Transcorp Power’s valuation climbs to N1.98 trillion

Transcorp Power Plc, the power generation spinoff of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), advanced 10 per cent in market value on its debut in Lagos on Monday.

The company’s shares closed at a cumulative value of N1.98 trillion against N1.8 trillion at the beginning of trade.

The power utility listed 7.5 billion shares at N250 per unit, which were admitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX)’s main board, the listing segment for companies with high standards of disclosure and corporate governance.

A total of 40 million shares exchanged hands on the first day of trade for Transcorp Power, whose shares were quoted by introduction, which means the shares listed are those of the existing shareholders of the company.

“We have first met all the listing requirements 100 per cent. But in addition to that, as people who believe in democratising lock, who believe in democratising wealth, and prosperity for everyone, we will make some more shares available from tomorrow,” said Tony Elumelu, Transcorp’s chairman at the Facts Behind the Figures presentation in Lagos.

The company is the second under the Transcorp conglomerate to be carved out of the parent and listed as a separate entity, its listing coming nine years after the hospitality arm of the group, Transcorp Hotels, gained public company status in Lagos and was admitted to the NGX.

Transcorp Power’s listing comes seventeen months after that of rival Geregu Power, which was listed at N250 billion but is currently worth N2.5 trillion in market capitalisation.

“We are the only successor Genco (power generation company) post-privatisation that has been fully discharged from post-privatisation monitoring by the Federal Government,” CEO Peter Ikenga said.

“We were inducted into the West African power pool in 2018 and what that means is that it also opened the door for us to do cross-border electricity trading. Today, 18 per cent of our income comes from sales of power across the border.”

Transcorp Power is targeting revenue in excess of N500 billion by 2031, its CEO said.

The company runs the Ughelli Power Plant in Delta State, which has an installed capacity of 972 MW, while the total installed capacity of the firm is 2000 MW.