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Nigerian banker and businessman Tony Elumelu has acquired additional shares in the United Bank for Africa (UBA) to consolidate his holdings in the Lagos-based financial services group.
According to a notification of share dealing by an insider, published on Wed., May 10, after the close of the Nigerian Exchange, Elumelu acquired 70 million shares in the leading lender, amounting to N560 million ($1.21 million).
The transaction, which took place on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange on Tues., May 9, was executed in a single transaction, at an average price of N8 ($0.0174) per share, through one of his investment vehicles, HH Capital Limited.
With this latest purchase, Elumelu’s stake in UBA has risen from 6.96 percent, or 2,380,603,739 shares, to 7.17 percent, or 2,450,603,739 shares, in the financial services group.
UBA, a pan-African bank, operates in 24 countries across four continents, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and the United Arab Emirates.
Elumelu’s latest acquisition brings the market value of his stake in UBA to N19.6 billion ($42.57 million), cementing his position as one of the wealthiest investors on the Nigerian Exchange.
The transaction comes after UBA posted a 29.1 percent surge in its profit in the first quarter of 2023, from N41.5 billion ($90.1 million) in the corresponding period of 2022 to N53.6 billion ($116.4 million), thanks to higher interest and non-interest income, as well as cost strategies that effectively kept costs and expenses at manageable levels.
Due to a substantial increase in earnings, UBA’s total assets rose from N10.86 trillion ($23.6 billion) to N11.36 trillion ($24.7 billion), while its retained earnings expanded from N429.53 billion ($932.9 million) to N479.95 billion ($1.04 billion).
