FBN Holdings’ shares surge 6.35% as investors renew interest

FBN Holdings, the oldest bank in Nigeria, experienced a significant surge of 6.35 percent in its shares on Tuesday, as investors showed renewed interest in the stock.

This increase contributed to a remarkable 16 percent gain for the month of November, making it one of the top-performing banking stocks this month.

On the 8th of November, during early trading, the stock was priced at N19.30, with more than 200 million shares being traded.

The stock was also on net bid, meaning there were more buy orders than sell orders, an early barometer for higher share prices.

FBNH applied to the Nigerian Exchange Limited for the approval and listing of the rights issue of 8.97 billion units of ordinary shares at N15.50/share.

Meanwhile, the company still listed Femi Otedola as the single largest shareholder of the bank with 5.57 percent holdings out of the total outstanding shares of 38.5 billion. The stock has a free float of about 88.9 percent.

The billionaire was also named a non-executive director of the holding company and is currently on the board.

FBN Holdings Plc announced the release of its third-quarter financial statements for the period ending 30th September 2023.

The Group’s profit before tax was up 156.3 percent to N270.3 billion from N105.5 billion posted in 2022, driven by strong growth in interest income.

According to the group’s financial statements for nine months, the company’s profit after tax (PAT) was N236.4 billion, a 159.2 percent increase from the N91.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2022

This is on the back of increasing inflation which the economy continues to struggle with. Headline inflation increased to 26.72 percent, representing a 0.92 percent -point rise from the previous month’s 25.80 percent.