By Dipo Olowookere
An unlisted and wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Bank Group Limited (SBG), Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited (SAHL), has increased its holdings in Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a company trading its stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
This week, SAHL increased its stake in the Nigerian financial institution by mopping up additional 25 million units in two different trading sessions.
According to an insider trading notice released by Stanbic IBTC, in compliance with the NSE rules, SAHL paid about N756 million to acquire the additional equities.
A breakdown of the transactions carried out in Lagos, on Tuesday, indicated that SAHL first bought 10 million units of Stanbic IBTC shares at a unit price of N30.20, amounting to N302 million. The next day, it purchased more, this time, 15 million units at N30.25 each, amounting to approximately N454 million.
Also, in the disclosure, Stanbic IBTC said its Company Secretary, Mr Chidi Okezie, increased his stake in the banking giant by an additional 10,000 units.
It was disclosed that the purchase was done on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 in Lagos and about N302,000 was paid for the transaction. The shares were bought at a unit price of N30.30.
Business Post reports that as at the close of business on Thursday, March 19, 2020, shares of Stanbic IBTC were traded at N28.25 each, going down by N2 or 6.11 percent during the session.
Stanbic IBTC stocks are among the most expensive banking shares on the NSE. In the 2019 financial year, the company proposed to pay its shareholders a dividend of N1 per unit. The firm also has a policy of converting its dividend to the company’s stocks. Shareholders are given the option to receive the dividend in equity.
The firm is involved in the business of providing investment banking, wholesale banking and brokerage services in Nigeria and it is one of the trusted financial institutions in Nigeria by foreign investors.
