Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc aims to raise N150 billion in new capital by selling stocks as part of recapitalisation efforts announced in March by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The company intends to get authorisation for the additional funds from shareholders at a forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM), where it will also seek the approval of a proposed payment of a 50 Kobo dividend for the 2023 financial year.
The bank said in a filing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Wednesday, May 1 that it would explore different options for the raise.
The lender, founded by the late Mr Michael Olasubomi Balogun, said it would consider issuing shares to investors in the Nigerian and international capital markets.
According to the filing, the price of the shares will be determined through book-building or any other acceptable valuation method or combination of methods.
The financial institution added it will also explore the option of further increasing the share capital of the company to an amount sufficient to enable it to meet the statutory minimum capital requirement as may be necessary.
The CBN in March gave Nigerian banks until March 2026 to raise additional capital as part of plans for the country to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030. While banks with international footprints have a target of N500 billion, a Tier-2 bank like FCMB, falls within the N200 billion benchmark.
In the year ended December 31, 2023., FCMB grew its deposits, loans, assets under management, revenue and earnings and improved its environmental, social, and corporate governance scorecard.
It posted a profit before tax of N104.4 billion, a 186 per cent year-on-year (YoY) higher than the N36.6 billion recorded in 2022.
The lender secured funding of up to N13 billion from local development finance institutions for on-lending to customers requiring solar energy solutions to further support its commitment to driving renewable energy.
It was also able to grow its customer base by 15.6 per cent YoY from 10.9 million to 12.5 million for the period ended December 2023, whilst users of its mobile app that offers lending, wealth and payment solutions grew by 31 per cent YoY to 3.4 million.
