Billionaire Femi Otedola's First HoldCo H1 profit jumps 83% to $474 million, shares hit record high

First HoldCo, the banking group chaired by Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola, reported a pre-tax profit of ₦654 billion, about $474 million, for the first half of 2026, an 83 percent increase on the same period last year.

The shares hit an all-time high of ₦105.50 on Monday morning, extending a rally that has more than doubled the stock this year and made the group one of the best-performing large financials on the Nigerian Exchange.

Gross earnings reached ₦1.93 trillion, roughly $1.4 billion, up about 17 percent from ₦1.66 trillion a year earlier. Profit after tax came in at ₦526 billion, or $381 million, an 82 percent rise from ₦290 billion in the first half of 2025.

The group beat its internal half-year targets on both profit lines. Pre-tax profit came in 31 percent above a ₦501 billion budget, and profit after tax 28 percent above a ₦412 billion target. Gross earnings finished marginally ahead of a ₦1.91 trillion budget.

Second quarter outpaced the first

The half-year figures imply a second quarter stronger than the first on the pre-tax line. First HoldCo reported first-quarter pre-tax profit of ₦321.1 billion, leaving about ₦333 billion generated between April and June. On the post-tax line the pattern reverses slightly, with roughly ₦258 billion in the second quarter against ₦267.8 billion in the first, a gap pointing to a higher effective tax charge in the period.

Balance sheet crosses ₦30 trillion

Total assets closed the half at ₦30.65 trillion, about $22.2 billion, a 12 percent increase from ₦27.25 trillion at the end of December. Customer deposits rose 16 percent to ₦21.93 trillion, or $15.9 billion, from ₦18.88 trillion, the fastest-growing line on the balance sheet.

Gross loans and advances grew more slowly, up 6 percent to ₦9.79 trillion from ₦9.23 trillion, consistent with the cautious lending posture the group adopted after last year's balance sheet clean-up. Shareholders' equity rose 10 percent to ₦3.63 trillion, about $2.63 billion, from ₦3.30 trillion, with half-year earnings capitalised into the figure.

Returns reverse last year's damage

Return on average assets stood at 3.63 percent for the half, against 0.52 percent for the 2025 audited full year. Pre-tax return on average equity reached 37.73 percent, compared with 7.71 percent, with the post-tax figure at 30.37 percent.

The cost-to-income ratio improved to 44.19 percent from 53.78 percent at the end of 2025. Cost of funds eased to 4.27 percent from 4.82 percent.

Those comparisons are flattered by a punishing base. Under Otedola's chairmanship the group absorbed ₦826.3 billion in impairment charges during 2025 to provide against legacy non-performing loans accumulated over decades. The exercise drove pre-tax profit down 70.5 percent to ₦235 billion for the year and profit after tax down 79.4 percent to ₦139.5 billion, with the non-performing loan ratio ending 2025 at 12 percent, up from 10.2 percent, largely on industry-wide oil and gas exposures. Management described the action at the time as a comprehensive de-risking of the balance sheet.

Offshore money has led the rally

Foreign institutional buying has driven much of the share price move, according to trading patterns on the exchange, where First HoldCo has ranked among the three most actively traded names over the past quarter. A record 1.26 billion shares changed hands in a single session on July 9.

The appetite reflects a reassessment of the risk attached to the group. Writing off ₦826.3 billion in a single year was a decision that destroyed reported earnings and drew criticism at the time, but it removed the legacy loan book that had made the franchise difficult for offshore investors to underwrite. What remains is a cleaner balance sheet, a disclosed provisioning position and a management team that has met its own guidance in three consecutive quarters, which is the kind of predictability foreign allocators price.

Nigeria's scheduled reclassification into the FTSE Russell Frontier Market Index in September has sharpened the interest. Index inclusion forces passive and benchmark-aware funds to hold large, liquid Nigerian equities, and First HoldCo's free float and daily turnover place it among the small group of names that qualify. Positioning ahead of that date has run alongside positioning ahead of the half-year filing.

The recapitalisation has reinforced the case. Shareholders approved a ₦253.1 billion capital raise at the 14th annual general meeting on May 29, part of Otedola's stated target of a ₦1 trillion paid-up capital base at First Bank of Nigeria, double the Central Bank of Nigeria's ₦500 billion minimum for banks holding international licences. The group completed a ₦45 billion private placement tranche at ₦44.06 a share in June, a price now well below the market.

Otedola keeps buying

Otedola has continued adding to his own position. He bought 549.5 million shares for ₦43.41 billion on May 13 at an average of ₦79 apiece, his largest single purchase since taking the chair in January 2024, lifting his combined direct and indirect holding to about 19.36 percent of issued capital. He had paid ₦40.06 a share in December 2025.

The stock opened the year at ₦47.90. Monday's high of ₦105.50 represents a gain of about 120 percent, pushing market value past ₦4.7 trillion.