Wema Bank Shareholders Approve Additional N50bn Capital Raise
Shareholders of Wema Bank Plc at the 2024 Annual General Meeting unanimously resolved that the bank raise additional capital in the sum of N50bn by way of private placement to meet a portion of the minimum recapitalisation requirement for a national licensed bank.
The bank at the AGM held virtually in Lagos on Thursday approved the payment of a dividend of N1.00 each on May 22, 2025, from the profit of the financial year ended December 31, 2024, to members on the register of the bank at the close of business on May 1, 2025, subject to the deduction of appropriate withholding tax.
Addressing the shareholders at the AGM, the Chairman of Wema Bank, Dr Oluwayemisi Olorunshola, expressed the bank’s gratitude and appreciation to its shareholders, customers, employees, regulators, partners and other stakeholders for their continued support and contributions to the bank’s outstanding performance for the year in view, reiterating the bank’s commitment to sustain the upward surge in its performance in the decades to come.
Alluding to the Bank’s plan for sustaining the growth recorded in 2024, Moruf Oseni, the Bank’s MD/CEO, added, “We will continue to deliver best-in-class financial solutions, invest in second-to-none technology, reinforce our internal framework for maximum efficiency and remain fully committed to innovation and service excellence, as we continue to provide optimum returns for every stakeholder of Wema Bank.
“The N150bn rights issue window ended yesterday, May 21st, 2025. However, we have raised a motion to raise another N50bn through private placement, and with your permission, we will proceed with that come June 2025.”
“At the end of it all, what we expect is that Wema Bank will have qualifying capital slightly north of N267bn, which allows us to sustain the resilient and robust franchise that we have built together, to keep Wema Bank thriving as a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
“Wema Bank stands strong at 80 and in the decades to come, I can assure you that the growth we are experiencing today, is just a tip of the iceberg.”
The bank’s shareholders authorise a number of decisions, including the re-election of board members, remuneration of the Audit and board members, and payment of dividends of N1 per share.
He noted that from marking the incredible milestone of its 80th anniversary to making significant strides towards meeting the CBN recapitalisation benchmark for 2026 and achieving a record-breaking 2024 financial performance that has sustained an unparalleled growth streak over the past decade, Wema Bank has proven its capacity to remain at the forefront of the African financial industry without compromising on delivering unmatched value to stakeholders.
According to the Bank’s 2024 Annual Report, Wema Bank, in 2024, recorded performance, with Gross Earnings growing by 91.51 per cent from N225.75bn in FY 2023 to N432.34bn in FY 2024; Profit before Tax (PBT) increasing by 135.16 per cent to N102.51bn in FY 2024 from N43.59bn in FY 2023, and Profit After Tax (PAT) increasing by 140.13 per cent to N86.29bn from N35.93bn reported in FY 2023; Total Deposits rose by 35.65 per cent to N2,523.82bn in FY 2024 from N 1,860.57bn in FY 2023 and Total Assets stood at N3,585.05bn in FY 2024, representing a 60.04 per cent increase over the N2,240.06bn recorded in the corresponding year of 2023 and placing the Bank squarely above the One trillion Naira mark, a milestone the Bank surpassed in Q3 2021.
The bank also grew its loans to customers by 49.94 per cent to close FY 2024 at N1,201.21bn from the N801.10bn recorded in 2023.
Wema Bank Shareholders Approve Additional N50bn Capital Raise is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
