Banking

Investors Dump Diamond Bank Shares amid Fears over Company’s Future

Published

7 years ago

19/11/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In order not to be caught unawares, some investors having shares of Diamond Bank Plc in their portfolio are beginning to offload them as a result of uncertainty over the financial institution’s future.

In recent times, Diamond Bank has not been churning out good results, a development Business Post gathered has given some shareholders of the mid-tier lender sleepless nights.

For example, the 2017 full year financial statements of Diamond Bank was nothing to write home about and just when some observers and investors thought things would get better in the first quarter of 2018, their expectations were cut short as the firm further failed to impress.

In its second quarter 2018 results, things did not get any better and so also in the third quarter.

In late September 2018, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revoked the operating licence of Skye Bank Plc, making shareholders of the lender lose their hard-earned money. This development triggered panic in the banking sector, especially among those in the same tier with Skye Bank, which the bank in focus is among.

Making matter worse for Diamond Bank was the downgrading of firm’s long and short-term issuer credit ratings by S&P as well as the recent reports of a possible acquisition of the company by a tier-1 bank, Access Bank Plc, though both have since denied this.

But what seemed to be more confusing was the resignation of Chairman of the bank, Mr Oluseyi Bickersteth, and three other directors last month, which reports said was to allow the rumoured new investors have their own representatives on the board of the firm.

Even Mr Bickersteth was quoted as saying in an interview that the board considered selling Diamond Bank to another bank, which the present management has described as untrue.

However, in order not to fall into a similar situation with Skye Bank, shareholders of Diamond Bank are already selling off their holdings, Business Post has learnt.

According to data from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), trading in Diamond Bank Plc, Ikeja Hotel Plc, and FBN Holdings Plc, (measured by volume) accounted for 708 million shares worth N1.8 billion in 1,957 deals, contributing 55.11 percent and 15.23 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively last week.

Also, Diamond Bank, which opened last week at N1.28k per share, closed last Friday at 90 Kobo per share, indicating as 29.69 percent loss in one trading week.

But despite the troubles, the CEO of Diamond Bank, Mr Uzoma Dozie, has expressed optimism that all will be well.

According to him, the conclusion of the sale of Diamond Bank’s subsidiary in the United Kingdom this quarter and other strategies being put in place should propel the company back to profitability.

“As we move into the final quarter of the year, we expect headwinds to continue driven by emerging situations in developed economies as well as our domestic political realities.

“Despite this, our investors can expect a further decline in Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), a further increase in our digital footprint and completion of the sale of the UK subsidiary.

“Through these actions, we remain optimistic about the medium to long term outlook of Diamond Bank and its return to strong profitability,” Mr Dozie was quoted as saying in a statement issued last week by bank’s PR agency, Prize Communications Limited, which was obtained by Business Post.

Whether investors will take Mr Dozie for his words is one thing many cannot answer at the moment especially when some have blamed him for the bank’s recent misfortunes. In fact, some have even started to call for his removal as Diamond Bank MD/CEO.

Banking

Secure IT, StockMed, 18 Others Make Wema Bank Hackaholics 6.0 Top 20 List

Published

25 minutes ago

18/12/2025

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.

The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.

The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.

They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.

They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.

The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.

In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.

The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.

After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.

“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.

“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.

“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.

“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.

“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.

Banking

Customs to Penalise Banks for Delayed Revenue Remittance

Published

6 hours ago

18/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.

This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.

“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.

“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.

“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”

Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.

He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.

“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.

“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.

Banking

First Bank Deputy MD Sells Off 11.8m First Holdco Shares Worth N366.9m

Published

6 hours ago

18/12/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.

A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.

It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.

The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.

Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.

He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.

Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.

He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.

He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.

At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.