FBN Holdings, Nigeria’s oldest financial institution, achieved a significant milestone on Thursday as it recorded over 4 billion units of shares traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). The total value of these shares amounted to approximately N76 billion, marking one of the largest single trades witnessed for the stock so far this year.
As of the audited accounts for December 2022, FBN Holdings had approximately 35.8 billion shares outstanding, solidifying its position as one of the most attractive stocks in the market. Notably, the share price reached a high of N19, the highest level observed in over a decade.
In its recently released 2022 full-year financial results, FBN Holdings reported a profit after tax of N136.3 billion. The group’s gross earnings also increased from N757.3 billion in the same period in 2021 to N805.1 billion.
Despite economic challenges stemming from naira scarcity and the 2023 general elections in the first quarter of the 2023 financial year, the bank reported a pre-tax profit of N56.1 billion, marking a significant 53.6 percent year-on-year growth.
Adesola Adeduntan, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FBN Holdings, attributed the bank’s recent success to its investments in technology, transactions, and digital banking capabilities, which have set it apart from its peers. Adeduntan highlighted the impressive growth of customer deposits and loans by 22.4 percent and 28.5 percent year-on-year, respectively, indicating the customers’ confidence in the bank’s service delivery and value proposition.
The banking division of FBN Holdings has made remarkable progress, overcoming challenges faced in previous years. As one of Nigeria’s largest banks, it played a pivotal role in financing major private and government-led projects within the country. The bank’s digital-centric transaction strategy has proven successful, resulting in a fourfold increase in total customer numbers to over 41 million and a rise in issued cards from 7 million to 12 million. Furthermore, the bank’s digital platforms, such as FirstMobile and FirstOnline, have reached 6.1 million and 1.1 million users, respectively. USSD users have skyrocketed from 0.5 million to 14.7 million.
FirstBank, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings, now commands a 42 percent market share for corporate e-bills payments, with annual transaction volumes reaching an impressive 17 billion. The bank has also experienced substantial growth in income from electronic banking fees, surging from N21.8 billion in 2015 to N55 billion in 2022.
The loans and advances portfolio witnessed significant growth, with a surge of 31.5 percent in 2022, reaching N3.78 trillion—double the balance recorded in the 2015 financial year. Notably, the bank created N1 trillion in new loans in the 2022 financial year alone, reflecting its commitment to supporting economic growth and development.