February 02, (THEWILL) — First Holdco Plc has released its 2025 Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, reporting gross earnings of N3.4 trillion amid record impairment charges driven by strategic post-recapitalisation consolidation.
FirstHoldCo announced earlier in the year that its subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank), had successfully met the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) minimum regulatory capital requirement of N500 billion ahead of the March 31, 2026 deadline. Twenty-three (23) banks have achieved the recapitalisation threshold.
To position for the highly competitive post-recapitalisation environment, FirstHoldCo took the strategic option of a record impairment charge of N748.12 billion, constituting a 75.5 percent increase against N426.29 in the prior period.
According to the Group, the record impairment charge drastically diminished the profit by 92 percent. However, the move reflects a deliberate strategic action aimed at strengthening its balance sheet, improving asset quality, and positioning the business for more resilient and sustainable growth amidst successful capital raise activities.
“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,” the HoldCo said in a statement on Friday, January 30, 2026.
A component of the robust balance sheet is the strong customer confidence which is reflected in the deposit liabilities — a key driver of the growth in assets. This segment grew by 10.0 percent, y-o-y, driven by sustained deposit mobilisation and continued investment in digital banking platforms. 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.
“First HoldCo Plc is set for tough competition in the post-recapitalisation era when the banks will be expected to fund massive projects and support the Government’s aspiration for a $1 trillion economy in 2030,” said Mike Akannor, an investment expert. “First Bank is Nigeria’s oldest bank with a huge customer base and wide spread nationwide, it is expected to upgrade its operations and compete favourably with its peers after the March 31, 2026 recapitalisation deadline,” Akannor added.
Analysis of the financial statements showed that despite the sharp rise in impairment provisions, net interest income, the bank’s key performance indicator, improved to N1.91 trillion from N1.4 trillion in 2024.
This improvement in net interest income demonstrates that the bank’s core operations performed better, even in the face of higher provisions for loan defaults. From a balance sheet perspective, total assets increased by 2.04 percent to N27.06 trillion, supported by growth in loans and advances to customers (up 3.37 percent to N9.06 trillion) and investment securities (up 10.11 percent to N7.20 trillion). This indicates that the lending portfolio has continued to grow its asset base. The HoldCo’s total assets stand at about N27 trillion at the end of 2025, while net assets are N3.1 trillion, up from N2.7 trillion a year earlier.
The strategic positioning for the post-recapitalisation era also showed in the remarkable increase in the electronic banking fees which rose to N90.90 billion in 2025 from N77. 01 billion recorded in the prior period –m a growth of 18.03 percent. This points to the strong application of digital infrastructure, especially in the banking subsidiary. It also reflects in the significant rise in personnel expenses which hit N385.91 billion in the review period from N308.47 billion, representing an increase of 25.1 percent indicating aggressive human capacity building.
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..
Operating expenses increased in response to business expansion and consolidation for the post-recapitalisation era. Driven mainly by regulatory levy, maintenance and advert and corporate promotions, the HoldCo’s operating expenses rose by 43.5 percent to N809.36 billion in 2025 from N563.70 billion prior.
The HoldCo noted, “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 expressed commitment 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.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
