillion, while customer deposits rose 10.0% to ₦18.88 trillion, signaling continued depositor confidence.
The Group’s funding remains stable, with high-quality CASA (Current and Savings Account) deposits making up 93.1% of the mix.
To meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new minimum regulatory capital requirement of ₦500 billion, the Group has embarked on a ₦350 billion capital-raising programme. To date, it has successfully secured ₦128.7 billion, contributing to an increase in total shareholders’ funds to ₦3.3 trillion.
Outlook: A “Cleaner” Foundation
Management remains optimistic that the “pain” of 2025 has cleared the path for a more sustainable 2026.
By addressing legacy delinquent exposures and strengthening its capital base, the Group aims to transition back to high-quality earnings.
”Our priorities are unequivocal: improve earnings quality, drive efficiency, and scale our non-banking businesses,” Oyedeji stated.
For investors, the 2025 results represent a transitional period where transparency and balance sheet health have been prioritized over short-term dividend yields.
The market will now look toward the Group’s Q1 2026 performance to see if the reduction in provision requirements translates into the promised recovery in profitability.
Wale Oyedeji, the Group Managing Director while commenting on the results stated that:
“2025 was a defining year for FirstHoldCo, characterised by disciplined execution, resilient core earnings and a comprehensive reset of our balance sheet for sustainable performance and high-quality growth. Gross earnings grew by 6.9% to ₦3.4 trillion, underpinned by strong net interest income growth of 36.8% and continued momentum in our digital and transactional franchises.
Importantly, we comprehensively de-risked the Group’s balance sheet by adequately providing for systemic impaired and non-performing exposures. This decisive action, aligned with the post-forbearance landscape, enhances transparency and positions the Group on a far stronger foundation for future growth, improved asset quality and higher-quality earnings.
We also strengthened our capital position through focused capital-raising initiatives to ensure FirstBank meets minimum regulatory capital requirements of N500 billion. Additionally, and under our ₦350 billion capital raise programme, we have successfully secured ₦128.7 billion to date. We remain firmly on track and continue to engage proactively with regulators and the market to deliver a further enhanced well-capitalised platform that can enhance growth and increase value creation.
The Group continues to demonstrate steadfast leadership in the industry-wide resolution of legacy delinquent borrower exposures. We have recorded notable progress in recoveries, particularly from upstream borrowers with significant oil reserve-backed collateral, reinforcing our commitment to disciplined risk management and balance sheet strength.
Alongside these actions, we continued to invest in governance, technology and inclusion—deepening customer engagement, expanding access, and strengthening execution across the Group.
Looking ahead, our priorities are unequivocal: improve earnings quality, drive efficiency, strengthen asset quality & Capital and scale our non-banking businesses—underpinned by rigorous risk and capital discipline.
With a cleaner balance sheet and a defined capital pathway, FirstHoldCo is positioned to accelerate sustainable growth and translate performance into consistent shareholder returns. This is an enduring franchise, of scale, trust and systemic relevance, and we are firmly committed to compounding value and returning more to shareholders.”