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Nigeria’s First Bank said on Friday it planned to form a listed holding
company which will own the bank and its subsidiaries to comply with reforms to
the sector planned by the central bank.

Chief Strategy Officer Onche Ugbabe said the bank would likely be de-listed
to be replaced on the stock exchange by the group holding company. He gave no
timeframe.

“The group holding company will be the listed entity and will be 100
percent owner of the bank, as well as of the other subsidiaries,” Ugbabe
told an investor conference call.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi has said he intends to do away with the
universal banking model and separate banks’ core lending business from more
speculative capital market activities — such as stockbroking, asset
management, private equity and venture capital.

First Bank is one of Nigeria’s first lenders to clarify how it plans to
comply with the central bank’s reform agenda. Others have said they plan to spin
off subsidiaries but have not yet given details.

Chief Risk Officer Remi Odunlami said First Bank was targeting 10 percent
growth in its loan book this year, with the focus on long-term credit.

“We have a liquidity ratio of 45 percent which means we have excess
liquidity and that will be channelled to loans,” Odunlami told the call.

The central bank has said it is concerned about banks’ reluctance to lend in
sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy and has kept its benchmark interest
rate on hold at 6 percent for months to try to stimulate the flow of credit.

First Bank swung to a pre-tax profit of 15.4 billion naira in the first
quarter of this year from a loss of 9.8 billion naira a year earlier.

The bank said it was targeting 20 percent return on equity in 2010, up from
15.9 percent at the end of March.

REUTERS