First Bank of Nigeria Holdings (FBNH), a Lagos-based financial services holding group owned in part by Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola, reported a triple-digit increase in earnings at the end of the first nine months of 2022, with profits exceeding $200 million.
FBNH revealed in a recently published financial statement that its profit more than doubled during the first nine months of its current fiscal year, from N40.9 billion ($93.4 million) to N91.29 billion ($208.8 million), as the leading financial services company leveraged its well-diversified loan portfolio.
The triple-digit earnings growth can be attributed to the strong performance of its core banking operations, which saw its income from all interest-bearing financial instruments increase from N260.1 billion ($595 million) to N379.4 billion ($867.8 million) during the period.
As a result of the strong financial performance, the group’s total assets rose from N8.93 trillion ($20.4 million) at the start of the year to N9.85 trillion ($22.5 billion) as of Sept. 30, while retained earnings increased from N311.9 billion ($713.4 million) to N388.1 billion ($887.7 million).
FBN Holdings is one of Nigeria’s largest financial services conglomerates. It is the holding company for First Bank of Nigeria Limited, the country’s oldest commercial bank, with operations in ten countries.
Otedola, a Nigerian energy mogul who recently listed his power-generating company, Geregu Power Plc, on the Nigerian Exchange, owns a substantial shareholding of 5.57 percent in the leading lender, making him the company’s largest shareholder.
With the recent increase in FBNH earnings, the leading billionaire, who received a dividend of N951.05 million ($2.29 million) from his stake in the top-performing financial services group, is on track to receive another substantial dividend in 2023, as investors anticipate directors declaring higher dividends at the end of this year.
