Fidelity Bank Exits Trillion-Naira Club, Posts First-Half Profit Drop in Seven Years

Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s mid-sized banking groups, has fallen out of the trillion naira valuation club after its share price slipped 0.50 percent, MarketsReporters’ analysis of Nigerian Exchange Limited data shows.

The decline, which occurred on October 20, 2025, saw the lender’s market capitalisation fall to N999.2 billion with a share price of N19.90 from N1 trillion on October 17.m.

Fidelity’s earnings report released last Thursday shows that after-tax profit fell to N132.3 billion in the first half of 2025 from N159.8 billion a year earlier. Pre-tax profit also dropped 11.2 percent year-on-year to N180.5 billion, marking the first contraction since the first half of 2019.

This downturn comes despite Fidelity delivering the strongest after-tax profit growth in the sector last year, when earnings surged 189 percent, boosting investor appetite.

From sector outperformer to market pressure

In Q1, the commercial bank posted another strong performance, with after-tax profit rising 190 percent to N91 billion, powered by higher interest income, strong foreign exchange gains, and improved cost efficiencies.

This momentum pushed Fidelity’s market value above N1 trillion on April 4, 2025, making it the first tier-2 bank to cross the threshold. However, it slipped below the mark on May 20 following a Supreme Court ruling that pressured its share price.

In June, global rating agency Fitch upgraded Fidelity Bank’s National Long-Term Rating from ‘A(nga)’ to ‘A+(nga)’, citing improved credit strength.

Part of a wider banking sector earnings decline

With its latest profit drop, Fidelity joins several of Nigeria’s major lenders in reporting their first earnings contraction in years. Access Holdings Plc, the country’s largest banking group by assets, posted a 23.3 percent decline in after-tax profit to N215.9 billion in the first half of 2025 from N281.3 billion a year earlier. First HoldCo, the parent company of FirstBank, also reported a profit of N289.8 billion, marking its first decline in seven years. 

Zenith Bank Plc recorded N532.2 billion in profit, its first drop since 2016, while GTCO Plc saw its earnings fall to N449.01 billion, the first contraction since 2022.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc was an outlier, recording a 6.04 percent increase in after-tax profit to N333.5 billion. However, the bank still posted weaker pre-tax earnings, which slipped to N388.4 billion from N401.6 billion in the first half of 2024—its second consecutive half-year decline.