Nigerian Big Banks Market Valuation Crosses N6Trn
Nigerian big banks’ stock market valuation has crossed N6 trillion after about 13% during the week. At the close of the trading session on Friday, MarketForces Africa reported that the top five banks on the Nigerian Exchange combined value settled at N5.4 trillion.
Data tracked on the Nigerian Exchange showed that Zenith, GTCO, UBA, ACCESS and FBNH combined market valuation settled at N6.132 trillion. The latest rally saw banking stocks commanding higher prices as investors’ attention shifted to financial stocks.
The latest market development showed a sustained surge in demand for financial stocks, including the slowly trending insurance index.
This time, growth is spurred by positive sentiment ahead of the fourth quarter of 2023 earnings release and the expectation that companies will declare and pay dividends in no long distant, according to some stockbrokers who chat with MarketForces Africa.
One notable development is the fact that the banks’ share prices have inched higher, making entry transactions more expensive than it was previously. FBN Holdings’ share price is the lowest in the tier-1 bank category, selling at N28.6 as the financial services market valuation settled at N1.026 trillion on Tuesday.
At a market value of N1.056 trillion, Access Bank Plc is the second lowest in terms of the market price of its shares, selling at N29.70 after a large share ramp-up in the local bourse on the same day. UBA’s share price climbed to N32.6.
The Pan African lender has been on the line of share price re-rating since its earnings release in the third quarter of 2023. The improved investor sentiment has pushed its value ahead of its two other tier-1 banks, one happened to be the largest in terms of total assets and the other the oldest in the sector.
GTCO is now worth N1.418 trillion to the Nigerian Exchange as the orange brand keeps its earnings on the rise, the closing share price as of Tuesday was N48.2. This makes it expensive for large share acquisition in the open market.
Now, Zenith Bank Plc is the most valuable in the Banking index as its market value climbed to N1,486 trillion following sustained buying interest in the equities market. The bank share price has now climbed to N47.2 as of Tuesday.
