OPay Discloses $532.9m Investment Portfolio as It Prepares for US IPO

OPay Limited has disclosed a short-term investment portfolio valued at $532.94 million as of June 30, 2026, with much of its investments placed through locally licensed Nigerian asset management companies, as the digital payments company advances plans for a proposed listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The disclosure was contained in the company’s Form F-1 registration statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 9, 2026.

The portfolio accounted for approximately 27.9 per cent of OPay’s total assets of $1.91 billion, reflecting a significant expansion of its investment activities as the company seeks to strengthen its financial performance ahead of the proposed initial public offering (IPO).

The investment portfolio grew from $410.45 million at the end of 2025 and $131.35 million at the end of 2024, representing substantial growth over the two-year period.

According to the filing, OPay works with several domestically licensed Nigerian asset managers to invest in treasury bills, money market funds and other liquid financial instruments. The investments generally have maturities of less than one year and are classified as held-to-maturity assets carried at amortised cost.

The company’s weighted-average investment portfolio yield increased from 19 per cent at the end of 2024 to 21 per cent in 2025 and 22 per cent by the end of June 2026. Yields on the disclosed asset-manager products typically ranged between 14 per cent and 24 per cent.

The increase in portfolio yield coincided with a sharp rise in investment income, which has become an increasingly important contributor to the company’s revenue.

OPay’s interest income rose by 196.4 per cent to $50.59 million in the first half of 2026, compared with $17.07 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

The amount earned in the first six months of 2026 also exceeded the $47.26 million generated from interest income throughout 2025.

Quarterly figures showed that investment income increased from $22.05 million in the first quarter of 2026 to $28.54 million in the second quarter, indicating stronger earnings from the company’s investment activities as the year progressed.

Investment income accounted for 10.8 per cent of OPay’s revenue in the first half of 2026, compared with 8.6 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The investment portfolio expanded by 212.5 per cent in 2025 and grew by a further 29.84 per cent in the first half of 2026, highlighting the growing role of financial investments in the company’s balance sheet.

However, the filing described credit-loss allowances associated with the portfolio as immaterial and did not identify the individual asset managers, disclose the amounts placed with each institution or provide a detailed breakdown of investments managed by third parties and securities held directly by OPay.

Consequently, the $532.94 million represents the portfolio’s carrying value on the company’s balance sheet and should not be interpreted as the cumulative value of all investment placements or as funds held entirely by external asset managers.

OPay Highlights Liquidity and Counterparty Risks

Despite the returns generated by its investment portfolio, OPay identified several risks associated with its short-term investments, particularly the potential for delays in accessing funds during periods of financial market stress.

The company disclosed that settlement of managed investment products generally takes between one and three business days. However, it warned that these timelines could be extended under adverse financial conditions.

According to the filing, certain contractual provisions and limited visibility into the underlying investments could complicate the company’s ability to access funds when required.

Some agreements also contain force majeure provisions that could limit asset managers’ liability for certain settlement delays, including circumstances involving wider liquidity disruptions.

OPay further noted that some underlying investments could include non-fixed-income assets whose composition, size and maturity profiles were not always fully visible to the company.

The risks also extend to counterparties, including asset managers, custodians and settlement providers, which could face financial distress, misconduct, insolvency or regulatory action.

Such developments could affect the timely recovery of invested funds and potentially expose OPay to financial losses.

Another concern relates to the company’s savings products, some of which offer guaranteed returns to customers.

OPay warned that a decline in investment yields could leave it responsible for covering the difference between the returns promised to customers and the income generated from its investments. Such a shortfall could affect profitability, cash flow and regulatory capital.

The disclosures are particularly significant given the scale of OPay’s customer savings business.

As of June 30, 2026, the company reported customer savings balances of $978.94 million, with more than 42 million users subscribed to its savings products.

Flexible savings products accounted for $847.51 million, while fixed deposits and savings targets represented $131.43 million.

The company’s $532.94 million investment portfolio was equivalent to approximately 54.4 per cent of its reported customer savings balances.

However, this comparison does not establish that the same proportion of customer savings was invested through asset managers, as the filing did not provide a direct reconciliation between the savings liabilities and the investment portfolio.

The disclosure also did not report any asset-manager default or investment loss, but highlighted potential vulnerabilities associated with liquidity management, counterparty exposure and the need to meet customer obligations under different market conditions.

OPay Advances Plans for New York Stock Exchange Listing

The investment disclosures come as OPay prepares for a proposed public listing in the United States.

The company’s registration statement proposes listing its American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPAY.

However, the offer-size and pricing fields in the filing remained blank, indicating that the registration statement did not establish the final terms or completion of the proposed IPO.

Earlier reports indicated that OPay was targeting a valuation of approximately $4 billion for its proposed US listing while also considering a secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange.

The company has recorded substantial growth in revenue and profitability, strengthening its financial profile ahead of the proposed offering.

OPay reported revenue of $467.06 million in the first half of 2026, representing an increase of 136.5 per cent, while net profit rose to $90.87 million from $21.71 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

For the full year 2025, revenue stood at $536.25 million, while net profit reached $72.47 million, compared with a net loss of $50.83 million in 2024.

Nigeria remained the company’s dominant market, accounting for 89.5 per cent of revenue in the first half of 2026.

The company’s transaction volumes have also expanded significantly. OPay reportedly processed $358 billion in gross transaction value in 2025, more than double the $166.2 billion recorded in 2024.

Separately, reports indicated that Stanbic Africa Holdings had agreed to invest up to $200 million through a concurrent private placement, alongside plans for a Nigerian secondary listing following the proposed New York debut.

The proposed investment and listing arrangements form part of the broader developments surrounding OPay’s efforts to access international capital markets and expand its investor base.

Investment Portfolio and Liquidity Management in Focus

As OPay moves towards its proposed IPO, the scale and composition of its short-term investment portfolio are likely to remain important considerations for investors assessing the company’s financial position, earnings quality and liquidity management.

The portfolio provides an additional source of income, with interest earnings increasing sharply during the first half of 2026. However, the filing also highlights the need to balance investment returns with access to liquid funds and the capacity to meet customer obligations.

This consideration is particularly important given the company’s substantial savings balances and the possibility that multiple customers could seek to withdraw funds during periods of market uncertainty.

The extent to which OPay’s investments can be converted into cash within expected settlement periods, particularly during periods of financial stress, will therefore be relevant to assessing its ability to manage liquidity risks.

Investors will also be watching the sustainability of its investment income, the performance of its core payments business and its exposure to changes in domestic interest rates and financial market conditions.

Although the proposed listing could provide OPay with access to a broader pool of international investors, the final offering terms and the company’s subsequent market performance will depend on regulatory processes and investor demand.

For now, the disclosure of the $532.94 million portfolio offers a clearer picture of the growing contribution of investments to OPay’s earnings, while drawing attention to the liquidity, counterparty and investment-return risks that accompany its expanding financial services operations.