Don't Miss


Home   >   Market - Finance   >   N6.23bn shares of UBA Capital, Africa Prudential Registrars now listed on NSE

N6.23bn shares of UBA Capital, Africa Prudential Registrars now listed on NSE

By on January 14, 2013

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, on Friday admitted N6.23bn shares of UBA Capital Plc. and Africa Prudential Registrars Plc. in its official daily list.

The two companies which are listed in Other Financial Services sector were created from United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc Group as a result of the spin-off directive with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Specifically, a total of four billion shares of UBA Capital Plc at N1.16 per share and a total value of N4.64bn were listed,  while one billion shares of Africa Prudential Registrars Plc at N1.59 per share were listed, bringing its total value to N1.59bn.

The historic listings of the two firms simultaneously comes after the adoption of a monoline commercial banking structure by UBA Plc, as approved by shareholders on Thursday 13 December 2012, which authorised the divestment and spin-off of non-commercial banking businesses of the UBA Group.

The CEO of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema described the listings of the two companies as a milestone in the history of the market, adding that it came rightly at the time when local and foreign investors had a lot of confidence in the Exchange.

Speaking at the listing, the duo of Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa and Mr Peter Ashade, the Group CEO of UBA Capital and Managing Director/CEO of African Prudential Registrar respectively, explained that beyond achieving compliance with the directive of the CBN, the shareholders of UBAC and APR who also are shareholders of UBA Plc, would benefit significantly from having the separate businesses focus firmly on their core expertise.

Mr Olaoluwa pointed out to the potential synergy to be derived from the component businesses of UBA Capital, which include investment banking, trusteeship, asset management, insurance and stock brokerage. In his words, “Our overall strategic intent is to build various subsidiary businesses to be leaders in their respective markets. We believe this can be achieved over the next three to five years.”

He declared that UBAC would consolidate its strong, diversified platform to drive further growth and deliver impressive and consistent returns to its shareholders.

On his part, Mr Ashade, the MD/CEO of APR said that the firm has linked the attainment of its strategic objectives to technology and is now one of the market leaders in its industry in Nigeria.

“The company is one of the most profitable in the industry having achieved 100 per cent increase in profit before tax between 2010 and 2011, a performance which it expects to surpass in 2012. Our Return on Equity (ROE) continues to improve year-on-year, a clear indication that management is focused on extracting value from resources and enhancing returns for shareholders,” he said.

“The company has been a pacesetter in the infusion of technology to the conventional share registration business model. We were the first outfit in our niche to deploy an e-stock software application in Nigeria. We have also succeeded in compressing the time and space of doing our business through an appropriate blend of technological innovations.

“In 2007, for instance, it became possible for our shareholders, stockbrokers and other clients to interact with the system while monitoring their portfolios from remote locations, “he added.