Wema Bank CEO, Moruf Oseni
By Toyin Williams
Moruf Oseni, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wema Bank Plc has bought 3.09 million of the lender’s shares, worth about N98.8 million. The purchase came days after the central bank’s biggest interest-rate cut on record and follows a first half in which Wema’s profit rose 50%.
Oseni bought 3,067,578 shares at N32.00 on September 23 and 20,710 at N31.90 on September 24, according to a filing to the NGX signed by Company Secretary Johnson Lebile.
The purchase appears to be Oseni’s first disclosed stake. Wema’s 2025 annual report listed no shareholding for him as of December 31, when all directors together held just 0.03% of the bank directly.
His new stake is about 0.008% of the bank, but equal to roughly a quarter of all directors’ direct holdings at the end of last year.
Control remains with Kessington Adebutu’s Neemtree Ltd., which holds 11.87 billion shares.
The CEO is buying after a strong run. The stock trades at more than three times the N10.45 price of the 2025 rights issue, and it closed at N30.55 on September 24.
Wema’s profit after tax rose 50.1% to N131.37 billion in the first half of 2026, and customer loans grew 21.7% to N2.12 trillion.
On MoneyCentral’s calculations, the bank trades at about 4.9 times annualised earnings and 1.8 times book value, with a return on equity of about 40% and a dividend yield of about 3.9%.
The rate cut could cut both ways for the bank. Lower bond yields should support bank valuations, but Wema depends heavily on interest income, which rose 51% in the first half while fee income fell 20%. Falling yields could squeeze its margins next year.
