First HoldCo Plc has reported a decline in profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, with profit falling to N171.1bn from N208.1bn, which was posted in the corresponding quarter of 2024. This represents a drop of N37bn, or 17.8 per cent, year-on-year.
The group’s unaudited financial results released on the Nigerian Exchange on Tuesday showed that the decline was primarily driven by a steep reduction in fair value gains from financial instruments and a reversal from a foreign exchange loss to a gain.
A closer review of the results revealed that net gains from financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss fell drastically to a loss of N47.9bn in the first quarter of 2025 compared to a gain of N288.8bn in the same period last year. This represented a swing of over N336.7bn, significantly dragging down the group’s operating performance.
Although First HoldCo recorded a turnaround in foreign exchange results, moving from a loss of N98.6bn in Q1 2024 to a gain of N80.5bn in Q1 2025, this was insufficient to offset the impact of the reversal in FVTPL performance.
Net interest income improved by 61 per cent to N365.2bn in the first quarter of 2025 from N226.8bn in Q1 2024, driven by a robust growth in interest income, which rose by 40 per cent to N625.3bn from N446.1bn.
Interest expense also increased, albeit at a slower rate of 18.6 per cent to N260.1bn, reflecting the continued impact of the high interest rate environment on deposit costs and other funding sources.
Fee and commission income rose by 25.3 per cent to N77.7bn from N62bn, while net fee and commission income stood at N64.1bn, up from N52.4bn in the corresponding period. The group also posted a moderate increase in other operating income, which rose to N7.1bn from N5bn.
However, the bank’s operating expenses also climbed. Personnel expenses rose marginally to N67bn from N64.1bn, while depreciation, amortisation, and impairment costs increased to N16.4bn from N13.5bn. Other operating expenses saw a sharper jump to N161.9bn from N133.2bn in the previous year.
As a result, operating profit fell to N186.7bn in Q1 2025 compared to N234.2bn in the same period of 2024, a decrease of 20.3 per cent.
Profit before tax stood at N186.5bn in the quarter, representing a decline from N234.2bn in Q1 2024. After accounting for income tax expense of N19.1bn (down from N30.4bn in the previous year), profit from continuing operations was N167.4bn.
In addition, the group’s discontinued operations contributed N3.7bn to profit, down from N4.3bn in Q1 2024.
Profit attributable to owners of the parent fell to N169.5bn from N206.9bn, while earnings per share also declined. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations dropped to N4.62 from N5.64, and total basic earnings per share decreased to N4.72 from N5.76. On a diluted basis, EPS fell further to N4.05 from N5.73.
On the balance sheet side, First HoldCo’s total assets stood at N26.52tn as of March 31, 2025, slightly down from N26.52tn recorded at the end of December 2024. Customer deposits rose marginally to N17.27tn from N17.17tn, indicating stability in the bank’s funding base.
The group’s total equity declined to N2.74tn from N2.80tn, largely reflecting the impact of the fair value reserve contraction and lower retained earnings growth.
The PUNCH reported that First HoldCo Plc had posted a 106 per cent increase in gross earnings for the financial year ended December 31, 2024, amounting to N3.21tn, compared to N1.56tn recorded in 2023.
