BUSINESS

Fidelity Bank Reclaims Trillion-Naira Market Cap As Stock Rises To ₦21

<h4>Fidelity Bank Reclaims<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that leading financial institution&comma; Fidelity Bank Plc&comma; has reentered the trillion-naira market capitalisation club&comma; after its share price rose by 5&period;3&percnt;&comma; climbing from ₦19&period;95 to ₦21&period;00 on May 13&comma; 2025&comma; according to data from the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Nigerian Exchange Limited &lpar;NGX<&sol;a>&rpar;&period; This latest development also brings the total number of Nigerian companies with a trillion-naira market capitalisation to 19&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to a report published on Techcabal website&comma; the bank had previously dropped below the threshold on May 12&comma; marking another fluctuation in its valuation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Earlier in the year&comma; Fidelity Bank Plc first reached the trillion-naira milestone on April 4&comma; 2025&comma; joining tier-1 banks such as <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Zenith Bank&comma; Guaranty Trust Holding Company &lpar;GTCO&rpar;&comma; Access Holdings&comma; First HoldCo&comma; and United Bank for Africa &lpar;UBA&rpar;&period;<&sol;a> However&comma; it fell below the mark on April 7 before reclaiming its position on April 23&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With 50&period;2 billion outstanding shares&comma; the valuation reflects renewed investor confidence and signals Fidelity’s potential transition to tier-1 status&period; Analysts believe the bank is well-positioned to meet the Central Bank’s ₦500 billion &lpar;&dollar;311&period;9 million&rpar; minimum capital requirement through equity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The strong Q1 results suggest continued upward momentum in its stock&comma;” said Nabila Mohammed&comma; an analyst at Chapel Hill Denham&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This could boost investor confidence and help sustain its valuation&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The stock has surged 141&percnt; in the past year&comma; up from ₦8&period;70 in May 2024&period; Meksley Nwagboh&comma; Head of Brand and Communications&comma; attributed the rally to a 189&percnt; rise in 2024 after-tax profit—the highest among Nigeria’s top 10 banks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>That momentum carried into 2025&comma; with Q1 after-tax profit soaring 190&percnt; to ₦91 billion &lpar;&dollar;56&period;8 million&rpar;&comma; driven by higher interest income&comma; forex gains&comma; and cost efficiencies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Lower credit losses helped boost net interest income&comma;” said <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Olamide<&sol;a>&comma; a Lagos-based banking analyst&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Combined with solid full-year results and dividend expectations&comma; the bank’s fundamentals are attracting investors&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A report from Proshare noted the NGX Banking Index gained 6&period;96&percnt; in Q1 2025&comma; driven by recapitalisation efforts that injected ₦2&period;4 trillion into the sector&period; Fidelity was the NGX’s third most-traded stock between February and May&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to Mohammed&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">Fidelity Bank’s high net interest margin<&sol;a> and low-cost deposit base enhance its appeal&period; On February 8&comma; it completed the first phase of its capital raise with 237&percnt; oversubscription&period; CEO Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe confirmed plans to conclude the next phase before H2 2025&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The bank’s Vision 2025 agenda includes expanding internationally—starting with its 2023 acquisition of Union Bank UK—and securing tier-1 status&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Afrinvest projects continued growth&comma; with gross earnings and pre-tax profit forecasted to rise 46&percnt; and 49&period;4&percnt; respectively in 2025&comma; reaching ₦1&period;5 trillion and ₦415&period;4 billion&period; The firm maintains a 12-month target price of ₦21&period;60 for the stock&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With robust earnings&comma; a solid recapitalisation strategy&comma; and growing investor interest&comma; Fidelity is positioning itself as a strong contender in Nigeria’s top banking tier&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;24783" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-24783" style&equals;"width&colon; 254px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-24783" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;04&sol;Fidelity-Bank-MD-Mrs-Nneka-Onyeali-Ikpe-254x300&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Fidelity Bank Reclaims Trillion-Naira Market Cap As Stock Rises To ₦21" width&equals;"254" height&equals;"300" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-24783" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><strong><em>Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe&comma; Fidelity Bank CEO<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;

Share This
Openlife Reporter

Recent Posts

What Nigerians Should Expect In 2027—Bishop David Oyedepo

What Nigerians Should Expect In 2027 OpenLife Nigeria reports that the Presiding Bishop of the…

9 hours ago

What You Should Do To Revive PDP, Obasanjo Tells  Kabiru Tanimu Turaki

  What You Should Do To Revive PDP   OpenLife Nigeria reports that former President…

13 hours ago

Supreme Court Faults President Tinubu On Exercise Of ‘Pardon” Over A Case Of Culpable Homicide, Affirms Maryam Sanda’s Death Sentence

Supreme Court Faults President Tinubu OpenLife Nigeria reports that the Supreme Court has faulted President…

2 days ago

Rivers State Boils Again As Assembly Hints On Impeaching Governor Fubara

Rivers State Boils Again OpenLife Nigeria reports that just after 85 days when governor Siminalayi…

2 days ago

How Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi, Imagine Global Solution Limited, Allegedly Swindled 27 Individuals , Companies N15 Billion

How Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi OpenLife Nigeria reports that the trial of Ponzi scheme operator, Bamise…

2 days ago

This website uses cookies.