FTSE Russell Adds Wema Bank, Nine Others to Frontier Index Series

Kayode Tokede 

Following the recent reclassification of Nigeria from “Unclassified” to “Frontier Market” status, FTSE Russell has listed Wema Bank Plc, nine others to its mid-capitalised Nigerian companies into its FTSE Frontier Index Series. 

Other companies in the mid-capitalised categories are: Access Holdings Plc , Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Oando Plc, Okomu Oil Palm Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, and United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA).

Nigeria is preparing to return to Frontier Market status on September 21, 2026 after a three-year absence from the global index provider’s classification.

The 10 listed mid-capitalised companies have seen a massive rally on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), driven by impressive corporate earrings, among others.

As gathered by THISDAY, Wema Bank, joined two others listed companies so far in eight months of 2026 with an average return above 40 per cent. The stock price of Unilever Nigeria led the chart with 58.3 per cent average return in eight months of 2026, followed by Access Holdings with an average return of 52.9 per cent as of eight months of 2026. 

In addition, Wema Bank gained 42.1 per cent when its stock price opened for trading this year at N20.40 per share and closed August 2026 at N29.00 per share. 

Impressive corporate earnings, N200 billion recapitalisation changing the growth story, digital banking & low-cost deposits, Improving asset quality were key contributions to Wema Bank’s soar in stock price.  

Wema Bank’ for unaudited half year (H1) ended June 30, 2026 declared profit before tax of N154.5 billion ,about 53.65 per cent increase from N100.6billion in half year ended Jun 30, 2025, while profit after tax closed at N131.3 billion in H1 2026, up by157 per cent from N87.5 billion in H1 2025. The H1 2026 performance, however, reinforced the view that the one of Nigeria’s oldest financial institutions has moved into a new phase of earnings expansion. 

The H1 2026 profit after tax of N131.37 billion already represents about 67.5 per cent of 2025 earnings, indicating that the bank is on track to surpass its previous profit record. 

Wema completed a N150billion rights issue and N50billion special placement in 2025. This substantially increased its capital and shares outstanding, giving the bank greater capacity to grow its loan book and compete for larger corporate and institutional transactions.

Its ALAT/digital strategy has helped build a relatively strong low-cost deposit base. In FY2025, its CASA ratio was 82.31per cent, while cost of funds was 6.87per cent. That gives the bank an important advantage because it can fund loans more cheaply than a bank heavily dependent on expensive term deposits.

Despite rapid loan growth, the H1 2026 NPL ratio improved to 3.87per cent from 4.90per cent, while loan-loss coverage increased to 118.71per cent. That reduces one of the major concerns investors typically have when a bank expands lending rapidly.

However, the lender’s addition to FTSE Rusell is expected to put Wema Bank alongside other banks on a global benchmark. Exchange Trade and Fund (ETF) and other funds that track the FTSE Frontier Index will need to buy Wema Bank and it drives visibility and valuation.  

When Wema Bank inclusion was announced, its share price typically gets a bump due to anticipated buying from investors. Average daily volume goes up and being included in the list puts Wema Bank alongside GTCO, Zenith Bank, Access Holdings, UBA in a global report.