Fidelity Bank shows exceptional performance as banks conclude recapitalisation

GMD/CEO, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe

Fidelity Bank Plc is set for a new phase of phenomenal growth and expansion as the first-tier international bank builds on the remarkable success of its recapitalisation exercise.

While most banks met the new minimum capital requirement ahead of the March 31 deadline, analysts agreed that Fidelity Bank’s recapitalisation journey was exceptional and demonstrated investors’ long-standing preference for the bank.

Fidelity Bank set the tone for what has now been termed the most successful and least disruptive of exercises in the history of Nigeria’s banking recapitalisation.

With the announcement of the recapitalisation exercise in March 2024, Fidelity Bank was the first to approach the capital market in what was then a litmus test for investors’ perception at a time Nigeria’s macroeconomic reforms were expectedly tough on the overall operating environment.

The bank’s combined public offer and rights issue, launched in June 2024, was overwhelmingly oversubscribed, boosting the banking industry’s confidence and quickening investors’ appetite for subsequent offers.

The rights issue recorded more than one-third of its initial target in oversubscriptions, a major vote of confidence by existing shareholders, especially for a bank like Fidelity Bank, which has the most diversified shareholding structure within the Nigerian banking sector, with more than 400,000 shareholders. Nigerian retail minority shareholders prioritise strong financial performance and dividend payment, as most shareholders rely on cash inflows from dividends and capital gains.

With one of the highest free floats at the stock market, Fidelity Bank has been one of the most actively traded stocks at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), which underlines the diversity of its shareholding and liquidity of its shares.

The public offer, which was undertaken simultaneously with the rights issue, recorded oversubscription of about 138 per cent, more than double the initial offer size. Nation