Fidelity Bank Shines Bright as Banks Wrap Up Recapitalization Efforts

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, 2026 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 as the most successful and least disruptive of exercise 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, were 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.

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 of the initial offer size.

The bank also set another record by opening and concluding a private placement in a single day on December 31, 2025, riding on the back of intense scrambling for its shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

The one-day private placement attracted several domestic and global high networth institutional investors, including African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) which invested through its subsidiaries, evidencing strong investor confidence in Fidelity Bank.

The bank’s capital issuances scaled through the multi-party capital verification committee which included the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The completion of the verification process saw Fidelity Bank with more qualifying capital than the minimum capital requirement of N500 billion stipulated by the apex bank for banks with international banking licence.

Under the recapitalisation exercise, qualifying capital for the new minimum capital is the addition of share capital and share premium, as against the previous use of shareholders’ funds. With recapitalisation completed, analysts say Fidelity Bank is better-positioned to expand its footprint and deliver on investors’ expectations.

Fitch, which upgraded Fidelity Bank Plc’s ratings, had stated that the upgrade reflected the bank’s strengthening capital buffers as a result of its successful capital raisings, and strong operational performance.

Fitch affirmed the bank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B’. The bank’s National Long-Term Rating was also upgraded to ‘A+(nga)’ from ‘A(nga)’. Both the Outlooks on the long-term ratings are Stable.

“This is underpinned by a sharp improvement in profitability metrics since 2022, as the bank benefits from higher rates due to its heavy reliance on low cost current and savings accounts,” the global rating agency said, noting that Fidelity Bank’s key rating drivers were its creditworthiness, viability and sound business operations, which are concentrated in Nigeria.

“It also reflects an expanding franchise, sound profitability metrics, strengthening capital buffers and good foreign-currency (FC) liquidity coverage. Fidelity’s National Ratings are also driven by its standalone creditworthiness. They balance an expanding franchise and good capital buffers against weaker profitability through the cycles compared with higher-rated peers,” Fitch stated.

The agency premised its standalone rating of Fidelity Bank on its “expanding franchise”, citing the bank’s position as Nigeria’s sixth-largest bank, representing five per cent of domestic banking system assets by the end of 2024.

“Strong balance-sheet expansion in recent years has increased its market shares, which we expect to continue, although it remains below that of the five largest banking groups,” Fitch added. “The bank has one of the highest shares of low cost deposits in the sector – at 93 per cent at end-2024, up from 75 per cent at end-2021 – underpinning Fidelity’s expanding franchise.”

The report also highlighted Fidelity Bank’s “sound profitability metrics” with higher operating profit and net interest margins, noting that its “strengthening core capitalisation” was also a major rating factor with the bank’s core capital strength boosted by successful capital raisings.

The report also pointed at the financial institution’s “good foreign currency liquidity coverage” noting that “Fidelity’s customer deposit base comprises a high percentage of low-cost current and savings accounts, supporting funding stability.”