Olufemi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has further strengthened his position in the group following a fresh share acquisition valued at approximately N43.41 billion, as reported by Nairametrics.

The acquisition, executed on the Nigerian Exchange on May 13, 2026, involved the purchase of 549,535,653 units at an average price of N79 per share.

Consequently, Olufemi Otedola’s stake in First HoldCo Plc has climbed from 8,055,314,486 units reported in the FY 2025 audited accounts to 8,604,850,139 following the latest acquisition.

Meanwhile, heightened investor interest pushed trading activity sharply higher, with volume crossing 563 million shares by mid-trading as the stock’s year-to-date return advanced beyond 57%.

According to data from the Nigerian Exchange, Otedola’s stake has risen to 19.35%, equivalent to 8,604,850,139 units out of 44,453,693,133 ordinary shares outstanding.

This represents an increase from 18.12%, where he previously held 8,055,314,486 units in the company’s equity structure.

He now ranks as the second-largest shareholder, behind RC Investment Management Ltd, which holds 10,433,909,058 units, representing a 23.47% stake.

Following the development, trading activity on May 13 closed above 575 million shares, the highest in 2026, extending earlier momentum and surpassing 148 million units recorded on May 11.

The purchase comes after the company announced that it is seeking shareholder approval to raise N253 billion at its Annual General Meeting scheduled for 29 May 2026.

This reflects a new phase of aggressive expansion and balance sheet strengthening, targeting a N1 trillion capital base, including capital and share premium.

According to the group, the equity raise will be executed through one or more methods including share issuance, public offer, private placement, rights issues, bonus issues, or scrip dividends, with high participation expected.

This comes amid strong performance in Q1 2026, where pretax profit rose 72.20% to N321.1 billion from N186.4 billion in Q1 2025, driven by stronger interest and non-interest income.

A closer look at the Q1 2026 results shows interest earnings rose to N704.4 billion from N625.2 billion, reflecting stronger core banking income performance across the period.

Loans and advances to customers contributed N465.5 billion, investment securities N192.9 billion, and loans and advances to banks N45.9 billion.

On the non-interest side, net fees and commissions rose to N78.9 billion from N64.1 billion, which, when combined with operating income and interest income, pushed operating profit to N320 billion from N186.6 billion.

Moving to the balance sheet, total equity rose to N3.4 trillion from N3.3 trillion, with retained earnings climbing to N667.9 billion from N401.7 billion, potentially increasing value for shareholders through future dividends.

What you should know

Mr Olufemi Otedola’s recent acquisition represents the largest single dealing on First HoldCo Plc’s stock in 2026 so far.

Year-to-date, the stock remains one of the most actively traded on the Nigerian Exchange, with cumulative volume exceeding 2.4 billion units.

The company currently commands a market capitalisation of over N3 trillion, reflecting its position among the exchange’s largest listed financial institutions.