Cameroonian banker Alain Nkontchou loses over $1 million from investment in Ecobank

Cameroonian banking tycoon Alain Nkontchou has seen his net worth drop by $1 million in recent months.

The drop in his wealth is due to a market-wide sell-off that resulted in a decline in the value of his shareholding in Ecobank Transnational Incorporation.

The sell-off occurred as wary investors sold a fraction of their positions in the group despite it reporting double-digit earnings growth in the first half of 2022.

One of Africa’s leading banking conglomerates, Ecobank reported a 23-percent increase in profit in the first half of 2022, from $106 million in the first half of 2021 to $130 million.

The increase in profit was driven by the strong performance of its payment business, its well-diversified earnings base, and its investments across key segments, including technology.

Despite this remarkable financial performance, the bank’s share price has dropped by more than 16 percent, resulting in millions of dollars in losses for owners, including Nkontchou, the chairman of the Togo-based financial services conglomerate.

Since May 11, shares in the leading financial services company have fallen by 16.3 percent, from N12.9 ($0.031) to N10.8 ($0.0256) per share at the time of writing.

The company’s market capitalization is presently N198 billion ($471 million).

Nkontchou’s 1.1-percent stake in Ecobank has decreased by N423.8 million ($1.01 million) as a result of the double-digit reduction in the group’s share price, from N2.6 billion ($6.17 million) on May 11 to N2.18 billion ($5.16 million) at the time of writing this report.

The recent decline in the market value of his investment canceled out partial gains recorded previously this year, as his stake fell below the $5.5-million mark.

The Cameroonian banking tycoon finalized the purchase of an additional 22,774,579 ordinary shares in Ecobank for N286.28 million ($690,000) at the end of 2021, increasing his stake to 1.1 percent, or 201,794,253 shares, from 0.98 percent, or 179,019,674 shares.