BY PATRICK ATUANYA
In Africa as in most parts of the world names have meaning, and are chosen very carefully.
Fidelity Bank Plc, whose name means the ‘quality or state of being faithful or loyal’, has kept up with these ideals since its founding to all stakeholders with solid investor returns, strong corporate governance, and Fidelity’s resilience in Nigeria’s evolving financial landscape.
Following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) publication of the revised minimum capital requirement for banks in March 2024, the CBN placed the new minimum capital for Nigerian banks with international operations at N500 billion, and Fidelity Bank was keen to expand its shareholding base as well as reward long term loyal shareholders.
As such Fidelity Bank with its equity capital raise through its Public Offer and Rights Issue (the Combined Offer) of June 2024, became the first financial institution to undertake a public offer on the Nigerian Exchange Group.
In the first phase of its capital raise program, Fidelity Bank successfully raised N175.9 billion in fresh capital in Full Year 2024, which had a positive impact on its capital adequacy ratio (CAR), now at a robust 23.5%.
Investors continued confidence in the Bank, was evidenced by the 237.92% and 137.73% oversubscription of the Public Offer and Rights Issue respectively.
With respect to the Public Offer, a total of 108,046 applications for 23,791,687,463 Ordinary Shares totaling ₦231,968,952,764.25 were received.
Out of these, 107,588 applications for 23,768,724,000 Ordinary Shares totaling ₦231,745,059,000.00 were found to be valid based on the terms of the Offer and the CBN’s verification.
However, 458 invalid applications for 22,765,143 Ordinary Shares totaling ₦221,960,144.25 were rejected, while 548 applications which included odd lots amounting to 198,320 Ordinary Shares (i.e. ₦1,933,620.00) were also rejected.
The Public Offer was 237% subscribed and 150% allotted.
This has expanded the banks shareholding base from the over 400,000 shareholders it had at the end of 2024 to more than 500,000 different shareholders. This means no single person controls the bank which is very positive in terms of corporate governance and bank valuation (Price to book value) as will be shown below.
Fidelity Bank Plc is Nigeria’s sixth largest bank by total assets with asset size of N8.82 trillion as at December 31, 2024.
Investors big and small already in the money from first phase of recapitalisation
From an offer price of N9.75 per share for the Public Offer and N9.25 per share for the Rights Issue in June 2024, the Bank’s shares closed trading at N21.30 on August 29, 2025, a growth rate of over 116%, and one of the highest for any financial institution in the banking industry.
Fidelity Bank which has a ₦1.07 trillion market capitalization, and currently trades at a price to earnings ratio of 2.49 and price to book ratio of 1.15 (according to Bloomberg data), a sign that investors are confident in its growth prospects and solid corporate governance.
For context, only 2 other Nigerian Banks currently trade at a Book value greater than 1.
When a bank trades at a price-to-book (P/B) ratio greater than 1, it means its market value is higher than its book value (net asset value).
This is considered positive because:
• The market perceives the bank to have growth potential and expects it to generate profits above the value of its current net assets.
• Investors believe the bank has valuable intangible assets or future earnings prospects not fully captured by the book value, such as strong brand, customer relationships, or efficient management.
• A P/B above 1 signals confidence in the bank’s ability to earn returns above its cost of equity over time.
The market is not wrong in its assessment as Fidelity Bank shares have surged by 21.7% year to date (between January and August 2025) and a one-year (August 2024 – August 2025) return of 128.86%, according to Bloomberg data.
Leadership Strategy
Fidelity Bank with strong leadership saw its Profit Before Tax (PBT) surge by 210% year-on-year (YoY) to N385.2 billion in 2024.
The bank has however set a profit target of N500 billion for Full Year (FY) 2025, reflecting its leadership’s confidence in sustaining strong earnings momentum. The bank leadership has also said Fidelity Bank will continue its regional expansion strategy, with a particular focus on brownfield acquisitions to deepen market presence and enhance scale.
Key strategic priorities for Full Year 2025 include balance sheet optimization, strong corporate governance, effective risk management, and capital preservation. Additionally, the bank aims to enhance shareholder value through the payment of robust interim and final dividends.
Fidelity Bank delivered a landmark performance in FY 2024, with gross earnings up 87% and surpassing the N1.00 trillion mark. Notably, interest income accounted for approximately 91.0% (N950.6 billion) of total gross earnings—highlighting the strength and resilience of the bank’s core operations.
