FirstHoldCo shareholders vote today on billionaire Femi Otedola's $725 million capital plan for First Bank

FirstHoldCo Plc holds its 14th Annual General Meeting today, May 29, where shareholders are voting on a proposal that Femi Otedola, the company's chairman, has been building toward since taking the role in January 2024: raising up to N253.099 billion, approximately $183.4 million, in fresh capital to push the group's paid-up base toward N1 trillion, or roughly $724.6 million.

The resolution before shareholders today would authorise a capital raise through any combination of a public offering, private placement, rights issue, bonus issue, scrip dividend or other equity instruments in the Nigerian or international capital markets, in tranches and at terms to be determined by the board subject to regulatory approval. The raise, if approved and fully executed, would close the gap between FirstHoldCo's current paid-up capital position and the N1 trillion, approximately $724.6 million, benchmark Otedola has publicly argued Nigeria's most important banks should be required to meet.

The N1 trillion target is not simply a response to the Central Bank of Nigeria's existing N500 billion, roughly $362.3 million, minimum capital requirement for international banking licences, which FirstHoldCo has already met. It is a statement of competitive intent. Otedola has called publicly on the CBN to raise that minimum to at least N1 trillion, arguing that the current threshold is inadequate for institutions competing for sovereign and multinational clients in a country targeting a $1 trillion GDP. A bigger capital base means larger deal tickets, stronger syndicated lending capacity and a more credible balance sheet in competition with South African, Kenyan and international lenders.

The group has been building toward today's vote through multiple capital actions. A N45 billion, approximately $32.6 million, private placement was completed in March 2026. A rights issue and the divestment of FBNQuest, the merchant banking subsidiary, have also contributed to the capital strengthening. The N253 billion, or $183.4 million, proposed today is the final major tranche.

The financial backdrop that shareholders are voting against is the strongest FirstHoldCo has produced in years. Q1 2026 profit before tax surged 72.2 percent year-on-year to N321.12 billion, approximately $232.7 million, up from N186.48 billion, or $135.1 million, in the same period of 2025. Profit after tax rose 56.52 percent to N267.80 billion, approximately $194.1 million, from N171.10 billion, or $124.0 million. Earnings per share climbed from N4.72, approximately $0.003, to N6.00, or approximately $0.004. The group's asset recovery programme clawed back N19 billion, roughly $13.8 million, in delinquent loans in Q1 alone, a 1,570 percent year-on-year increase that reflected the impact of the full N826.3 billion, approximately $598.8 million, impairment the company absorbed in 2025 to clean its balance sheet in a single year.

Otedola's personal commitment to FirstHoldCo has been visible in the market throughout this recapitalisation. On May 13, he acquired 549.5 million additional shares at an average price of N79, approximately $0.057, per share, spending N43.41 billion, roughly $31.5 million, in a single session. His total shareholding now sits at 8.604 billion units. He subsequently confirmed he sold his stake in Geregu Power to fund a personal $100 million investment in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO, demonstrating a capital deployment pattern that places the largest bets on the institutions he leads and the industrial assets he has chosen to back.

The competitive significance of reaching N1 trillion, approximately $724.6 million, in paid-up capital extends beyond FirstHoldCo's own balance sheet. Otedola has framed the CBN's current N500 billion, roughly $362.3 million, minimum as a floor that, if raised to N1 trillion, would force Zenith Bank, UBA, GTCO and Access Holdings into another round of capital raising. FirstHoldCo, if it gets there first, would hold the benchmark it helped set. Today's AGM is the formal step that determines whether the company has its shareholders' authority to pursue it.