Zenith Bank Divests from Zenith Securities

Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun

Zenith Bank Plc is divesting from Zenith Securities Limited (ZSL) in line with directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to banks to divest from non-banking subsidiaries.

Zenith Bank, in a notification of to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, said  it had  reached an agreement with some investors in respect of the sale and divestment of the bank’s investment/equity interest in ZSL.
Zenith Bank said it was  processing necessary approvals with the Securities and Exchange  Commission (SEC) for the divestments and expect that baring the occurrence of any unforeseen circumstance, the process would be completed shortly.

According to the bank, after the divestment, the company’s particulars of Directors (Co7) at the Corporate Affairs Commission would be updated accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian stock market recorded its seventh consecutive decline yesterday  with the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) hitting a five-month  low.

The ASI fell by 0.92 per cent to close at 39,681.71, breaching the 40,000 psychological line for the first time since last May.  The ASI has recorded a year-to-date decline of 3.9 per cent so far.

Analysts at Afrinvest West Africa Limited said the bearish trend was driven by the increasing pessimism by investors in the Banking sector, with  Zenith Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc shedding  five and 4.4 per cent respectively.

Besides, the two banks, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Skye Bank Plc and Sterling Bank Plc also closed lower in value.

In all, 39 stocks shed value, compared with 14 stocks that appreciated.
Ikeja Hotels Plc led the price gainers   followed by May and Baker Nigeria Plc and Courtville Plc among others.
However, in terms of trading activity, the volume and value of shares appreciated by 101.6 per  cent and 71.1 per cent to 386.5m and N4.8 billion respectively compared to the previous day’s performance.

Culled from http://www.thisdaylive.com/