Ghana’s richest investor Daniel Ofori earns $2.4 million in 29 days as shares in Societe Generale Ghana surge

Ghanaian multimillionaire businessman Daniel Ofori has earned $2.4 million in the past 29 days, as shares in Societe Generale Ghana surge to their highest level in three years.

Ofori, who is the wealthiest investor on the Ghana Stock Exchange, holds a beneficial 6.8-percent ownership stake in Societe Generale Ghana, making him its largest individual shareholder.

The multimillion-dollar gain in his stake is linked to a 31.6-percent increase in the share price of the Accra-based bank, as investors intensify buying interest in the shares of the local lender.

Ghana’s fourth-largest bank, Societe Generale Ghana is a subsidiary of the French multinational investment bank Societe Generale, headquartered in Paris, France.

With about 45 networked branches in Ghana, the bank operates as one of 17 subsidiaries of the Paris-based banking group in Africa.

In its Q2 financial results, the bank revealed that its profits before tax rose by 8.5 percent from GHC94.3 million ($15.6 million) in the first half of 2020 to GHC102.3 million ($17 million) in the first half of 2021.

This resilient financial performance in the first half of 2021, coupled with expectations for improved full-year results, led investors to acquire an additional stake in the Ghana-based financial services provider.

This bullish bias resulted in a double-digit increase in the bank’s share price, as shares in the financial services group trade at their highest levels since July 23, 2018, 39 months ago.

As of press time, Oct. 5, shares in Societe Generale Ghana were trading GHC1.25 ($0.2072) per share, 31.6-percent higher than its closing market price of GHC0.95 ($0.1575) per share on Sept. 6.

Meanwhile, the market value of Ofori’s 6.8-percent stake in the bank has increased from GHC45.8 million ($7.6 million) on Sept. 6 to GHC60.3 million ($10 million) on Oct. 5.

This translates to a GHC14.5-million ($2.4 million) gain for the Ghanaian multimillionaire in 29 days.

Aside from his stake in Societe Generale Ghana, the multimillionaire investor also owns stakes in Ghana Commercial Bank, Fan Milk Plc and CAL Bank.