On April 10, 2025, Fidelity Bank Plc hosted a conference call to review its Full Year 2024 financial performance and provide guidance for FY 2025, which MoneyCentral listened to.
Below were the key takeaways from the discussion:
• The bank remained focused on optimizing its balance sheet and expanding market share across both corporate and retail segments. Customer deposits rose significantly by 47.9% YoY to N5.9 trillion. Particularly, the retail banking segment gained further momentum, as the bank continued to attract low-cost deposits.
• FidBank Limited (the banks UK operations) reported substantial growth, with its asset base expanding by 101.0% YoY. However, the subsidiary experienced a 6x surge in operating expenses (OPEX), primarily driven by increased personnel and staff-related costs—strategic investments aimed at scaling operations.
Capital structure
• The bank disclosed the intended use of capital proceeds as follows: 70% will be deployed towards business growth, 20% allocated to IT infrastructure upgrades, and the remaining 10% dedicated to enhancing product distribution channels.
• On capital sensitivity, management highlighted that a 10% devaluation in the Naira would lead to an estimated 20 basis points decline in the bank’s CAR.
• Management also confirmed that the second phase of the capital raise program is currently underway. This phase, which involves a private placement aimed at raising N195.0 billion, is expected to be concluded before the second half of 2025.
Asset Quality
• Fidelity Bank’s non-performing loans (NPL) ratio declined to 3.1% in FY’24, down from 3.5% in FY’23, largely driven by improved customer cashflows and the bank’s robust credit risk management framework. This ensured asset quality remained resilient despite increased exposure to higher-risk segments.
• Management disclosed that Stage 2 loans are predominantly concentrated in the Power and Oil & Gas sectors—two sectors the bank continues to engage with cautiously given the macroeconomic headwinds.
• Despite the challenges in these sectors, the bank remains optimistic about their long-term prospects, reaffirming its commitment to actively monitor these portfolios while upholding strong credit risk governance.
• For FY’25, Fidelity Bank has guided to an NPL ratio of 3.0% and a cost-of-risk of 2.0%, indicating expectations of lower provisioning and reflecting a broadly positive outlook for asset quality in the coming year.
Fidelity Bank’s future assured with excellent leadership, more robust shareholders and returns
Fidelity Bank is a public institution with broad investor support and driven by diverse shareholders, stakeholders, and professional leadership.
Fidelity Bank Plc has seen higher total returns than any other lender in Nigeria over the past 3-years, as the financial institution demonstrates it can hold its own in Nigeria’s highly competitive financial services space.
Based on inflation adjusted total returns, Fidelity Bank has surpassed other lenders over the past three years consecutively, according to data from Chapel Hill Denham (see chart).
This is good news for savvy investors because the underlying business justifies the share price gain. It is important to note that Fidelity Bank recorded total shareholders’ return of 47 percent in 2024, outperforming the NGX Banking Index which gained -0.50 percent in the same time period, according to data gathered by Chapel Hill Denham Limited glimpsed by MoneyCentral.
That compares to United Bank for Africa (UBA) 2024 inflation adjusted gains of 22.60 percent; Guaranty Trust Holdings Company (GTCO) 20.80 percent, and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) 0.90 percent.
Others with a negative return are: Stanbic IBTC Holdings, (-44.90 percent); First Holdco (-13.50 percent); Access HoldCo (-19.60 percent); and Zenith Bank (-0.90 percent).
Total returns, when measuring performance includes interest, capital gains, dividends, distributions realized over a period and impact of inflation. It is important to note that Fidelity Bank provides consistent income as it is one of the best dividend paying stocks, which means it can weather economic downturns with reduced volatility.
According to data from Chapel Hill Denham, Fidelity had a cash dividend yield of 13.40 percent for full year 2024.
“Notable, Fidelity’s cash dividend yield (total full year cash dividend/end of previous year share price) has been double digit over the past three consecutive years,” said analysts at Chapel Hill Denham.
“In our view, the bank will likely maintain a double-digit dividend yield in 2025E,’’ said the analysts.
Fidelity Bank group is mostly funded by customer deposits, which constituted north of 86% of the total funding base as of December 2024, leveraging over 8.5 million customer base and supported by strong retail franchise and low-cost deposit mobilisation strategy.
It is important to note that customers will not bank with a lender they don’t trust and the high and growing customer base is testament to the strong brand of Fidelity.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving millions of customers through digital banking channels, its 251 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023; and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards. It was also recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023 and the Best Domestic Private Bank in Nigeria by the Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards 2023.
