Agbaje, other GTCO shareholders groan as investors take out funds

The Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Segun Agbaje, and other shareholders of the firm lost -11.64% of their investment as investors took out their funds ahead of its annual general meeting.

Investors are selling off their Holdings in GTCO, taking out profits, as the board moved to approve its N2.70kobo per share final dividend paid to shareholders for 2021 period, which will take its total dividend for the year to N3.

It was gathered that the April 8 Meeting will also have the shareholders voting on the uninssured shares, considering its existence creates a possibility of diluting shareholders stakes and depleting share value.

READ ALSO: How fraudster defrauded GTbank customer of N2.95m

It was gathered that Agbaje’s investment in GTCO, alongside other stakeholders, are suffering from declining confidence in the capital market, amid fear that the bank stock will struggle to attract investors optimistic about its future growth.

With the bearish sentiment trailing Guaranty Trust, investors engaged in massive sell off which resulted in GTCO’s stock losing value, with its share becoming cheaper, falling to N23.15kobo, against its asking price of N26.20kobo per share on March 18.

As the share of GTCO lost -11.64%, Agbaje lost N98.04 million within the five days of trading last week, out of his N842.24 million direct investment in the company as of March 18.

However, the loss of Agbaje was more significant compared to that of GTCO chairman, Hezekiah Oyinlola, who lost N1.07 million from the N9.24 million indirect shares he owned before last week’s trading.

While the total shareholder loss was N89.76 billion, with total investment held by stakeholders now worth N681.33 billion as of Friday last week, against the N771.09 billion owned on March 18.

This further extends the gap between GTCO and its market rival, Zenith Bank, on the most capitalised or valuable company and financial institutions in Nigeria, as the Jim Ovia-led bank is worth N844.56 billion.