Shareholders of United Bank for Africa have enjoyed 375 per cent capital gains in nearly five years.
Official data at the Nigerian stock market at the weekend indicated that investors in UBA have continued to earn an average annual return of about 75 per cent over the last five years. This highlights UBA’s impressive records as a high-yielding, inflation-hedging stock.
The trading report for the period between December 31, 2019, and December 06, 2024, showed that UBA recorded a cumulative capital gain of 374.83 per cent during the period, representing an average annual gain of 74.97 per cent.
UBA’s share price opened in 2020 at N7.15 per share and closed the weekend at N33.95 per share, 35.26 per cent above its 2024 opening price of N25.10 per share.
An analysis of the data showed that an investor who had advanced N500,000 in the shares of UBA at the year’s opening price for 2020 now has a real, immediate market value of more than N2.374m due to accumulated capital gains. This excludes accrued cash dividends over the period under review.
UBA is currently offering existing shareholders exclusive opportunities to increase their shareholdings in the bank with its ongoing N239.4bn rights issue.
The pan-African banking group is offering 6.84 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to existing shareholders at N35 per share. The rights issue is pre-allotted based on one new ordinary share of 50 kobo each to every five ordinary shares held as of November 05, 2024. The rights issue is scheduled to close on December 24, 2024.
Speaking on the significance of the share price movement, market analysts were unanimous that share prices are illustrative of the fundamental values of quoted companies.
Managing Director, Arthur Steven Asset Management, Mr. Olatunde Amolegbe, said share pricing at the stock market thrives on a concept of a “forward-pricing mechanism,” where investors take into consideration the potential future return based on available track records and emerging developments.
Managing Director, HighCap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adonri, said share price is a reflection of the market value for a company, comprising both past performances and future expectations.
Meanwhile, for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, UBA reported 83.2 per cent growth in gross earnings to N2.39tn, almost double the N1.31tn recorded in the third quarter of 2023.
Profit before tax increased to N603.48bn compared with N502.09bn recorded in the third quarter of 2023. Profit after tax also rose from N449.26bn in the third quarter of 2023 to N525.31bn in the third quarter of 2024.
The group balance sheet size expanded by 54 per cent to N31.80tn by September 2024 as against N20.653tn recorded at the end of December 2023 as the bank benefitted largely from its technology-led initiatives targeted at improving customer experience over the past few years, with total deposits rising to N26.50tn, representing a 52.7 per cent rise from N17.355tn at the end of December 2023.
