Wema Bank Tumbles by 10% as Investors Trim Holdings
The market value of Wema Bank Plc.’s 40.118 billion outstanding shares declined by more than 10% over the last five trading sessions due to sell pressure to N1.203 trillion.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed that the bank’s share price closed at N30 on Friday amidst fluctuating trading volume.
Post-earnings sell-offs have brought down Wema Bank’s share price by approximately 17% from its 52-week high, according to trading data from the Nigerian bourse.
Wema Bank’s share price surged to N36 after its first-quarter earnings announcement. The impressive Q1 performance boosted investor optimism, lifting the bank’s share price.
Stockbrokers maintain that its fundamentals remain solid despite increased rivalry in the banking sector, supported by the enhanced effects of its Alat, a fintech unit, on its earnings performance.
The bank’s leadership has recently indicated plans to transition Wema to Tier-1 following sustained earnings growth.
Wema has a small market share, representing 3% of domestic banking system assets in 2025, which constrains revenue generation, Fitch said in its latest rating note.
However, its leading position in digital banking has reduced its reliance on term deposits. As a result of the boost from Alat, Wema’s reliance on expensive term deposits declined sharply to only 12% of total deposits in Q1 2026 from 46% in the financial year 2022.
Reflecting reasonable asset quality, Wema’s impaired loans ratio declined to 4.2% in Q1 2026 from 4.9% in the financial year 2025, driven by an N7 billion decline in Stage 3 loans and 7% loan growth.
