Zenith Bank has assumed the position of Nigeria’s largest lender by market capitalization as Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) shares continue to slide on lackluster execution of its Holdco strategy and underwhelming earnings.
Zenith Bank closed trading on Tuesday at N23.95 per share for a market capitalization of N759.8 billion, compared to GTCO which closed at N24.60 per share for a market capitalization of N734.3 billion.
Market capitalization refers to the total Naira market value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock. Commonly referred to as “market cap,” it is calculated by multiplying the total number of a company’s outstanding shares by the current market price of one share.
This is the first time in years that Zenith Bank has eclipsed GTCO in market capitalization, helping to highlight the struggles of the latter.
GTCO shares are down -23.96 percent this year alone, underperforming Zenith Bank shares which have lost -3.43 percent. The NGX all share index is up 7.39 percent in the same time period.
GTCO’s net income fell by -9.05 percent to N129.4 billion in the nine months’ period to September 2021. That compares to Zenith Bank’s 0.80 increase in net income.
GTCO stock is the worst performer year to date among major banks tracked by MoneyCentral.