INVESTORS’ total investment in First Bank crashed by 11.95 percent in a space of five days, as prospectives priced the lender’s stock low, following minority shareholders sell off amid uncertainty surrounding ownership structure.
This is coming on the heals of First Bank’s attempt to douse the chaos around the lender in the capital market, as it failed to sway investors’ confidence following the leadership tussle between Femi Otedola and Tunde Hassan-Odukale.
FB Holdings, in a swift fashion, released a statement ranking Hassan-Odukale as its majority stakeholder shortly after announcing Otedola as its major shareholder – handing the control of First Bank to the Leadway Assurance boss.
The value of investment increased to over 50 percent in the first two weeks of October, which indicated an increase in investors’ confidence in First Bank as a result of Otedola‘s short-lived position as the majority shareholder.
However, the gain was almost erased by the misinformation from the Bank’s management in the last two weeks of same month, leading to the decline.
The 11.95 percent decline in market value resulted from depreciation of stock value, which dropped to N11.05 per share on Friday, from Monday’s N12.55kobo, as some shareholders took out their investment in First Bank.
In the space of five days, investors lost the sum of N53.84 billion, after the exit forced First Bank’s market cap to dwindle to N396.64 billion at the end of trading last week Friday, against N450.48 billion recorded last week Monday.
