FirstHoldCo Plc, the parent company of FirstBank Nigeria, has reported a profit of ₦744.5 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, according to its unaudited financial statements. The result marks a significant increase from the ₦450.9 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, meaning the group earned roughly ₦293.6 billion more than a year earlier — a rise of 65.1%. The interim figures cover January through September 2026. Such unaudited interim figures are preliminary, with the definitive numbers for the year confirmed in the group's audited annual accounts.

The statements also showed higher earnings from electronic banking and funds transfer services, revenue lines closely linked to customers' everyday banking activities. Even so, the jump in profit was far larger than the growth in these fees, suggesting that other areas of the business also played an important role in strengthening the group's performance.

Credit quality supports the result

One important factor was the drop in impairment charges, which banks record as provisions for loans and other financial assets that may not be recovered. For FirstHoldCo, impairment charges fell to ₦207.1 billion from ₦288.9 billion a year earlier, a decline of about 28.3%. Charges of this kind are a routine part of bank accounting: because lenders cannot know in advance which loans will be repaid, reporting rules require them to set aside provisions against expected losses each period, so a smaller charge simply means less profit was absorbed by provisioning during these nine months.

The group also recovered ₦94.3 billion during the period, compared with just ₦5.9 billion in the first nine months of 2025. These recoveries came from loans and other financial exposures that had previously been considered risky or unlikely to be repaid. In numerical terms, the ₦88.4 billion increase in recoveries was even larger than the ₦81.8 billion reduction in impairment charges, underscoring how sharply this line moved between the two periods.

Together, the lower impairment charges and the sharp rise in recoveries helped underpin the stronger bottom line. They do not, however, tell the whole story, as the group's overall performance was also shaped by income from other parts of the business.

Fee income climbs at a slower pace

FirstHoldCo earned ₦73.2 billion from electronic banking fees in the nine months to September 2026, up from ₦68.8 billion in the same period last year — an increase of ₦4.4 billion, or about 6.3%. Electronic banking fees are income generated from services that enable customers to conduct transactions through electronic channels, including digital banking services and electronic transactions, although the financial statements do not break the category down by individual channel.

The increase means this category generated more fee income for the group than it did a year earlier. It does not, however, establish that mobile banking usage or transaction volumes grew by the same percentage.

The group also earned ₦40.1 billion from funds transfer and intermediation fees in the first nine months of 2026, up from ₦37.0 billion in the same period of 2025 — an increase of ₦3.2 billion, or about 8.5%. These fees come from services such as transferring money and helping customers complete transactions. Although such activities may appear routine, the charges provide banks with income in addition to the interest they earn from loans.

Combined, electronic banking and funds transfer fees brought in ₦113.3 billion during the period, compared with ₦105.8 billion a year earlier, a 7.1% increase. That figure covers only these two fee categories and does not represent FirstHoldCo's total digital banking revenue.

The figures show that while transaction-related income increased, it did not grow nearly as fast as the group's overall profit, which rose by 65.1%. This indicates that other areas — including lending, loan recoveries, lower impairment charges, operating costs and other income — also contributed to the stronger result.

For customers, the results illustrate how everyday activities such as transfers and electronic payments feed into the wider business of one of Nigeria's biggest banking groups, complementing the income the group earns from lending. With one quarter left in the reporting year, the group's audited full-year accounts will show how impairments, recoveries and fee income developed through the final three months of 2026, and annual disclosures typically carry more granular notes than interim statements, which may include breakdowns the current e-banking figures do not provide.

Source: TechNext24