How Femi Otedola’s X (Twitter) Strategy Is Driving First Holdco’s Share Price and Investor Confidence
NIGERIA: Mr Olufemi Otedola, the Group Chairman of First Holdco PLC seems to have adopted Elon Musk's style of transparent Investor communication with his recent use of X (formerly Twitter), communicating his thoughts about the company and its strategy directly to the investing public, more or less taking up the role of "Chief Investor Relations Officer" of the company, and taking the lead to explain and "sell" the company's strategy and activities to investors. With this move, he might just be connecting more with Millennial and Gen Z investors, getting them more interested in the First Holdco story and to invest in it, which could lead to a big pay day for him (through share price appreciation) when he eventually decides to divest or sell down his stake (if his investment antecedent is anything to go by- Forte Oil, Geregu PLC). Already, looking at some of the replies to his tweets shows that these generations of investors are progressively showing interest in investing in the First Holdco story because of him and his style. While we might ascribe this X move as Otedola learning from Elon Musk's style and adopting it for First Holdco, it does not take away the fact that he has long been active on Instagram, with over 2.2m followers as at 4th of February, 2026, however mostly for lifestyle posts and not business as much.
Prior to this recent development, just the news of him investing in the bank and increasing his stake had led to significant appreciation in the share price as we highlighted in one of our previous articles- Nigerian Banks Recapitalisation: First Bank & Fidelity Bank Meet CBN Capital Requirements, with the share price rising from sub ₦20 to over ₦55 recently (52 week high). To be fair though, Nigerian banks have not really been appropriately priced on the Stock Exchange, especially the top tier ones with International licenses. So if this move by Otedola brings about a general repricing of Nigerian Banks shares on the exchange, they and their Investors would sure be better for it.
Imagine if other Bank Chairpersons or Chairpersons of some other strategic publicly listed companies began to have better proactive investor relations like Femi Otedola has begun to do, and what it would do to their Market valuation. Because while it is great to run a publicly traded company well with great strategy and execution, it is best when investors price the company correctly on the stock exchange, and that happens when new investors believe the company's value is worth paying higher prices for compared to its earnings. For instance, a company like Access Holdings since pre 2018 had started working with their publicly available 5-year strategy documents, which clearly outlines their 5-year strategy and plans and how they intend to execute, but for some reasons investors have not really embraced that story as it has not reflected in their share price over the years. Their 2027 5-Year Strategy Document (2023 - 2027), Access Corporation Strategy 2023 - 2027, has been available online, clearly outlining their expansion plan across Africa and beyond, but it appears like the company has not made much effort to regularly sell the story to the investing public, and how each acquisition aligns with execution of that strategy, and what is in it for shareholders going into the future, hence, the lackluster share price performance over the years. Imagine if the Chairperson, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, like Femi Otedola, began to sell this growth story via his X handle.
Anyway, that's not the story.
Femi Otedola, who can be characterized, or better still has referred to himself as an Activist Shareholder/Investor, has recently been tweeting about developments in First Holdco, which has given investors respite and a sense of direction, despite their recently released 2025 results which came in below expectation.
Moments after the Holco released their 2025 results he tweeted thus:
"At First HoldCo we decided to clean house properly. We took a huge one time hit of ₦748bn to admit old bad loans instead of pretending they do not exist. That is why profit looks like it crashed by 92%. Painful headline, but it is a serious long term move.
Why do this now? Because the @cenbank is pushing banks to stop kicking problems down the road. So First HoldCo basically closed the chapter on messy loans from past years which sends a clear message that borrowing has consequences and it helps rebuild trust.
The key point is this: our business itself is STILL strong. It made ₦2.96tn in interest income and ₦1.91tn in net interest income, which gave it the strength to take the clean up and still stay standing.
Now at @FirstBankngr and beyond we go into 2026 lighter, cleaner and better prepared for the recapitalisation era and serious growth.
Bad loans cleared + strong income engine + long term thinking = real value creation 💪🏾🏦🐘 …." F.Ote💲
This singular tweet restored investors confidence and curbed the drop in share price as a result of investors reacting to the result released.
Yesterday (3rd of February, 2026) he again tweeted the below:
"Rebuilding and restructuring a behemoth like First Holdco Plc will come with a lot of disruptions including both pleasant and unpleasant surprises. We must pull things apart, remove old faulty foundations and build a new experience for all our stakeholders. This is our current reality at FirstHoldco Plc but surely a new beginning here for all of us!!
A new beginning that guarantees corporate sustainability and longevity fueled by the tenacity of purpose and veracity of vision supported by our core pillars of Transparency, Accountability, and Long Term Value for all stakeholders.
I remain grounded in our pursuit to build a world class financial institution without distractions whilst my commitment to continue to invest my all; financial and otherwise, remains unflinching 💪🏾🐘…" F.Ote💲
As a result of this tweet, First Holdco share price shot up by 9.92% today (4th of February), and literally went on full bid.
If this kind of clear communication continues to come directly from the Chairman of the institution, investors would most likely continue to have confidence in the Holdco and the transformational work he is leading the management team to execute there, which would continue to reflect positively on the share price and market valuation of the company.
Recall that Mr Otedola had previously been quoted regarding First Holdco as saying, “As an activist shareholder, my mandate is clear: curb excesses and wastages—no splurging on private jets, unchecked executive luxuries, etc. Protect depositors’ funds, deliver strong returns to shareholders, and contribute meaningfully to the society and environment we serve and operate in”. And it appears like he means every word of it.
Earlier this year on the 2nd of January, Femi Otedola released a statement through selected media houses, commending Nigerian President Tinubu and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso for the bold reforms they had introduced which he believes have stabilized the economy and set it on a path for growth. He also advocated for the administration to raise the minimum capital requirement for international banking licenses from ₦500 billion to at least ₦1 trillion amidst other commendations.
First Holdco released its 2025 full year result on the 31st of January, 2026. Net Interest Income closed at ₦1.9 trillion compared to ₦1.4 trillion previous year; Net Fee and Commission Income printed at ₦290 billion (₦244 billion previous year); Operating Profit closed at ₦228 billion (₦796 billion previous year), significant drop as a result of huge drop in gains from financial instruments, and increase in Other operating expenses (AMCON levy, Maintenance, Advert and Corporate Promotions, Outsourced services, etc.). These resulted in Profit from Continuing operations of ₦52.7 billion a whooping drop compared to ₦663 billion recorded in the previous year.
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