First Holdco Plc recorded a 75.5 per cent surge in impaired credit provision in 2025, compared to 2024, according to its unaudited financial statements issued on Friday, causing the financial services group to put aside N748.1 billion to cover problem loans within the period.
Provision for delinquent credit by the parent company of Nigeria’s oldest lender, First Bank, stood at N426.3 billion in the preceding year
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The bulk of the impairment charge was reported in the fourth quarter of the year, when the group set aside N459.2 billion. That was 7.7 per cent higher than the entire provision for the 2024 financial year.
The figure compares to the N254.9 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 80.1 per cent.
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During the period under review, loans and advances slightly grew by 2.4 per cent to N12.4 trillion on account a marked increase in overdraft.
Interest income climbed by 23.6 per cent to N3 trillion, helped by a notable jump in income earned from loans and advances to customers, as monetary authorities in Nigeria held the reference interest rate almost throughout 2025, cutting it only once by half a percentage.
Net interest income, a performance metric measuring the difference between what lenders charge borrowers and what they pay to savers, went up by 36.3 per cent to N1.9 trillion.
READ ALSO: First HoldCo Plc grows gross earnings to N3.4trn, strengthens balance sheet
Total assets rose to N27.1 trillion from N26.5 trillion a year earlier.
This month, First HoldCo announced that First Bank, its commercial banking subsidiary, has met the N500 billion minimum capital requirement for lenders with international banking authorisation ahead of a 31 March 2026 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It completed the capital raise through a blend of private placement, rights issue and injection of proceeds from the sale of the group’s merchant banking division, FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited.
