Net worth of Jim Ovia, Nigerian billionaire banker and the founder of Zenith Bank Plc grew by N27.9 billion or $61.3 milllion in less than four months.
This was a result of the 29% increase in the value of Zenith Bank shares from N19 a unit on October 5, 2022 to N24.5 per unit on January 23, 2023.
Zenith Bank, a leading financial services provider in Nigeria and anglophone West Africa, Nigeria’s most profitable bank and the Nigerian Exchange’s largest listed financial services group, has continued to see its shares rise after falling to a record low of N19 in October 2022.
Jim Ovia, founded the tier-one bank in 1990 spearheading a pivotal role in both the evolution and digital transformation of Nigerian banking. He owns a 16.2-percent stake or 5,072,104,311 ordinary shares.
Investors King can confirmed that the value of the billionaire stake in the bank had risen to N124.3 billion, a gain of N27.9 billion ($61.3 million).
This was after Zenith bank reported profit after tax of N174.33 billion in the first nine months of 2022, a significant 8.55-percent increase from the N160.6 billion ($367.5 million) achieved in the previous year.
The growth was primarily driven by strong performance in core banking operations, which led to a 20-percent increase in interest income from N518.7 billion ($1.2 billion) to N620.57 billion ($1.42 billion). Additionally, the bank saw an increase in fee and commission income from N78.3 billion ($179.2 million) to N100.06 billion ($229 million).
This significant increase in the bank’s share price on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) has propelled it to become the seventh most valuable company on the local bourse. The impressive performance on the stock market can be linked to its consistent and robust financial results, which continue to garner the attention and investment of both institutional and individual investors.