Aug 21, 2025 • by Proshare Research • Source: NGX Group • 
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This week on the Recapitalisation Watch, Jaiz Bank Plc announced plans to increase its capital base to N150bn, confirming its compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalisation directive. Analysts continue to track recapitalisation activities across the market, reviewing companies currently seeking to raise capital as well as banks that have provided updates on forbearance loans from the CBN. Meanwhile, the market remains focused on the anticipated release of half-year (H1 2025) financial results.
UBA Plc is currently selling a Rights Issue of 3,156,869,665 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N50.00 per share, based on 1 new ordinary share for every 13 ordinary shares held as of Wednesday, July 16, 2025. The rights issue is scheduled to close on Friday, September 5, 2025.
As suggested in our earlier report, FCMB may be preparing for another capital market offering by way of a Rights Issue or an Initial Public Offering (IPO). This comes on the heels of its recently concluded public offer, where the bank successfully raised N147.5bn, posting a 33% oversubscription. The banking group is also under regulatory review by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its earlier N150bn capital raise. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have tacitly given a ‘ no objection’ comment allowing the bank to proceed with an extra N50bn capital raise, expected to commence in August 2025.
Sterling Financial Holdings Company, in resolutions passed at its 2nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), the financial lending group announced plans to raise US$400m through the creation of a Shelf Programme. The capital raise would be implemented in tranches over a period via the issuance of various instruments, including convertible or non-convertible bonds, commercial papers, sukuks, medium- or short-term notes, ordinary shares, or global depositary receipts (GDRs).
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) announced plans to raise US$250m in Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital through a private placement of contingent convertible notes. The lending group stated that the proposed capital raise is a strategic move to strengthen its capital adequacy, enhance financial resilience, and support its long-term growth ambitions across its pan-African banking operations.
The regulatory authority, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), also announced transitional measures for Nigerian banks to exit their forbearance regimes, in continuation of the Apex bank’s commitment to safeguarding financial system stability and ensuring a credible and orderly exit from the regulatory forbearance regime introduced during the COVID-19 crisis, effective June 30, 2025.
Other updates from banks regarding their capital raise and clarification on the CBN’s forbearance are:
- Zenith Bank Plc has fulfilled its capital requirement with a 160% oversubscription to its combined Rights Issue and Public Offer. The bank’s share capital is now N614bn. It also clarified its stance regarding the CBN regulatory forbearance directive, confirming that its Single Obligor Limit (SOL) exposure relates solely to one obligor that would be fully regularised by June 30, 2025, and that its forbearance on other credit facilities concerns only two customers. The bank has already made substantial provisions and expressed confidence in exiting all CBN forbearance arrangements by the end of the first half of 2025.
- Access Holdings has met the regulatory minimum capital threshold for banks with international licences following the completion of its rights issue of 17,772,612,811 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N19.75 Kobo per share, raising the target amount of N351bn. The bank also responded to the CBN circular on regulatory forbearance related to the SOL and credit facilities. The company disclosed that its banking subsidiary, Access Bank Plc, had met and surpassed the CBN’s N500bn minimum capital requirement for internationally licensed commercial banks as of 31 December 2024, becoming the first to achieve this milestone.
- First HoldCo is set to proceed with its N350bn Private Placement, representing the next phase of its capital raise programme. This follows the successful completion of its N150bn Rights Issue, which was 25% oversubscribed, bringing the total subscription to N187.6bn. The Holdco’s current Tier 1 capital as of H1 2025 is N398.04bn. However, the Chairman of the Group at its recent AGM remained positive that First HoldCo would raise the required threshold capital for an internationally licensed banking franchise ahead of the CBN deadline. In response to the CBN circular, the Holdco said that its primary banking subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, is managing an SOL breach related to two foreign currency loan exposures. These loans were significantly impacted by a 200% devaluation of the naira between 2023 and 2024. The bank expects to resolve the breach following the completion of its ongoing capital raise in the second half of 2025.
- Abbey Mortgage Bank’s board of directors has approved plans to raise N100bn by offering shares, either through a rights issue or a public offering, as well as through various financial instruments. The capital raised will enable the bank to meet the minimum capital requirement necessary for its transition from a primary mortgage bank to a regional commercial bank. This aligns with the CBN’s minimum capital requirement of N50bn.
- Unity Bank’s proposed business combination with Providus Bank has advanced with the necessary regulatory approvals in place, and court-ordered meetings of existing shareholders of both institutions are likely to be held soon. Providus Bank currently has Tier 1 capital of roughly N197bn (N3bn short of CBN’s nationally licensed bank threshold of N200bn). The negative shareholders’ fund of Unity Bank Plc has been bundled into a CBN-supported long-dated debt instrument with a maturity of over 20 years. Unity Bank is still presently under a Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX) trading suspension, making market valuation difficult and valuation of the new entity nearly impossible outside book value merger estimations. However, further issues may have arisen around the combination’s equity price and valuations of fixed and floating assets.
Analysts have noted that investors buying into bank stocks should consider the size of the fresh equity raised by each bank, indeed, Proshare’s Economic and Market Intelligence Unit (EMIU) expects earnings per share (EPS) of many banks to fall as of the end of December 2025, given that earnings are expected to grow more slowly than the number of new shares in issue for each institution. This could lead to higher price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios for each lender, resulting in portfolio advisers and investors revising their investment exposure to the banking sector as they rebalance their portfolios based on future estimated P/Es rather than 12-month trailing ratios. (see Table 1 below)
Table 1
