Share price of First Bank slumps as investors run away following Alebiosu’s appointment as managing director/CEO

The share value of FBN Holdings Plc on the stock market fell by 84.32 per cent on Monday, following the announcement of Mr Olusegun Alebiosu as the Managing Director of its subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria.

The appointment followed the resignation of the former Managing Director of the bank, Mr Olusola Adedutan, on April 20, reports News Express.

Specifically, investors traded a total of N2.11 million shares of FBN Holdings worth N49.52 million, in contrast to N12.83 million shares valued at N315.73 million exchanged in the previous session.

The Group’s board of directors on Sunday, announced the appointment of Alebiosu as the acting Managing Director of First Bank Plc with immediate effect and subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mr Tajudeen Olayinka, Chief Executive Officer, Wyoming Capital & Partners, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that such negative reaction by investors was bound to happen, following the resignation and appointment saga that occurred in the bank within the weekend.

Olayinka, described the reaction as a ‘flight to safety’ on the part of the investors.

He explained that there are speculation of bothering issues within the board of directors the bank, which led to the resignation of its former managing director, Adedutan.

According to him, investors are yet to have concrete and factual information about what transpired within the board of the bank that led to the resignation of the erstwhile managing director.

This, he said, led to a situation where investors thought it was safe to withdraw their investment until the coast in clear.

“While the long-term investors may not bother so much about the development in the bank because it is surely temporary, the short-term investors will, because they do not want to lose their money.

“The investors decided to flight their investment to safety until new information that actually put the development in the bank in context is in their disposal,” he added.

He recounted that Adedutan was sacked in 2021 by the bank’s board of directors before the CBN waded into the issue and re-instated him because his removal was without regulatory approval.

Olayinka said that the sudden resignation of Adedutan before the expiration of his tenure on Dec.31, 2024, might not be unrelated to some pending unresolved issues within the board of the bank.

He stated that investors would want to be sure that the bank is safe enough for them to continue keeping their money, especially in the midst of whatever that might have happened within its board.

This, he noted, resulted in the negative reaction by investors.

Meanwhile, renewed investors’ interest in Tier-one banks, namely: Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), United Bank of Africa (UBA) on Monday reversed some losses recorded by the equity market in the previous sessions.

Specifically, the market capitalisation which opened at N56.296 trillion, gained N71 billion or 0.13 per cent to close at N56.367 trillion.

The All-Share Index also added 0.13 per cent or 124 point, to settle at 99,665.05, in contrast to 99,539.75 recorded on Friday.

As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return rose to 33.29 per cent.

However, market breadth closed negative with 19 losers and 16 gainers.

On the losers’ table, The Initiative Plc led by 10 per cent to close at N1.80, Prestige followed by 9.84 per cent to close at 55k, while Omatek Venture lost 9.52 per cent to close at 76k per share.

Vitafoam Nigeria declined by 9.26 per cent to close at N17.15 and LearnAfrica shed 0.30 per cent N3 per share.

Conversely, Japaul Gold Group led the gainers’ log by 9.58 per cent to close at N1.83.

GTCO followed by 9.55 per cent to close at N36.70, while FTN Cocoa gained 8.76 per cent to close at N1.49 per share.

Universal Insurance Plc added 8.57 per cent to close at 38k and RT Briscoe rose by 8.47 per cent to close at 64k per share.

However, analysis of the market activities showed that trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 1.81 per cent.

A total of 306.62 million shares valued at N5.30 billion were exchanged in 8,298 deals, as against 257.86 million shares valued at N5.40 billion in 7,168 deals traded previously.

Meanwhile, GTCO led the activity chart in volume and value with 50.16 million shares traded in deals worth N1.77 billion, Access Corporation trailed with 48.07 million shares worth N815.93 million.

UBA sold 41.74 million shares valued at N956.46 million, Universal Insurance traded 39.71 million shares worth N14.39 million and Zenith Bank transacted 15.17 million shares worth N560.32 million.