Federal Mortgage Bank Records N13bn Surplus

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has reported an operational surplus of N13 billion for the first half of 2025, marking its strongest performance in decades and signalling a major turnaround in the state-owned lender’s fortunes.

The mortgage bank also plans to introduce three new products into the Nigerian mortgage market to increase access to mortgage loans for Nigerians in the diaspora and within the country.

FMBN managing director and chief executive, Shehu Osidi, disclosed the figures during the bank’s 2025 management retreat in Niger State, themed “Process Re-Engineering for Optimal Performance.”

The FMBN boss, who said these products include the FMBN Diaspora National Housing Fund Mortgage Loan, the non-interest Mortgage Loan, and the Rent Assistance Product, also urged the bank’s staff and management to familiarise themselves with the products to enable them to engage effectively with our stakeholders.

He noted that the surplus built on a historic N4.9 billion half-year profit in 2024 — the first in the bank’s history — which closed the year at N11.9 billion.

“Though these figures may be largely eroded eventually by provisioning, the trajectory shows that we are on the right track to chart a new course for FMBN,” Osidi said.

The bank has also cleared a four-year backlog of audited accounts from 2018 to 2021, concluded its 2022 audit, and begun work on the 2023 backlog, aiming to be fully up-to-date by year-end.

Osidi described the development as a “significant milestone” for long-term financial sustainability and transparency.

“Under the National Housing Fund (NHF) operations, our annual collections also grew by N3b in 2024, resulting in total collection of N103b, compared to the N100b the Bank recorded in 2023. By the half-year 2025, we have collected N73.9 billion against N49.6 billion in 2024.

That is about 76 per cent of the total NHF collection in 2024,” he added.

The bank’s technology overhaul has also progressed. The long-awaited Core Banking Application is fully deployed and now in a maintenance phase that will end this month.

On the credit front, seven task teams recovered N18.9 billion in bad loans by mid-2025, up from N10.9 billion at the close of 2024.

Osidi credited the gains to staff “capacity and commitment,” adding that the reforms strengthen FMBN’s ability to deliver on its housing finance mandate for Nigerians.

The unit head of Strategy Development and Implementation at FMBN, Ahmed Ka’oje, emphasised the retreat’s importance and the necessity of collaboration and innovation.

He highlighted that these elements are essential for aligning strategies with the evolving needs of customers and the market.

“In today’s fast-paced environment, improving existing processes is not enough.

We need to fundamentally rethink and redesign them to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and most importantly, enhance our customers’ experience,” he said.