"I just want to speak to our Investment yield... We are an investment company, we can draw our strategy around the quasi dividend paying institution and at the same time an investment institution. If we are not going to invest again and we freeze, we will give you (shareholders) all the dividends you want... We need to have at the back of our mind the fact that we also have to keep growing the institution by looking for investments and opportunities. If you look at our Balance sheet you won't find any borrowings anywhere, we don't borrow money. So it is either we go the way of complete expenditure and know that we are not buying companies again... or we prudently just find a way of making you (shareholders) happy and at the same time continue to expand the base of the organization. Berkshire Hathaway does not pay dividends, they only rely on value of the shares, and majority of the original shareholders are billionaires... So we could go that route and lock in and not pay dividends and just continue to grow and maybe by then we would be ₦100, and that would be actually good for our shareholders... It's just getting that fine balance between continuous reinvestment and payment of dividends". These were the words of Mr Wole Oshin, the Founder and Group Managing Director of Custodian Investment PLC, in response to questions hauled at the board of directors regarding dividend yield at the 2025 Annual General Meeting held in May 2025. As at that period, the share price of the company was trading at circa ₦16.8.
Without holding brief for him or anyone, what comes to mind when a company's Managing Director sounds like this or has this mindset, especially when they are part of the founders? Your guess is as good as mine.
On the 31st of December 2025, the company made a disclosure of a recent additional acquisition of over 87 million units of its shares by Mr Wole Oshin between December 19 and 24, at an average price of ₦39 per share, signaling in very strong terms his belief in the vision and growth he is driving at the company. In an earlier display of such signals, months earlier (May 19-26, 2025), another member of the board of directors of Custodian Investment PLC and Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria, Mr. Olakunle Ade-Ojo had acquired 150 million shares of the company at an average price of ₦19.84. Discerning investors would probably have taken notice of these moves and contemplated their investment thesis regarding the company to determine their next moves.
At the end of January, Custodian Investment PLC released their 2025 Interim Results and it was all shades of growth. Some investors had thought that they would be unable to sustain their growth trajectory coming from 2024, but were stunned to see the company's outstanding performance for 2025. Gross revenue came in at ₦221.7 billion (compared to ₦151 billion 2024), Profit before tax was ₦76 billion (₦60.6 billion previous year), Profit after tax was ₦67 billion (₦53.5 billion previous year), and Earnings per share rose to ₦11.19 from ₦7.5 in the previous year, an almost 50% growth year-on-year.
A look at the Company's balance sheet also shows significant growth in Assets by over 150%, and Liabilities by almost 200%. On the Asset side, the most substantial growths were witnessed in the Cash and cash equivalents 260%, Financial assets 157%, Investment properties 127%, Statutory deposits 650%; while on the Liabilities side the most substantial differences were in the Trade payables 1,420%, and other payables 177%. Net asset closed at ₦220 billion compared to ₦135 billion in the previous year. In line with the Group MD's words at the last Annual General meeting, "If you look at our Balance sheet you won't find any borrowings anywhere, we don't borrow money", Interest bearing loans and borrowings actually dropped from ₦3.4 billion to ₦952 million, which is infinitesimal for a company of its size. A deeper look at the explanatory notes to the Account statement shows the components of those Assets and Liabilities line items that experienced such significant growth, and revealed that some of those items had zero entries in 2024, pointing to an interesting fact- obviously these were not all as a result of organic growth, but acquisitions.
Recall that on November 27, 2025, First Holdco PLC, the holding company of First bank of Nigeria notified the NGX of the completion of sale of FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited, fully divesting its 100% ownership in the Merchant Bank to EverQuest Acquisition LLP (a special-purpose investment vehicle formed in June 2024 by Custodian Investment PLC, EverCorp Industries, and Aion Investments to acquire FBNQuest Merchant Bank from FBN Holdings PLC). We referenced this in one of our previous articles- check it out here. Since this acquisition by Custodian Investment was completed before the end of 2025, their interim statement incorporates their share of the acquisition.
One of the explanatory notes to the financials actually states it clearly, and reveals Custodian Investment's percentage of the acquisition. Extracting from the notes it reads thus, "On 27th November 2025, the Group through Everquest acquisition LLP, completed the acquisition of 85% of the voting shares of FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited, a company based in Nigeria and specialising in investment banking ,wealth management and advisory . The Group has elected to measure the non-controlling interests in the acquiree at their proportionate share of the acquirer’s identifiable net assets at the acquisition date". It went ahead to show the fair values of the identifiable assets and liabilities of FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited as at the date of acquisition, with the Assets side totaling ₦540 billion, and the Liabilities side totaling ₦495 billion; and revealed the Cash Consideration for the purchase of 85% of FBN Quest shares as ₦29.182 billion.
Custodian Investment PLC is a diversified group with investment in the below subsidiaries as at December 31, 2025.
Custodian Investment PLC continues to reduce the risk of over-dependence on a single revenue stream with such diversified revenue stream. It acquired Crusader PLC some time in 2013, UPDC in 2020, and of course FBNQuest Merchant bank in 2025. I am curious to know which company or companies are on their radar for their next acquisition in the coming years.
Happy investing. Feel free to share this article within your network.
You may check out other interesting articles here.
DISCLAIMER: All contents on this website are for informational purposes only and should not be taken as any form of investment advice. Do your own research and contact your financial advisor before making any investment decision. All contents may not be reproduced, distributed, or used without prior written permission.
Comments
Post a Comment