Nigeria’s Top 5 Banks’ Earnings Rise Above N1.5trn, Profit Up By 39.4%

Despite the backdrop of the positive growth reported for the Nigerian economy in the second quarter 2021 amidst the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in Nigeria oil production, a few numbers of commercial banks have recorded impressive growth in their revenues.

Findings from the financial results of five leading banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) show that the combined gross earnings grew marginally.

1. Zenith Bank Plc: The financial institution had announced its unaudited results for the nine months period ended 30 September 2021 with a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of NGN180 billion, reflecting a 1% growth over the NGN177 billion.According to the Group’s unaudited nine months financial results presented to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), gross earnings increased by 2% from NGN509 billion to NGN519 billion largely due to growth in current account maintenance fees as well as fees from electronic products during the period.

The Group grew its net earnings through a reduction in the cost of funds while keeping the cost of risk flat—this strengthened Earnings Per Share (EPS) by 1% to NGN5.11.

This culminated in growth in net interest income of 4%, from NGN225 billion recorded at the end of Q3 2020 to NGN235 billion in the current period.

2. Fidelity Bank Plc: It reported a 31.4 per cent increase in its profit before tax for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

The bank said its pretax profit rose to N28.1bn in the period under review from N21.3bn in 2020.

According to its unaudited financial statement obtained from the issuer’s portal of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, its gross earnings grew by 12.5 per cent to N174.4bn from N155bn in the corresponding period of 2020. The bank’s total assets rose by 15.4 per cent to N3.18tn from N2.76tn.

GTCO, however, grew its assets from N4.94tn to N5.14tn, while cash and cash equivalents rose to N757.75bn from N592.66bn.

3. Union Bank of Nigeria Plc: The bank released its Q3 2021 Unaudited results for the period ended September 30th, 2021.

The financial institution’s gross Earnings grew by 1.4% to N123bn from N121bn in the previous quarter while its profit before tax declined by 8% to N14.2bn.

The bank, however, noted that its profit after tax declined by 11% to N13.4bn but the net Assets grew by 6.2% from N249bn to N265bn.

4. Sterling Bank Plc: The bank released its Q3 2021 Unaudited results for the period ended September 30th, 2021 as its gross earnings grew by 7.2% to N109bn from N102bn in the previous quarter.

Also, the financial institution’s profit before tax grew by 23% to N9.9bn, and the profit after tax grew by 28% to N9.5bn.

According to the bank, net Assets grew by 1.4% from N136bn to N138bn. Share Price Currently Stands at N1:49k.

5. The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc: The bank recently announced impressive performance in its unaudited financial results for the third quarter (Q3) ended September 30, 2021.

Specifically, the bank’s gross earnings rose to N490.3 billion, up from the N454.4 billion recorded in September 2020, while operating income grew by 13 per cent year-on-year to close at N331.7 billion as at September 2021, up from N293.7 billion achieved a year earlier.

In the report filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), UBA reported a 37 per cent rise in profit before tax to close at N123.4 billion, compared to N90.4 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2020, while profit after tax rose by 36 per cent to N104.6 billion, up from the N77.1 billion recorded a year earlier.

The bank’s annualised return on average equity for Q3 2021 stood at 19.2 per cent, compared to the 16.4 per cent recorded in the similar period of 2020.

PBA Reporter