Billionaire businessman and Chairman of First HoldCo Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria, Femi Otedola has defended the company’s decision to take one-time hit of ₦748bn in old bad loans.
In a tweet posted on his X handle over the weekend, Otedola described it as a deliberate clean-up rather than a sign of weakness in the bank’s operations, adding that the write-off led to a 92 per cent decline in profit.
However, he explained that the losses were one-off, resulting from the recognition of long-standing non-performing loans carried over from previous years.
While stating that the move aligns with directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which has been urging banks to strengthen balance sheets and stop postponing the recognition of bad assets, particularly ahead of the ongoing bank recapitalisation exercise, Billionaire business man added that despite the write-off, the group’s core business remains strong, generating ₦2.96 trillion in interest income and ₦1.91 trillion in net interest income, giving it the capacity to absorb the impact of the loss.
According to him, the cleanup is expected to improve transparency, restore confidence, and position First HoldCo for sustainable growth.
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