First Bank of Nigeria


First Bank of Nigeria, sometimes referred to as FirstBank, is a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Lagos. It is the biggest bank in Nigeria by total deposits and gross earnings. It operates a network of over 750 business locations across Africa, the United Kingdom and representative offices in Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Johannesburg set up to capture trade-related business between geographies. The bank specialises in retail banking and has the largest retail client base in Nigeria. In 2015, The Asian Banker awarded FirstBank the Best Retail Bank in Nigeria award for the fifth consecutive year.
The Nigerian banking business operates nationally, with an active customer base of over 10 million, and employs over 7,000 staff. FirstBank operates along four key Strategic Business Units – Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Commercial Banking and Public Sector Banking. It was previously structured as an operating holding company before the implementation of a non-operating Holding Company structure in 2011/2012.

Overview

, the Bank had assets totalling NGN3.9 trillion. The Bank's profit before tax for the twelve months ending 31 December 2015 was approximately NGN10.2 billion. FirstBank’s ownership is diversified, with over 1.3 million shareholders. The bank was founded in 1894 and is Nigeria’s oldest bank. It converted to a public company in 1970 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1971. However, as part of the implementation of the non-operating holding company structure, it was delisted from the NSE and replaced with FBN Holdings Plc. in 2012.
FirstBank was named "Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria" for six years in a row by The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group, and "Most Innovative Bank in Africa" in the EMEA Finance African Banking Awards 2014.

Subsidiaries

The subsidiaries of First Bank of Nigeria include the following:
In 2010, the Central Bank of Nigeria revised the regulation covering the scope of banking activities for Nigerian banks. The universal banking model was discontinued and banks were required to divest from non-core banking businesses or adopt a holding company structure. FirstBank opted to form a holding company, FBN Holdings Plc., to capture synergies across its already established banking and non-banking businesses. The new structure resulted in a stronger platform to support the Group’s future growth ambitions domestically and internationally.
Bello Maccido, who was Executive Director of FirstBank, became the CEO of the new parent company. He retired effective from 31 December 2015 and was succeeded by Urum Kalu Eke Mfr as Group Managing Director of the Holding Company. The shares of FBNHoldings are listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange. The business groups of FBNHoldings are:
  1. Commercial Banking – includes First Bank of Nigeria Ltd and all its commercial banking subsidiaries: FBNBank Ltd with a branch in Paris, France, FBNBank DRC, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Sierra-Leone, FBNBank Senegal, First Pension Custodian Limited, FBN Mortgages Limited.
  2. FBNQuest – FBNQuest is the brand name of the Merchant Banking and Asset Management businesses of FBN Holdings Plc, which comprises FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited, FBNQuest Capital Limited, FBNQuest Securities Limited, FBNQuest Capital Asset Management Limited, FBNQuest Trustees Limited, FBNQuest Funds Limited and FBN Capital Partners Limited.
  3. Insurance – Insurance-related subsidiaries: FBNInsurance, FBN General Insurance and FBN Insurance Brokers. The business group offers life and general insurance services as well as insurance brokerage services.
As at 31 December 2015, the Group closed with gross earnings of N505.2 billion, total assets of N4.2 trillion and N578.8 billion in total equity.

History

Pre-independence

FirstBank commenced business in 1894 in what was then the British colony of Nigeria, as the Bank of British West Africa. The bank originally served British shipping and trading agencies in Nigeria. The founder, Alfred Lewis Jones, was a shipping magnate who originally had a monopoly on importing silver currency into West Africa through his Elder Dempster shipping company. According to its founder, without a bank economies were reduced to using barter and a wide variety of mediums of exchange, leading to unsound practices. A bank could provide a secure home for deposits and also a uniform medium of exchange. The bank primarily financed foreign trade, but did little lending to indigenous Nigerians, who had little to offer as collateral for loans.

Post-independence

After Nigeria's independence in 1960, the Bank began to extend more credit to indigenous Nigerians. At the same time, citizens began to trust British banks since there was an 'independent' financial control mechanism and more citizens began to patronise the new Bank of West Africa.
In 1965, Standard Bank acquired the Bank of West Africa and changed its acquisition's name to Standard Bank of West Africa. In 1969, Standard Bank of West Africa incorporated its Nigerian operations under the name Standard Bank of Nigeria. In 1971, Standard Bank of Nigeria listed its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and placed 13% of its share capital with Nigerian investors. After the end of the Nigerian civil war, Nigeria's military government sought to increase local control of the retail-banking sector. In response, now Standard Chartered Bank reduced its stake in Standard Bank Nigeria to 38%. Once it had lost majority control, Standard Chartered wished to signal that it was no longer responsible for the bank and the bank changed its name to First Bank of Nigeria Limited in 1979. By then, the bank had re-organized and had more Nigerian directors than ever.
In 1991 the Bank changed its name to First Bank of Nigeria Plc following listing on The Nigerian Stock Exchange. In 2012, the Bank changed its name again to First Bank of Nigeria Limited as part of a restructuring resulting in FBN Holdings Plc, having detached its commercial business from other businesses in the FirstBank Group, in line with the requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria. FirstBank had 1.3 million shareholders globally, was quoted on The Nigerian Stock Exchange, where it was one of the most capitalised companies and also had an unlisted Global Depository Receipt programme, all of which were transferred to its Holding Company, FBN Holdings in December 2012.
In 1982 FirstBank opened a branch in London, which it converted into a subsidiary, FBN Bank, in 2002. Its most recent international expansion was the opening in 2004 of a representative office in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2005 it acquired FBN Ltd. Paribas and MBC International Bank Ltd, a group of Nigerian investors, had founded MBC in 1982 as a merchant bank, and it became a commercial bank in 2002.
In June 2009, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya was appointed Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, replacing Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who had been appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Onasanya was formerly Executive Director of Banking Operations & Services. He retired on 31 December 2015 and Adesola Adeduntan took over as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd and Subsidiaries effective 1 January 2016, with Gbenga Shobo as Deputy Managing Director.

Key milestones