Zenith Bank, GT Holdings, and FBN Holdings led the list of most valuable banks listed in the Nigerian Stock market, with a market value of N789.6 billion, N765.2 billion, and N409.2 billion respectively as of the end of 2021.
The sector, NGX banking index recorded a 3.32% gain in 2021, failing to live up to the 10.14% growth recorded in the previous year. Despite the significance of the sector to the performance of the stock market, its contribution to the total market capitalization dropped year-on-year from 13.9% to 13.1% in 2021.
Meanwhile, the All-share Index recorded a paltry 6.07% growth in the year 2021 compared to the over 50% world record growth it posted in the previous year.
According to Nairametrics Research tracker on the performance of the 11 Nigerian commercial banks on the NGX, FBN Holdings was the big winner in the review period while Sterling Bank was the biggest loser in terms of market capitalization.
Top banks by Market value
Zenith Bank overtook GT Holdings on the list of commercial banks with the highest market capitalization despite only growing marginally by 1.4%. However, 19.6% decline in the share price of GTCo ensured that Zenith Bank occupied the position.
Zenith Bank tops the list with a market valuation of N789.62 billion as of December 2021, followed by GTCo with N765.2 billion, while FBN Holdings had a market capitalization of N409.2 billion.
Others on the list include Access Bank with N330.6 billion, UBA (N275.3 billion), Union Bank (N171.8 billion), and Fidelity Bank (N73.9 billion).
FBN wins big in 2021
First Bank was a big winner in the review period, overtaking the likes of Access Bank and UBA to stand in 3rd position after gaining 59.4% in share value to close at N11.4 per share from N7.15 recorded as of the end of the previous year.
The market value of First Bank gained N152.6 billion in 2021 to close at N409.2 billion for the year. On the flip side, Sterling Bank was the big loser in the review year in terms of percentage, as its share price dipped by 26% to close at N43.5 billion, while GTCo lost N186.9 billion from N952.1 billion recorded as of the previous year, making the newly restructured entity the biggest loser in terms of value.
What you should know
Market capitalization is referred to as the total value of all the listed shares of a company. It is used to determine the market value of a company. It is calculated by multiplying the price of a stock by its total number of outstanding shares.
Market capitalization allows investors to understand the relative size of one company compared to another.
