FirstBank Ghana ends 2025 with 40.29% capital ratio, NPLs drop to 6.13%

FirstBank Ghana ended 2025 as a much stronger bank than it did a year earlier. Its latest full-year results show a lender that strengthened its capital position, cleaned up its loan book and maintained very strong liquidity, a combination that stands out in a banking market where balance-sheet quality matters as much as growth.

The clearest signal comes from capital. FirstBank Ghana reported a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 40.29 per cent at the end of 2025. That is a substantial buffer by any standard, placing the bank in a very strong position to absorb shocks, support lending, and navigate uncertainty in the operating environment. In practical terms, it means the bank is carrying a large cushion above the minimum regulatory threshold.

That strength on capital is matched by a notable improvement in asset quality. The bank’s non-performing loan ratio fell to 6.13 per cent in 2025 from 15.81% per cent in 2024, a sharp decline that points to a healthier loan book and stronger credit risk control. In a sector where impaired loans can quickly erode earnings and capital, that drop is one of the most important positives in the results.

Liquidity, too, remained comfortably strong. FirstBank Ghana posted a liquid ratio of 104.22 per cent, almost unchanged from 104.34 per cent a year earlier, while also recording no default in statutory liquidity requirements.

The income statement shows that this balance-sheet improvement was accompanied by a meaningful recovery in earnings.

Shareholders’ funds increased to GH¢1.04 billion from GH¢1.02  billion. Cash and cash equivalents closed the year at GH¢2.86 billion, and customer deposits stood at GH¢2.76 billion. Together, those figures suggest a bank that not only grew but did so while reinforcing its funding and capital base. 

Another supportive indicator was leverage. The bank’s leverage ratio rose to 19.71 per cent from 14.95 per cent, reinforcing the view that FirstBank Ghana maintained a conservative balance-sheet structure in 2025. It also reported nil sanctions for the year, compared with a sanction amount disclosed for 2024.

There are still the usual pressures visible in the numbers. Operating expenses, personnel costs, depreciation, and statutory levies all remained part of the cost burden. But that is not the main story here. The main story is that FirstBank Ghana is well positioned to deliver better performance in the future.

That matters because strong banks are usually defined less by headline asset size than by their ability to combine capital strength, good loan quality, liquidity, and profit in the same reporting period. FirstBank Ghana’s 2025 results do exactly that. The bank finished the year with one of its most compelling sets of fundamentals in recent periods: stronger capital, lower bad loans, steady liquidity.

For a simple reading of the numbers, the conclusion is clear. FirstBank Ghana entered 2026 looking safer, stronger and better balanced than it was a year earlier and that alone makes its 2025 performance worth paying attention to.