Zenith Bank retains lead, followed by GT Bank
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Zenith Bank soared above all competitors in the FUGAZ club with N817.9 billion market value in January 2022, N26.2 billion more than GT Bank in the next rank, in a month that saw Stanbic IBTC in third place and Unity Bank in the rear.
Zenith Bank retained its top spot with N789.6 billion to lead FUGAZ as the most capitalised bank on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2021.
FUGAZ is the acronym for Tier-1 banks in Nigeria, the five biggest by market capitalisation – FirstBank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank (GTCo), Access Bank, and Zenith Bank.
Zenith Bank, GT Bank, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings retained slots in the top five of most valuable commercial banks as the market capitalisation of the 13 listed banks increased by N194.5 billion in January.
Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) data shows that bank capitalisation rose from N6.35 trillion in December 2021 to N6.73 trillion in January 2022, a 3.1 per cent month-on-month (MoM) increase.
NGX banking index climbed 8.7 per cent to 441.4 index points.
The All-Share index of the stock market rallied 9.15 per cent to 46,624.67 points, market capitalisation closed at N25.1 trillion.
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Banks by market value
Zenith Bank gained the most in January with N28.3 billion added to its market capitalisation, Wema Bank had the highest percentage boost relative to the previous month, according to Nairametrics tracker of listed banks.
- Zenith Bank – N817.9 billion
- GT Bank – N791.7 billion
- Stanbic IBTC – N463.2 billion
- First Bank – N412.8 billion
- Access Bank – N351.9 billion
- UBA – N294.1 billion
- Union Bank – N174.7 billion
- Fidelity Bank – N81.4 billion
- FCMB – N61.9 billion
- Sterling Bank – N49.8 billion
- Wema Bank – N33.9 billion
- Jaiz Bank – N23.5 billion (N4.1 billion gain)
- Unity Bank – N5.96 billion (N351 million decline)
Banks by market value gain
- Zenith Bank – N28.3 billion (share price rose 3.58 per cent to N26.05 per share)
- GT Bank – N26.49 billion (share price up 3.46 per cent)
- Access Bank – N21.3 billion
- UBA – N294.1 billion (N18.8 billion gain)
- Wema Bank – 22.2 per cent
- Jaiz Bank – 21.4 per cent
- Sterling Bank – 14.6 per cent
Positive perception
Nairametrics says the Nigerian stock market received positive reception in the new year as investors driven by buy-sentiment move money to equities with the banking sector receiving a chunk of it, evidence by the performance of the banking index.
The rally is spurred by the possibility of investors making extra income from dividend-paying companies as the market awaits the release of 2021 full year financial statements.
It is a major incentive for investors to buy shares of companies with history of paying dividends.
The banking sector accounts for 26.8 per cent of total equity market capitalisation on the NSE.
