Wema Bank’s shareholder fund rises to N198bn, highest in 12 years

Wema Bank Plc, a financial institution in Nigeria, recorded a 122 percent rise in its shareholder fund in the first half of 2024, a BusinesssDay analysis has shown.

Data from the bank’s latest financial statements revealed that its equity grew to N198.6 billion in the first six months of the year, the highest in 12 years, from N89.2 billion in the same period of last year.

Shareholder fund or net asset position represents a company’s net worth, which is the naira amount that would be returned to shareholders if a company’s total assets were liquidated and all of its debts were repaid.

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Further breakdown of the statement disclosed that total assets rose to N2.76 trillion in H1 with loans and advances to customers accounting for 35 percent of total balance.

Its total liabilities surged by 43 percent to N2.56 trillion in the first six months and from N1.79 trillion in the same period of 2023.

During the period, the bank’s earnings per share rose by 52 percent to N248.2 from N163.2.

Earnings per share is a company’s net profit divided by the number of outstanding common shares. It also indicates how much money a company makes for each share of its stock, and is a widely used metric for estimating corporate value.

A higher earnings per share indicates greater value because investors will pay more for a company’s shares if they think the company has higher profits relative to its share price.

The shares outstanding stood at 21.4 million, with a price of N6.3 and a traded volume of 2.13 million as of Monday, August 6.

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The bank’s after-tax profit increased by 154.8 percent to N26.5 billion from N10.4 billion. Interest expense claimed 56 percent of the interest income generated by the bank during the period.

Interest income surged to N146 billion from N76.6 billion while interest expense rose to N82.8 billion from N43.7 billion.

Fees and commission income increased to N23.6 billion from N10 billion. Other income surged to N7.4 billion from N1.6 billion white the bank’s trading income rose to N1.8 billion from N303 million.

Personnel expenses increased to N25.6 billion from N11.8 billion. Other operating expenses rose to N31.4 billion from N17.7 billion.

Net cash from operating activities declined to N11.6 billion from N170.5 billion. Net cash flow used in investing activities was negative at N55.1 billion from N78.8 billion.

Net cash flow used financing activities was a positive N90.5 billion as against a negative N808 million. Cash and cash equivalent was N257 billion, up from N187 billion.