First Bank commences Nigeria-China currency swap

MD/CEO of tier one lender, First Bank of Nigeria, Adesola Adeduntan, says the bank has commenced the Nigeria-China swap deal.

Recall that after the $2.5bn (RMB 16) currency swap deal with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) in Beijing, the Central Bank of Nigeria had appointed First Bank of Nigeria Limited, alongside Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Zenith Bank Plc as the settlement banks for the bilateral currency swap agreement.

The banks were appointed to be shouldered with the responsibility of settling the trade transactions between importers and exporters from both countries.

In May 2009, First Bank emerged as the first Nigerian bank to have a representative office in China.

Meanwhile, the CBN stipulated that 41 items banned in its 2015 circular on items not valid for foreign exchange, would not be covered in the recently signed bilateral currency swap between the country and China.

FBN Holdings (parent company of First Bank) is currently trading at N9.05 in today’s trading session on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Results for the first quarter ended March 2018 show interest income dipped from N114 billion in 2017 to N110 billion in 2018. Profit before tax also fell from N19.9 billion in 2017 to N18.8 billion in 2018. Profit after tax stood at N14.7 billion in 2018, as against N16.1 billion in 2017.