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3 clusters · 19 sources · 25 days · First seen · Last updated

Categories: BUSINESS

Nigeria market rebound and investor surge

Entities: First Holdco Plc · Femi Otedola · Central Bank of Nigeria · Zenith Bank Plc · Alhaji (Dr.) Umaru Kwairanga

Overview

The Nigerian equities market rebounded sharply in late July, with the NGX All‑Share Index climbing 1.6 % to 247,357 points and turnover hitting N8.4 trillion in H1 2026 – a 176 % year‑on‑year rise driven by pension‑fund reforms and strong domestic participation. Banking led the next wave of activity. First Holdco Plc, the holding company of First Bank of Nigeria, reported pre‑tax profit up 83.5 % to N653.5 bn and net profit up 81.6 % to N526.1 bn in the first half, pushing its share price from N69 to about N120 and making its market capitalisation the largest among Nigerian banks at over N5.5 trn. Across the exchange, investors traded roughly N1.25 trn in the seven major banks, with Zenith Bank attracting the highest transaction value (≈N458 bn) followed by GTCO (≈N220 bn). The broader market saw N6.86 trn of Treasury‑bill, bond and sukuk activity, OMO bills accounting for the biggest slice (N3.36 trn). Nigerian Exchange Group Plc announced an interim dividend of N1.30 per share after PBT rose 170 % to N14.76 bn. Meanwhile, the average maximum lending rate slipped to 33.16 % in June, reflecting modest easing after the central bank held its policy rate steady. These developments reinforce the view that heightened domestic investor engagement is underpinning market stability and reducing reliance on volatile foreign flows. In early August, NGX Group disclosed a record H1 2026 profit, with revenue up 118 % to N17.6 billion and profit after tax climbing 146 % to N10.36 billion. Transaction fees surged 169 % to N13.34 billion and listing fees rose 59 %. The board approved an interim dividend of N1.30 per share, amounting to about N3.4 billion. The All‑Share Index reached 247,357.40 points and market capitalisation hit N159.588 trillion.

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

Timeline

  1. 1 day ago

    [BUSINESS] 15 sources
    Nigerian Exchange Group posts record H1 profit and N1.30 interim dividend

    NGX Group reported record H1 2026 earnings, a 170% profit surge and a N1.30 interim dividend, while the All‑Share Index rose 1.6% and First Holdco posted a 25% share price gain.

  2. 4 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 9 sources
    Nigeria's stock market sees surge in domestic investor participation

    Nigeria's NGX rallied as domestic investors now hold ~80% of market share, trading N8.4 trn in H1 2026 and lifting capitalisation to N159.6 trn.

  3. 26 days ago

    [BUSINESS] 5 sources
    Nigeria's NGX market loses billions as bearish trend deepens

    Nigeria's NGX market fell again in July, losing N877.91 bn on July 2 and a further N2.39 tn in the opening session, after June’s record N13.29 tn loss, as bearish sentiment spreads across sectors.

Sources

arise.tv · blueprint.ng · businessday.ng · businesselitesafrica.com · citybusinessnews.com · dmarketforces.com · insidebusiness.ng · laradiodehoy.com · nairametrics.com · nannews.ng · newtelegraphng.com · pmnewsnigeria.com · punchng.com · realnewsmagazine.net · thenews-chronicle.com · thewhistler.ng · thisdaylive.com · worldstagenews.com · zalebs.com

This summary has been updated 2 times: see revision history