Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola loses $2.9 million in four days as First Bank shares fall

Chidi Emenike -

Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has suffered a loss of N1.18 billion ($2.9 million) from his equity stake in the parent company of Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc (FBN Holdings), in the past four trading days.

FBN Holdings Plc is one of the largest financial services organizations in Africa. The group offers diverse financial services to numerous customers across the continent, such as commercial banking, merchant banking, insurance brokerage and trusteeship, among others.

The group recently announced its financial results for the first nine months of the year, ending Sept. 30. With the exception of its net fee and commission income, the financial giant reported  lackluster performance in most of its key financial metrics, as the bottomline declined by about 40.2 percent to N40.8 billion ($99.5 million). Gross earnings also dropped by about 2.8 percent to N427 billion ($1.04 billion).

The weak performance was largely supported by depressed interest income that amounted to N260.1 billion ($634.2 million) compared to N297.7 billion ($726.12 million) in the corresponding period of last year. Regrettably, the growth in the fee and commission income could barely cushion the impact of a weaker interest income on earnings.

Consequently, investors reacted negatively to the recent lacklustre performance, triggering sell-offs in the company’s shares.

As of press time, Dec. 8, the company’s shares closed trading at N11.40 on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), 0.87-percent lower than their opening price of N11.50 per share.

Billionaires.Africa understands that FBN Holdings has been enmeshed in an ownership crisis that pitted the billionaire magnate Otedola against the chairman of the commercial banking arm of the firm, Tunde Hassan-Odukale.  Although the crisis appeared to have been resolved after the country’s National Pension Commission confirmed Otedola as the largest individual shareholder of FBN Holdings with a 5.07-percent stake, or 1,818,551,625 shares.

Research by Billionaires.Africa confirmed that since Dec. 2, the value of Otedola’s stake in FBN Holdings has dropped from $53.45 million (N21.9 billion) to $50.6 million (N20.7 billion) as of press time today. This translates to a $2.9-million (N1.18 billion) loss for the billionaire in four days.