FBN Holdings GMD, Okonkwo, to taste gains/pains of shareholders, as he parts with N9.18m

The Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings, Nnamdi Okonkwo, has finally put his skin in the game by making his first stock purchase in the financial institution.

Okonkwo was first appointed in October 2021, but took over the office effective January 1, 2022. However, since Okonkwo became the GMD over seven months ago, he has not acquired or owned a single share in FBN Holdings.

In public listed companies, individuals that take the top job often buy into the company or tie their money in the firm’s stock, in a bid to assure shareholders of their confidence in the company’s prospect.

This way, the GMD shares both the gains and pains their business decisions have on the firm, so this guides the actions of the chief as it relates to the company’s business affairs.

And Okonkwo’s acquisition comes at a period the FBN Holdings’ share is on a downward trend. Since Okonkwo’s appointment, First Bank stock has depreciated from N11.60kobo to N10.75kobo, resulting to shareholders of the firm losing -7.32% in their investment held in the bank year-to-date.

As the custom with major bank GMDs or Chief Executives, Okonkwo has also put his money where his mouth is, by buying 854,281 shares in First Bank, which is a mere 0.002% of the total issued share capital of the firm.

Read also: EFCC reportedly grills First Bank new MD, Okonkwo, over Diezani’s $153m

The shares, which he acquired on August 19, 2022, cost Okonkwo N9.18 million, and doesn’t put the Group Managing Director of FBN Holdings in the company’s top five shareholders.

This means if Okonkwo had acquired the shares upfront, he would have also lost -7.32% of his investment, hence, sharing the pains of shareholders, however, his acquisition is coming after the stock meltdown.

Meanwhile, major shareholders of the firm includes Femi Otedola with 5.57% stake, Tunde Hassan-Odukale owns 4.39%, UBAPFC/Leadway Pensure RSA Account has 1.01% stake and First Bank Managing Director, Adesola Adeduntan, owning 0.05%.

Considering Adeduntan owns more shares than Okonkwo, the GMD is likely to acquire more, since his position is above that of the former.

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