• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

GTB, Unity, Zenith Bank fuelled 5.8% surge in Nigeria banking index

GTBank grows Q3 pre-tax profit to N170.7bn

The rally in the share price of Guaranty Trust Bank, the country’s largest bank by market value, Zenith and Unity bank on Thursday drove the 5.8 percent surge in the country’s banking index, the first biggest gain in more than two years.

Guaranty Trust Bank climbed 9.5 percent in Lagos, the most since January 2016; followed by Unity +9.8 percent, Zenith Bank,
+7.2 percent, Sterling +5.9 percent, FCMB +4.2 percent, UBA +2 percent, making the sector index to climb for a fifth day, which is longest winning line since September 2018.

Responding to the index performance, Gbolahan Ologunro, a research analyst at CSL Stockbrokers said “we saw an unusual movement in the share price of two major bear weather stocks; GTB and Zenith,” according to him the banking index surge “can be attributed to intensified investors’ appetite for the banks’ stocks”.

Another analyst who asked not to be quoted said on the condition of anonymity that market valuation is generally cheap, “perhaps more so in the banking sector, so I think investors are buying ahead of the return of FPIs post elections.”

Ologunro added that despite the political risk in the environment, investors’ attractiveness for the bank stocks are high, he explained “perhaps it is likely foreigners investors are beginning to see that the forth coming election will be peaceful.”

 

Endurance Okafor