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;