Fidelity Bank Plc, Nigeria’s best-performing bank share this year, is setting its sights on outperforming at least one of Nigeria’s five biggest banks in the next two years.
The bank says it seeks to be one of five biggest lenders in the country in earnings and assets by 2025, a big target, when weighed against current figures. It’s Nigeria’s sixth-largest lender, with 4 trillion naira in assets.
The bank is expanding in at least five African countries in the next three years to drive that goal, Bloomberg reported.
Reaching one of the top five would mean dislodging any of First Bank, UBA, GT Bank, Access Bank and Zenith, named FUGAZ, from the first letters in their names.
The biggest Nigerian bank by asset is Access with about N15 trillion worth of assets, followed by Zenith with over N12 trillion and UBA with N11 trillion worth of asset.
FBN Holding’s asset and earnings for 2022 are unavailable as the bank is yet to release its results. It posted N8.9 trillion worth of assets in 2021.
Fidelity would have to raise its asset level from the current N3.99 trillion to at least over N6.4 trillion, GTCo’s asset in 2022, which was the lowest of the five, according to data from the bank’s annual reports.
Note: FBN result is based on 2021 figures while others are from 2022.
– Taking Africa
Fidelity Bank plans to move its footprint outside Nigeria and be able to compete favourably with its peers.
After finalizing the acquisition of the London unit of rival Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, the 35-year-old institution is now negotiating a second purchase, Chief Executive Officer Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe told Bloomberg, without identifying the target.
“The strategy is for us to move footprint outside Nigeria and be able to compete favorably with our peers,” Onyeali-Ikpe was quoted as saying. She said the bank expects to complete the transaction this year.
“In the next three years, we should be able to be in six countries by doing at least two every year.”
The bank is interested in countries within west, east and southern Africa, according to Onyeali-Ikpe.
It plans to use the N13.8 billion it raised in a private placement earlier this year for the acquisitions. The lender expects capital adequacy ratio to be at 19.1% this year and will also use retained earnings to expand.
Other large Nigerian lenders, such as Access Bank Plc, have also been expanding overseas.
Access Bank Plc set a target this year to expand to 26 countries by 2026 from 16, citing the need to better manage risks and diversify earnings.
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