Wema Bank Plc makes N9b share placement
Wema Bank said on
Wednesday it had placed 9 billion naira ($60 million) worth of new
shares with two local investors to boost its liquidity ratio and
increase its branch network.
Wema Bank was one
of nine lenders bailed out last year in a $4 billion central bank
rescue because their weak capital bases posed a systemic risk. The
central bank has given Wema until the end of September to recapitalise.
“The bank in its
bid to recapitalise has offered 9 billion of its shares to special
investors, which has been taken up,” said Wema’s spokesperson Amaka
Okpala.
Wema Bank in May
detailed plans on how it intended to recapitalise ahead of the central
bank deadline. It said over 25 billion naira worth of non-performing
loans had been recovered by the end of July.
It will also package around 37 billion naira worth of non-performing
loans for purchase by the state asset management company (AMCON) when
it becomes operational. Nigeria is in the process of setting up AMCON,
which will buy up non-performing loans in exchange for government bonds.
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