Peter Ashade’s United Capital gains $46 million in one week

United Capital Plc, a Lagos-based financial and investment services firm led by leading investment banker Peter Ashade, has amassed a cumulative gain of N19.2 billion ($46.2 million) in the past seven days as investors digest its 2021 audited financial statement.

The multimillion-dollar increase in the valuation of the fast-growing banking and investment services firm can be attributed to a 29-percent increase in its stock price, as investors on the Nigerian Exchange scrambled for shares after the board approved a dividend payment of N9 billion ($21.6 million), or N1.5 per share, for shareholders.

Emmanuel Nnorom, a Nigerian business leader with a significant position in the firm, saw the market value of his 30.5 million shares in the Lagos-based financial and investment services firm exceed $1 million.

Nnorom is a non-executive director of United Capital, as well as the group CEO of Heirs Holdings and the chairman of Transcorp Hotels Plc.

United Capital released its audited financial statement for 2021 at the end of last week, showing a 44-percent increase in profit from N7.81 billion ($18.74 million) in 2020 to N11.26 billion ($27.02 million), driven by a combination of effective cost-cutting strategies and an increase in gross earnings from N12.87 billion ($30.88 million) to N18.06 billion ($43.32 million).

According to the report, the firm’s managed funds and investment securities increased to N327.25 billion ($785.1 million) and N363.65 billion ($872.41 million), respectively, as a result of the rapid flow of capital and funds from institutional and retail investors.

These strong results sparked a market-wide demand for the company’s shares, with market players scrambling to purchase shares in the bank on the local exchange.

As a consequence of the purchasing activity, the share price of the Peter Ashade-led group has risen from N10.95 ($0.0263) at the end of last week to N14.15 ($0.034) at the time of writing this article, giving stockholders a total gain of 29.22 percent.

In response to the price advances, United Capital’s market capitalization on the Nigerian Exchange grew from N65.7 billion ($157.9 million) on Feb. 17 to N84.9 billion ($204.1 million) on Feb. 24.

This amounts to an increase of N19.2 billion ($46.2 million) for the Lagos-based firm.