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FIRSTBANK’S
MARKET CAPITALISATION HITS ONE TRILLION NAIRA MARK
Nigeria’s
premier financial institution, First Bank of Nigeria Plc,
made history on Monday February 11, 2008. At the close of
business on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the
Bank’s market capitalization closed at N1,039,254,191,332.50k,
thus making it the first Nigerian financial institution, and
indeed, the first quoted company in Nigeria to achieve that
feat. The Bank achieved this result when its share price
peaked at N52.25k. It’s issued and paid up share capital had
increased to 19.89 billion units upon completion of its
recent Public Offer which was oversubscribed in excess of
750%. The share price has continued to appreciate in the
last two weeks after recording a low of N42.00 upon
resumption of trading post hybrid offer.
With this development, FirstBank became the most valuable
company to be quoted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange. The Bank
has also demonstrated its capacity to add value to its
teeming shareholders in particular and the Nigerian economy
in general. Investors in the company’s shares have recorded
about 58% capital appreciation since the completion of its
recently concluded offer. FirstBank’s journey to this
landmark success began with its Hybrid Offer, “The Big
Offer” which sought to raise N100 billion from the existing
and new subscribers and was lauded as the biggest and most
successful in the history of public offers in Nigeria.
In it’s recently released nine months unaudited result
ending December 2007, the Bank grew earnings by 65.1% to
close at N105.2 billion, compared to N63.7 billion it
recorded for the same timeline in the previous year.
Consequently, profit before tax grew by 70.4% to close at
N32.8 billion, compared to N19.2 billion recorded as at
December 2006, while profit after tax recorded a 74.9%
growth to close at N25.9 billion.
The Bank was recently rated highest in Corporate Governance.
Based on JIC Governanceplus (an associate of Moody’s
Investors USA) current rating assessment, FirstBank’s
industry and global ratings are the highest amongst publicly
quoted banks and the top 100 companies in Nigeria. The
report which was titled “The Basic Corporate Governance
Rating Report” was prepared using publicly available
information and according to the Code of Corporate
Governance in Nigeria issued by the Securities & Exchange
Commission (SEC) and Code of Corporate Governance for Banks
in Nigeria, post-consolidation, issued by the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN).
As part of its international business expansion, the Bank
recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Guangdong
Xinguang International Group, a Chinese financial
institution on the financing of a proposed $500
million project in Ogun State Free Trade Zone. This is in
addition to another agreement with China Construction Bank (CCB)
which seeks to further strengthen the business cooperation
between both parties within the framework of each Party’s
respective articles and memorandum of association and
applicable laws and regulations.
Back to back winner of both local and international awards,
FirstBank was the winner of the Emerging Markets Banking
Achievement Award for Africa at the World Bank/IMF 2007
meetings, Washington DC; 2007 winner of the Best Bank
in Nigeria, 2007 Best Trade Finance Bank in Nigeria and Best
Foreign Exchange Bank in Nigeria presented by United
States-based Global Finance magazine.
The FirstBank Group, apart from the parent bank has nine
subsidiaries under its umbrella. They include FBN Bank (UK)
Limited, First Trustees Nigeria Limited, First Registrars
Nigeria Limited, FBN Insurance Brokers Limited, First Funds
Limited, FBN Mortgages Limited, First Pension Custodian
Nigeria Limited, FBN Capital Limited and FBN Bureau De
Change.
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