Ekiti State, one of the shareholders of Wema Bank Plc, has reduced its stake in the bank by 666.670 million from 1.191 billion shares. Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, and Osun States are shareholders in Wema Bank. While Oyo, Osun, and Ogun held 666.670 million or 1.73 per cent each, Ekiti held 1.191 billion or 3.09 per cent as at December 31, 2019.

But in a notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), signed by the Company Secretary of Wema Bank Plc, Johnson Lebile, the bank said Ekiti State Government sold 666.670 million shares at 65 kobo per share on the floors of the NSE, amounting to N433.336 million. According to the bank, the transaction took place between March 3 and 4, 2021. With the transaction, Ekiti State now holds about 524.1 million shares.

Neem Tree Limited remains the majority shareholder of Wema Bank with 10.696 billion shares or 27.7 per cent, followed by SW8 Investment Limited that controls 14.9 per cent. Petrotab Limited holds 8.5 per cent, while Odu’a Investment Company Limited holds 8.2 per cent.

Wema Bank Plc had last month reported gross earnings of N80.852 billion in its unaudited results for the year ended December 30, 2020, indicating a decrease of 14.7 per cent compared with N94.890 billion in 2019.

Net interest income improved by 19.4 per cent to N31.038 billion in 2020 from N25.986 billion in 2019. But net trading income slumped by 73 per cent from N14.789 billion to N3.0966 billion following the crash in Treasury Bills yields last year.

Profit before tax rose by 3.0 per cent to N6.964 billion in 2020, from N6.760 billion in 2019, while profit after tax fell 2.6 per cent to N5.062 billion in 2020, from N5.199 billion in 2019. Wema Bank Plc’ deposits from customers grew from N577 billion to N812 billion, just as loans and advances improved from N289.239 billion to N368.748 billion. (THISDAY)

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