Femi Otedola, the chairman of FBN Holdings, became the group’s biggest shareholder after acquiring 4.63% of the banking group’s shares in two trading sessions.
According to a notice regarding directors dealing filed on Monday with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the billionaire businessman acquired 2.22 percent of the company, or 797,946,415 units of shares, for N21.58 per, for a total transaction of N17.22 billion.
Otedola had purchased 863,180,810 units of shares for N18.95 billion earlier on Thursday. Through a business connected to him, Calvados Global Services Limited, Otedola indirectly bought 546,674,034 shares of FBN Holdings at a price of N21.97 per unit. Directly, Otedola acquired 316,506,776 units of the company at a price of N21.91 per unit.
As of December 2023, Otedola held 40,033,982 (0.11 percent) directly and 1,989,342,376 (5.54 percent) indirectly, according to the bank’s recently released audited results. This is less than the 3,110,400,619 (8.67 percent) directly held by Barbican Capital Limited, a company connected to businessman and former bank chairman Oba Otudeko.
With his most recent purchase, he has practically taken over as the banking group’s main shareholder. The bank is one of the oldest in Nigeria and plays a significant strategic role.
Otedola was named a Non-Executive Director of the firm in July 2023, and he became the chairman of the board in January. At the August 15, 2023, Annual General Meeting of the shareholders, the CBN and the shareholders accepted his appointment.
In the meantime, FBN Holdings increased its gross earnings to N1.60 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 181.43%. Additionally, FBN Holdings enhanced its financial ratios. Interest income accounted for 60% of total earnings, while non-interest income increased by 153.67% to N601.70 billion. In Q1 2024, the HoldCo’s profit before taxes rose by 25.15 percent to N350.59 billion.
The holdco revealed its intentions to seek N300 billion in new funding to comply with new legal regulations.
Proshare Strategic Advisory Group analysts emphasised that the outcomes demonstrated FBN Holdings’ capacity to successfully manage both internal and external obstacles.
