First Holding Company Plc, on Tuesday presented its unaudited financial report for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025, highlights of which included the marginal 4.27% increase in gross earnings income, while profit after tax fell by 17.78%.
Gross earnings was helped by the robust N80.481bn foreign exchange gain, which was an improvement over the loss reported in the same period of last year. But the numbers could have been more robust, but for the N47.914bn net loss from financial instruments at face value, compared to the previous N288.826bn gain.
According to the results presented through the Nigerian Exchange Limited, earnings for the period stood at N746.955bn from N716.336bn, the bulk of which was the N625.281bn interest income, which rose from N446.146bn, lifted by the N222.329bn income from investment securities, up from N143.727bn; while interest from customer loans and advances yielded N364.172bn, up from N255.602bn; while loans and advances to banks amounted to N38.78bn, down from N46.727bn. Interest expense increased from N219.2bn to N260.089bn, of which N156.434bn was paid on customer deposits, up from N126.093bn; while interest on bank deposits rose from N65.094bn to N74.645bn; while interest on borrowing and others rose marginally to N29.01bn from N28.112bn.
Impairment charge for losses fell from N41.933bn to N37.251bn, of which loans impairment dropped marginally to N41.225bn from N41.772bn.
Fee and commission income rose from N62.002bn to N77.722bn, with electronic banking fees rising from N16.024bn to N20.139bn; followed by the N12.374bn from letters of credit commissions and fees, which improved from N7.317bn; just as funds transfer and intermediation fees climbed to N11.507bn from N8.393bn; among others. Fee and commission expense rose to N13.615bn from N9.651bn.
Foreign exchange income stood at N80.481bn, compared to the previous loss of N98.592bn, boosted by foreign exchange revaluation gain of N66.456bn, against the loss of n111.721bn in the similar period of 2024; while foreign exchange trading income was flat at N14.025bn, a marginal increase over the previous N13.129bn.
Net gains on sales of investment securities yielded N12.034bn, compared to just N6m in 2024; just as net losses from financial instruments at fair value through profit and loss amounted to N47.914bn from the N287.826bn gain; after trading gains on debt securities jumped to N9.2bn from N866m, while fair value losses stood at N57.114bn, against the previous N287.96bn gain.
Other operating income improved to N7.068bn from N5.046bn; boosted by the N5.868bn sundry income, up from just N1.795bn; ahead of the recoveries which fell from N3.203bn to N1.154bn.
Operating expenses increased to N161.866bn from N133.18bn, with AMCON levy taking the lion’s share of N66.111bn, from N39.187bn; advert and corporate promotions followed with N19.028bn, a giant leap from the previous N3.836bn; ahead of the N12.288bn outsourced cost which inched from N8.033bn. These and other resulted in an operating profit of N186.695bn, down from N234.168bn; just as Profit before tax for the period closed at N186.479bn from N234.168bn. Income tax expense fell from N30.368bn in the first three months of 2024 to N19.888bn; following which net profit slipped from N203.8bn to N167.394bn; representing earnings per share of N4.62, from N5.70 each.
According to the balance sheet, total assets stayed flat at N20.621tr from N26.524tr at the end of December 31, 2024, with customer loans and advances growing from N8.767tr to N9.201tr; followed by investment securities which inched marginally to N5.676tr, from N5.536tr. Total liabilities growth was equally marginal at N23.783tr from N23.728tr, after customer deposits grew from N17.17tr to N17.269tr within the period under review; resulting shareholders funds of N2.7238tr, marginally sliding from N2.795tr in the 2024 full-year.
