Ghana’s wealthiest investor gains $4.4m in 2021 from Societe Generale shares
Daniel Ofori, the richest investor on the Ghana Stock Exchange, has recorded a GH₵27.02-million ($4.44 million) boost to the value of his stake in Societe Generale Ghana since the year began.
The million-dollar gain can be linked to a surge in the shares of the financial services provider, as investors sustain buying interest in the bank.
Societe Generale Ghana is Ghana’s fourth-largest commercial bank.
It operates in the West African country as a subsidiary of the French multinational investment bank, Societe Generale, which is headquartered in Paris, France.
As of press time, Nov. 11, shares in the Ghana-based financial services provider were trading at GH₵1.2 ($0.19723) per share, unchanged from its opening price on the exchange this morning.
Since the beginning of the year, the market price of the lender’s shares has increased from GH₵0.64 ($0.1052) to GH₵1.2 ($0.19723) as of the time of writing, accruing an 87.5-percent gain for Daniel Ofori and other shareholders who have an ownership interest in the bank.
The double-digit increase in the bank’s shares since the start of the year can be easily linked to investors reacting to its resilient 2020 financial performance, coupled with expectations for improved financial results in its current financial year.
As a result of the year-to-date gains in the lender’s shares, the market value of Ofori’s 6.8-percent stake, which amounts to 48,241,241 ordinary shares, has increased from GH₵30.87 million ($5.07 million) on Dec. 31, 2020, to GH₵57.89 million ($9.51 million).
This translates to a GH₵27.02-million ($4.44 million) gain for the multimillionaire since the year began, according to research conducted Billionaires.Africa.
The year-to-date gain in his stake cements Ofori’s position on the Ghana Stock Exchange as the richest investor on the bourse.
Aside from his stake in Societe Generale Ghana, the multimillionaire investor also owns stakes in Ghana Commercial Bank, Fan Milk Plc and CAL Bank, which cumulatively make him one of the wealthiest men in the country.
Bullish investor bias regarding the lender’s 2021 financial performance, which translated to the surge in the shares of Societe Generale Ghana, has been supported by impressive financial performance by the bank in the first nine months of 2021.
In its latest quarterly filings, Societe Generale recorded a 51-percent growth in earnings, as profit surged from GH₵93.5 million ($15.32 million) in Q3 2020 to GH₵142.06 million ($23.25 million) in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
The bank’s stock is the second-best performing stock on the Ghanaian bourse since the start of the year.