First Holdco Plc flipped the script in early buying and selling on Tuesday as its share value rallied to N44.4, gaining N3.35 or 8.16 %. This feat, in step with BusinessDay’s expectation, occurred because the market mavericks swooped on the inventory of the oldest lender post-earnings nosedive. The massive buy-back, which ignited a rally on the Nigerian bourse forward of midday, got here as inventory traders wager on the corporate’s ‘clear slate’ post-impairment.
Whereas the informal observer noticed a 92 % revenue crash and a record-breaking share value nosedive, the “good cash” heard a beginning gun.
Following First Holdco’s daring determination to take a large N748.13 billion one-time impairment cost to scrub up its steadiness sheet, the inventory’s preliminary 9 % plunge has rapidly reworked right into a high-stakes entry level.
Market mavericks at the moment are betting massive that this “surgical strike” by its billionaire chairman, Femi Otedola, has successfully de-risked the establishment for 2026.
Learn additionally: First Holdco’s biggest single day plunge in 3 months opens opportunity for investors
By selecting transparency over non permanent optics, First Holdco has cleared the decks of legacy dangerous loans, turning what regarded like an earnings catastrophe right into a uncommon, discounted window for traders trying to trip the following period of development.
“Following the numerous front-loading of impairment expenses in This fall:2025 and the Group’s exit from regulatory forbearance, we count on credit score prices to normalise progressively, translating into improved earnings high quality and actual worth creation from a cleaner steadiness sheet,” based on Meristsm Analysis analysts of their current observe.
Their goal value for the First Holdco share value is N73.22, representing an upside potential of 62.70 % from N45, the worth the inventory closed eventually week.
“Given the weak This fall 2025 outcomes, traders will watch the Q1 2026 outcomes keenly for indicators that the establishment is now on a sustainable path of restoration after the numerous steadiness sheet-correcting selections that had been taken in 2025,” Coronation Analysis analysts mentioned of their February 2 observe on First HoldCo’s outcomes.
