“He Needs to Check Otudeko”: Shareholders to Vote to Keep Otedola on First Bank Board

• First Bank has approved the appointment of Femi Otedola, a billionaire businessman, as a non-executive director at First Bank
• The appointment is subject to the approval of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting coming up on August 15, 2023
• If approved, Otedola will earn about N50 billion annually as the bank’s non-executive Director

First Bank Holding Plc, the parent company of First Bank, has announced the appointment of billionaire investor and Chairman of Geregu Power, Femi Otedola, as non-Executive Director, subject to the approval of the shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on August 15, 2023.

Otedola was listed as a shareholder with a substantial 5.7% stake in the banking group, translating to 10,000,000 units of direct shares and 1,989,342,376 units held indirectly under Calvados Global Limited as of June 30, 2023.

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Shareholders to vote to raise Otedola, other directors' fees

At the impending AGM, shareholders will also have the opportunity to consider the Director’s fees for the financial year ending December 31, 2023, and succeeding years.

They will, among other things, raise the Director’s fees to N50 million per Director and N63.7 million for the Board Chairman.

According to reports, the holding company declared N206.3 billion profit after tax in its unaudited financial statements for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2023.

The company’s assets for half-year results released on Nigerian Exchange showed a profit before tax of N206.3 billion, a 213.8% increase from N63.7 billion.

Profit after tax rose by 231% to N187.2 billion as against N56.5 billion in H1, 2022, while earnings per share increased by 234% to N5.19, higher than N1.55 recorded in 2021.

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First Bank delivers strong financial results

Further study showed that gross earnings spiked by 82.8% to N656.6 billion from N359.2 billion in H1, 2022.

Interest income appreciated by 69.3% from N383.3 billion compared to N226.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2022, while non-interest revenue accounted for N257.9 billion as against N120.6 billion.

The bank’s operating income for the period under review went up 81.1% from N273.5 billion in the first half of 2022 to N495.3 billion, while impairment charges for losses stood at 57.6 billion from N21.7 billion.

FBN Holding’s total assets increased by 34% to N14.177 trillion against N10.578 trillion as of December 31, 2022. Its customer loans and advances record 38.9% year-to-year date as of June 30, 2023, to stand at N5.261 trillion from N3.789 trillion, while customer deposits stood at N9.042 trillion, a growth of 26.9% increase from N7.12 trillion.

The Group Managing Director of the holding company, Nnamdi Okoronkwo, said that the company has continued to deliver strong financials every year despite strong headwinds.

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Top First Bank investors, Otudeko, Otedola, Odukale lose N24 billion in one week as CBN imposes limits

Legit.ng reported that the three largest and majority shareholders in First Bank Nigeria Holdings, Oba Otudeko, Femi Otedola, and Tunde Hassan-Odukale, lost a massive N24.64 billion in one week.

Their losses came amid reports of a conflict between the largest shareholder, Otudeko, and the other two majority investors, Otedola and Odukale.

Otudeko had purchased 4.77 billion shares, amounting to a 13.3% stake in the financial institution two weeks ago, triggering one of the biggest brawls in the banking sector recently.

Source: Legit.ng