Otedola raises stake in FBN Holdings by 4.63%

The Chairman of FBN Holdings, Femi Otedola, has acquired 4.63 per cent of the banking group’s shares in two trading sessions to emerge as the majority shareholder of the group.

In a notice filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited about directors dealing on Monday, the billionaire businessman bought 2.22 per cent stakes of the business, which was 797,946,415 units of shares at N21.58 per unit to bring the transaction to N17.22bn.

Earlier on Thursday, Otedola had bought a total of 863,180,810 units of shares worth N18.95bn. Otedola acquired 316,506,776 units of FBN Holdings shares directly at N21.91 per unit and indirectly through a company related to him, Calvados Global Services Limited, Otedola bought 546,674,034 units at N21.97 each.

According to the recently released audited result of the bank, Otedola held 40,033,982 (0.11 per cent) directly and 1,989,342,376 units (5.54 per cent) as of December 2023, lower than the 3,110,400,619 units (8.67 per cent) directly held by Barbican Capital Limited, a company related to businessman and former Chairman of the bank, Oba Otudeko.

With his latest acquisition, he has effectively become the largest shareholder of the banking group, one of the oldest in Nigeria and a strategically important bank.

Before he emerged as the chairman of the board in January, Otedola was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the company in July 2023. His appointment was approved by the CBN and, subsequently, the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on August 15, 2023.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2024, FBN Holdings grew its gross earnings by 181.43 per cent to N1.60tn. FBN Holdings also improved its financial ratios, with interest income contributing 60 per cent of total earnings, while non-interest income grew by 153.67 per cent to N601.70bn. The HoldCo’s profit before tax also increased by 25.15 per cent to N350.59bn in Q1 2024.

The holdco disclosed plans to raise N300bn in fresh capital to meet new regulatory requirements

Analysts at Proshare Strategic Advisory Group highlighted that the results reflected FBN Holdings’ ability to navigate internal and external challenges effectively.