Fidelity Bank secures shareholders’ approval for N3.03bn private placement

By Rosemary Iwuala

Fidelity Bank Plc has secured the approval of its shareholders to issue N3.03 billion unsecured ordinary shares of 50kobo by way of private placement.

The approval was granted at the bank’s Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in Lagos.

According to the bank, the disposal of the company’s outstanding N3.04 billion unissued ordinary shares of 50Kobo would enable it to rake in more capital for growth.

Mustafa Chike-Obi, chairman, Fidelity Bank Plc, told shareholders at the meeting that the development was necessary as it was in compliance with Section 124 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) and Regulation 13 of the Companies Regulations 2021 which require companies with unissued shares at the time of commencement of CAMA 2020 to issue such shares by December 31, 2022.

The meeting had representatives of various regulators in attendance, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Exchange Group NGX), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

“After considering the options, the Board resolved that the Company’s outstanding 3,037,414,308 unissued Ordinary Shares of 50Kobo each should be disposed of by way of Private Placement to strategic investors to enable the Bank generate additional capital for continued growth in line with its objectives,” Chike-Obi said.

Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, managing director/CEO of Fidelity Bank, noted that the bank “is growing in leaps and bounds and we need to expand our capital base to take advantage of emerging opportunities. We will also use the additional capital to enhance our technology infrastructure to enable us to serve more customers.”

Fidelity Bank recently paid an interim dividend of 10 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share, the first interim dividend payment in the bank’s 34-year history, on the back of its remarkable H1 2022 results.