First HoldCo Plc has reported a 60.84% year-on-year increase in group profit before tax to N911.24 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared with N566.54 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
According to the unaudited results in the third quarter alone, pre-tax profit rose by 22.49% to N257.71 billion from N210.39 billion in Q3 2025.
Despite the contraction in interest earnings, profit after tax increased by 65.11% to N744.45 billion from N450.87 billion in 9M 2025.
The earnings performance was supported by stronger fee and commission income, gains from financial instruments, higher other operating income and lower impairment charges, which helped offset a decline in net interest income.
First HoldCo’s nine-month earnings performance was supported by stronger non-interest income and reduced credit impairment charges, which helped drive bottom-line growth despite declining net interest income.
A major pressure point was interest income, which declined by 8.69% to N2.09 trillion from N2.29 trillion in 9M 2025. The decline was driven primarily by lower interest earnings from customer loans and investment securities.
Customer lending remained the largest source of interest income, contributing about 62.35% of total interest earnings, while investment securities accounted for 31.11%.
At the same time, interest expenses increased by 5.20% to N833.00 billion from N791.80 billion.
However, the reduction in credit impairment charges provided some relief to profitability.
Beyond interest income, First HoldCo recorded significant improvements across several non-interest revenue lines.
Another notable contributor was the turnaround in income from financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss.
This improvement was supported by trading gains on debt securities of N136.94 billion, while fair value losses narrowed to N32.35 billion from N98.57 billion.
On the balance sheet, First HoldCo’s total assets expanded by N4.94 trillion to N32.20 trillion, representing an 18.15% increase from December 2025.
The expansion was driven largely by investment securities, which increased by 47.92% to N10.31 trillion from N6.97 trillion.
These movements indicate that the Group’s asset growth was concentrated more heavily on investment securities and financial assets than in customer lending.
On the funding side, customer deposits increased by 21.32% to N22.91 trillion, accounting for 71.16% of total assets, compared with 69.29% in December 2025.
The combination of stronger deposit growth and lower outstanding borrowings reflects a change in the Group’s funding composition, although interest expenses remained elevated during the reporting period.
Meanwhile, retained earnings increased by 182.67% to N1.14 trillion from N401.80 billion, supporting growth in shareholders’ equity.
Total equity increased by 16.97% to N3.86 trillion, although its proportion of total assets edged down to 11.99% from 12.11%.
First HoldCo shares have appreciated by 173.49% year-to-date, rising from N47.90 at the beginning of 2026 to N131.00 as of Thursday, October 22, 2026.
However, the stock has recorded a month-to-date decline of approximately 18.07%, compared with its September 30 closing price of N159.90 disclosed in the Group’s financial statements.
This represents a decline of N28.90 per share during October, although the stock remains substantially above its opening price for the year.
