First Inland Bank To Take Excess Shares From Hybrid Offer
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Okey Nwosu, MD, First Inland Bank |
The Board of First Inland Bank plc is already making provisions for the absorption of excess applications for shares in its hybrid offer which ended yesterday.
Preliminary reports on the offer point to an oversubscription which according to the prospectus, will be taken up as stipulated by the regulatory authorities.
The bank in the prospectus stated that, in the event of oversubscription, the shares shall be allotted to shareholders in an amount not exceeding the bank's un-issued share capital, subject to the approval of the bank's board of directors and the regulatory absorption limit of 25 percent of the oversubscription. The supplementary proceed would be utilised for the same purpose.
Speaking on behalf of the joint issuing houses, Executive Director, Skye Bank Plc, Segun Oloketuyi, said, "We are delighted and privileged to be part of this offer. Given the tremendous improvement in First Inland Bank's performance coupled with its unique product offering, we have no doubt that we will be supporting an offer that would do well.
"Besides, the price is quite competitive. For a bank in Nigeria to offer its shares at N8.50 (rights issue) and N9.50 (public offer), this is a giveaway price".
Also, Dele Lawore who spoke on behalf of the joint underwriters to the offer, also endorsed the offer, saying that good returns await investors who buy the shares.
"If you look at the history of First Inland Bank, you will discover that the bank has continued to grow from strength to strength. The bank recently recorded a profit that was more than what the individual banks (First Atlantic Bank Plc, Inland Bank Plc, NUB International Bank and IMB International Bank Plc) in the group ever made.
"First Bank is bank that is going places. It has given good returns to shareholders. It is a bank to invest in. We have great passion for the offer and we will give it all the necessary support. We call on our colleagues, professional parties, the investing public, particularly stockbrokers to support this offer so that it can be another landslide," he emphasised.
Similar view was also expressed by First Vice Chairman, Ibadan Zone Shareholders' Association, Aderemi Oyepeju, who said, "I have no doubt in my mind that the offer of First Inland Bank will be oversubscribed because the bank has gotten all its takes to be a dominant player in Nigeria's financial services industry.
"The entire shareholder heads will work day and night to ensure that the offer is oversubscribed," he assured.
First Inland Bank continues to create more capacity efforts towards strengthening its offshore funding base with a host of other multilateral financial institutions.
The Bank is strongly committed to the development of the Nigerian financial markets by accessing offshore lines of credit and making such available to its valued customers, which will significantly enhance the country's economic growth, deepen credit creation, enable difficult deals to be structured and ensure a sophisticated and developed market.
The bank's management submitted that enhanced financial position provides it with the ability to handle large ticket transactions while offering more diversified services to customers.
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