Jaiz Bank tops stocks as equities close at N485bn

Jaiz Bank

Jaiz Bank tops stocks as equities close at N485bn

Nigeria’s premier and largest non-interest bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, was the most sought after stock at the stock market as investors scrambled to take positions in the bank after official confirmation of its recent recapitalisation.

The board of Jaiz Bank announced that the bank plans to scale up its capital base to N70 billion, after it successfully raised additional N10.4 billion new equity capital through a recent private placement.

The new capital brought the bank’s share capital and share premium to N18.7 billion, N1.3 billion below Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s new minimum capital requirement of N20 billion.

Jaiz Bank is one of the three banks with highest relevant minimum capital base, as defined by the CBN. Banks have up till March 2026 to comply with the new minimum capital requirements for their various licenses.

Jaiz Bank was the most active stock at the stock market in a rebound that saw Nigerian equities closing weekend with net capital gain of N485.4 billion.

Transactions on Jaiz Bank accounted for 686.93 million shares valued at N1.49 billion in 955 deals, the highest by any stock for the week. Cutix Plc occupied a distant second with a turnover of 232.07 million shares worth N1.44 billion in 822 deals. FCMB Group placed third with a turnover of 220.7 million shares worth N1.71 billion in 924 deals.

Altogether, the three most active stocks accounted for 1.14 billion shares worth N4.63 billion in 2,701 deals, representing 40.32 per cent and 10.93 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Total turnover at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) rose to 2.827 billion shares worth N42.366 billion in 44,277 deals last week as against 2.765 billion shares valued at N85.230 billion traded in 40,796 deals two weeks ago.

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The banking-led financial services sector accounted for more than three quarters of transactions at the market, with a sectoral turnover of 2.179 billion shares valued at N30.667 billion traded in 25,260 deals, representing 77.08 per cent and 72.38 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The industrial goods sector was a distant second with a turnover of 246.921 million shares worth N2.039 billion in 2,068 deals while the oil and gas sector placed third with a turnover of 107.218 million shares worth N1.704 billion in 3,128 deals.

Benchmark indices indicated average gain of 0.87 per cent during the week, equivalent to net capital gain of N485.4 billion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the NGX, rose from its week’s opening index of 99,671.28 points to close at 100,539.40 points.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also increased correspondingly from the week’s opening value of N56.441 trillion to close weekend at N56.929 trillion. The market capitalisation was slightly moderated by the delisting of three companies during the week.

The market sentiment was generally positive with more gainers that losers. There were 37 gainers and 34 losers last week compared with 34 gainers and 38 losers recorded in the previous week.

Chairman, Jaiz Bank Plc, Alhaji Mustapha Bintube, last week said the bank plans to grow its capital base to N70 billion by the end of this year.

He pointed out that the bank is also poised for another impressive performance in 2024, noting that half year profit for 2024 had already surpassed the bank’s full-year profit of N11 billion in 2023.

According to him, from its humble beginning of initial capital of N6 billion in 2012, Jaiz Bank has grown consistently to become a dominant ethical bank in the West African region.

Bintube said the bank would continue to reflect its growth in dividend payment to shareholders, promising to increase the dividend payouts in the years ahead.

Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, Haruna Musa, said the bank was working to be the first bank to complete its recapitalisation process.

According to him, the bank would soon launch a public offer to raise additional equity capital.