GCR Upgrades Fidelity Bank Rating to A+, Outlook Stable.
GCR Ratings has upgraded Fidelity Bank Plc’s national scale long-term Issuer ratings to A+(NG) from A(NG) previously and affirmed the short-term issuer rating at A1(NG).
Outlook is maintained at stable as GCR said the bank’s upgrade reflects its stronger capital position following the addition of NGN227.0 billion to total core capital during the review period.
The ratings also consider Fidelity Bank’s strong domestic market position, stable funding and liquidity, balanced against loan book concentration risks.
According to the rating note, Fidelity Bank’s competitive positioning is positive to the rating, underpinned by its strong domestic franchise and nearly four decades of operating history.
With total assets of NGN10.5 trillion or USD7.3 billion and an estimated 8.0% share of the industry’s gross loans as of December 2025, Fidelity Bank is the sixth largest bank in Nigeria.
Over the medium term, the bank plans to leverage its existing international banking licence to enter three new African markets in a bid to diversify country risk exposure and further entrench its competitiveness among rated peers.
In 2025, Fidelity Bank raised additional equity capital of NGN227.0 billion to fully comply with the new capital requirement for its licence category, although this was only officially recognized as core capital in 2026.
Consequently, GCR core capital ratio strengthened to 29.4% as at the end of March 2026, up from 17.2% in Dec 2025. The bank’s stage 3 loan loss reserve coverage remained strong at over 100.0% as of March 2026.
Over the outlook period, rating analysts expect GCR core capital ratio to remain above 20.0%, balancing good earnings retention against expansion plans and loan book growth. The bank’s risk profile continues to reflect concentration across obligors, sectors and currency.
The 20 largest obligors accounted for 54.5% of gross loans as of December 2025, similar to prior year, the bulk of which comprises foreign currency (FCY) loans to sectors such as oil and gas, power and energy, and manufacturing.
Although total oil and gas loans accounted for 42.4% of gross loans in December 2025, GCR said Fidelity Bank’s exposure is somewhat diversified across the upstream, downstream, and services segments.
FCY exposure remained relatively high at 51.7% in December 2025. This increases vulnerabilities to exchange rate movements, although the inherent risk is mitigated through natural hedging.
Non-performing loans (NPL) increased as of March 2026, registering at 4.5%, reflecting loan migration, particularly the oil and gas sector exposures.
GCR said the bank’s management has taken steps to remedy adverse migrations; however, the timing of resolution remains.
Nonetheless, credit loss ratio remained low at 0.6%, according to the rating note. Over the outlook period, rating analysts said they expect asset quality metrics to remain pressured, compounded by sustained loan book concentration.
GCR indicated that Fidelity Bank’s funding profile remains positive to the rating, underpinned by a large and stable deposit base relative to other tier 2 peers.
As of December 2025, customer deposits grew by 16.1% and further grew by 7.1% in March 2026, registering NGN7.4 trillion or USD5.3 billion.
The bank is predominantly funded by customer deposits, which accounted for 89.5% of the total funding base as of March 2026, and about 90% of these deposits are relatively inexpensive current and savings accounts (CASA).
Nonetheless, the bank’s cost of fund remains elevated at 6.4% in December 2025, given the high interest rate. The group’s liquidity profile, however, remained strong, supported by a substantial stock of liquid assets.
GCR liquid assets to customer deposits and wholesale funding registered at 56.9% and 4.8x in March 2026, the rating note said. “We expect the bank’s liquidity ratio to remain at similar levels over the rating outlook”
The stable outlook reflects an expectation that Fidelity Bank’s financial profile will remain strong, supported by GCR core capital ratio above 20.0%, alongside stable funding and liquidity metrics.
Although loan concentration could further pressure the risk position, rating analysts expect the NPL and credit loss ratios to remain stable over the outlook period. CBN to Open N500bn Nigerian Treasury Bills for Subscription
