Nigerian banker Jim Ovia has seen the market value of his stake increase by more than $24.5 million in the past 40 days as investors sustained buying interest in the shares of Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest financial services groups.
Zenith Bank is Nigeria’s most profitable bank and the largest listed financial services group on the Nigerian Exchange.
As of press time, Jan. 13, shares in the leading banking group were trading at N25.5 ($0.0616). This is 20-basis points higher than their opening price on the Nigerian Exchange this morning.
Ovia, who is the founder and chairman of the bank, holds a substantial 16.16-percent stake, which amounts to a total of 5,074,104,311 shares in the tier-1 lender.
His stake in the bank is valued at over $312 million, making him one of the richest investors on the Nigerian Exchange, and one of the wealthiest men in the country.
Since the start of the new year, shares in the bank increased by a marginal 1.39 percent.
Data retrieved by Billionaires.Africa revealed that the bank’s stock has increased from N23.5 ($0.0566) on Dec. 4 to N25.5 ($0.0616) per share at the time of drafting this report.
The upward price movement accrued a total 8.51-percent gain for shareholders in the 40-day period.
As a result of the price surge, the market value of Ovia’s stake has risen from N119.24 billion ($287.96 million) on Dec. 4, 2021 to N129.4 billion ($312.47 million) on Jan. 13.
This translates to a N10.15-billion ($24.51 million) gain for the multimillionaire banker in 40 days.
