Wema Bank Plc has outperformed all other listed financial institutions in Nigeria, delivering a remarkable 158% return on investment to shareholders between January and August 2025.
The bank’s impressive run has been driven by its aggressive expansion in the retail banking segment and increased investment in digital banking platforms, particularly through ALAT by Wema, which has enhanced its appeal among tech-savvy customers.
Despite the gains, analysts remain divided on the bank’s valuation outlook. While Atlass Portfolio Limited projected a potential downside of 15% and urged investors to take profits, other analysts offered bullish forecasts. Afrinvest Securities Limited projected a further upside of 58.6%, while Alpha Morgan Capital Limited gave a target return of 19.15% at a reference price of ₦23.50 per share.
At the close of trading last week, Wema Bank’s market capitalization stood at ₦492.894 billion, with its share price at ₦23, following the exchange of 4.088 million units worth ₦91.093 million.
Financially, the bank posted strong earnings growth in the first half of 2025, recording a 229% year-on-year profit surge to ₦87.51 billion, compared to ₦26.59 billion in H1 2024. Gross earnings rose by 10% to ₦303.19 billion over the same period.
In a move to consolidate its growth, Wema Bank recently launched a rights issue of 14.29 billion shares at ₦10.45 each, aimed at strengthening its capital base and expanding lending to SMEs, retail, commercial, and corporate clients.
