Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has disclosed that the company accepted a major financial setback after deciding to recognise and clear N748 billion worth of non-performing loans, a move he described as a necessary step to strengthen the institution for the future.
Gatekeepers News reports that Otedola made this known in a post shared on his X account on Saturday, where he explained that the clean-up was a deliberate long-term decision, even though it led to a sharp drop in the group’s profit for 2025.
“At First HoldCo we decided to clean house properly. We took a huge one time hit of ₦748bn to admit old bad loans instead of pretending they do not exist. That is why profit looks like it crashed by 92%,” he wrote.
“Why do this now? Because the @cenbank is pushing banks to stop kicking problems down the road.”
He said the step helped the company draw a line under difficult loan issues from previous years, adding that it also sends a strong message that borrowers must take repayment obligations seriously, while improving confidence in the banking system.
Despite the large impairment charge, Otedola maintained that the group’s main operations remain solid, noting that the business still generated strong income from lending activities.
“It made ₦2.96tn in interest income and ₦1.91tn in net interest income, which gave it the strength to take the clean up and still stay standing,” he added.
“Now at @FirstBankngr and beyond we go into 2026 lighter, cleaner and better prepared for the recapitalisation era and serious growth.”
In its unaudited financial results released on Friday, First HoldCo reported a profit of N44.9 billion for 2025, representing a steep fall from the N677 billion recorded in 2024, a decline largely linked to the impairment losses booked during the year.
The financial statement showed that the group dealt with heavy non-performing loan exposure in 2025, as impairment losses on loans and advances to customers climbed to about N710 billion, while impairments on other assets rose by N34.9 billion.
The report also included expected credit losses of N10.8 billion on loans to banks and N4.2 billion on investment securities, along with a reduction in off-balance-sheet impairment figures.
However, the group said it still recorded growth in revenue, posting gross earnings of N3.4 trillion, which reflected a 4.8 percent increase compared to the previous year.
First HoldCo explained that its performance was supported by a 36.3 percent rise in net interest income to N1.9 trillion, aided by better yields and stronger margins, while net fees and commissions also increased by 18.7 percent to N290.7 billion.
