Huge Sale of Zenith Bank Shares Triggers Speculations

By Dipo Olowookere

The huge volume of sale of Zenith Bank Plc shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday and Thursday have triggered speculations of a possible entry of a new investor into the top financial institution in the country.

As it is being speculated, the buyer of such large volume of Zenith Bank shares is big enough to acquire a seat on the board.

According to a report by The Guardian, transactions in the shares of Zenith Bank contributed 90.04 percent of total volume traded for the day, leading the activity chart with 605.5 million shares valued at N14.5 billion.

This heavy transaction in the shares of Zenith Bank also lifted the overall volume of shares traded, as a turnover of 672 million shares valued at N15.2 billion changed hands in 2,436 deals, higher than the 237.75 million units, worth N3.50 billion recorded in 3,359 deals on Wednesday.

The Guardian had earlier reported such massive transactions in the shares of the bank on Wednesday, November 7, with a total of 288.27 million shares valued at N6.88 billion.

The amount of shares exchanged represent an increase of 200.79 percent over a turnover of 149.65 million units valued at N2.79 billion transacted in 3,063 deals on the previous day.

Part of the speculation is that the buyer of the shares may either be angling for a seat on the bank’s board, or possibly trying to whittle the equity of the existing majority stakeholders.

The total volume of shares traded yesterday represents 182.8 percent rise when compared to the 60.53 percent growth achieved at the end of transactions on Wednesday.

A stock-broking firm familiar with the transaction executed on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 told The Guardian that such a big-ticket transaction in Zenith Bank shares is a strong indication that a strong contender interested in a seat on the bank’s board.

He said: “There was a large volume on Zenith transaction on Wednesday (November 7). There are speculations that someone wants to take a seat on the board of Zenith Bank, and that is why such huge transaction was executed.”

Business Post reports that Zenith Bank is one of the most capitalised publicly quoted companies on the local bourse. As at the time of filing this report on Friday, Zenith Bank was trading at the stock exchange at N24.10k per share, down by 0.21 percent or 5 kobo.