Prime Business Africa
Wema Bank recorded N179.96 billion interest income in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, exceeding the N110.08 billion reported in the corresponding period in 2025, representing a 63.47 percent increase.
According to the company’s consolidated and separate financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2026, interest expenses grew by 50.69 percent year-on-year.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIt was gathered that the bank paid out N80.53 billion in interest expense between January and March 2026, surpassing the N53.44 billion incurred during the same period the previous year.
With interest income rising faster than interest expense, Wema Bank saw a 75.53 percent year-on-year increase in net interest income, which grew from N56.64 billion to N99.42 billion.
However, N1.43 billion net impairment loss on financial assets impacted the bank’s earnings in Q1, compared to the N1.81 billion reported in the first quarter of last year.
While Wema Bank’s net impairment loss on financial assets declined by 20.95 percent during the period under review, net fee and commission income decreased by 30.57 percent.
Net fee and commission income contributed N17.39 billion to Wema Bank’s earnings in the first quarter, below the N25.05 billion contributed in the corresponding period in 2025.
However, the decline was offset by a 288.22 percent increase in net trading income, which surged to N5.83 billion in Q1, compared to the N1.5 billion reported in Q1 2025.
Also, other income dropped to N472.06 million between January and March 2026, falling short of the N561.6 million posted in Q1 the year before, indicating a 15.94 percent decrease.
The impact was cushioned with a 46.03 percent increase in operating income, as it increased to N122.85 billion in the first three months of 2026, up from the N84.12 billion recorded in Q1 2025.
In addition, personnel expenses gulped N18.02 billion between January and March this year, compared to the N12.98 billion reported in the same period the previous year.
Despite the 38.86 percent increase in personnel expenses, Wema Bank recorded 76.08 percent growth in profit before tax (PBT), as it closed Q1 2026 with N72.56 billion, up from N41.21 billion in Q1 2025.
Out of the pretax profit, Wema Bank paid N9.43 billion in income tax expense in the first quarter of 2026, exceeding the N5.35 billion incurred in the corresponding period last year.
Following the 76.08 percent increase in tax deduction, Wema Bank’s profit after tax (PAT) increased to N63.13 billion in the first three months of this year, compared to the N35.85 billion PAT earned in Q1 2025.
Meanwhile, Wema Bank was among the five best-performing bank shares in Q1 2026.
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Prime Business Africa is a business, economy and policy news platform founded in 2021 by veteran journalist and media scholar, Dr Marcel Mbamalu, after he left The Guardian as Editor.
Dr Mbamalu, who serves as Founder and Publisher, set up Prime Business Africa to deliver sharp, data-driven reporting on Nigeria’s markets, trade, investment, and governance trends for decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and policy leaders.
He also writes The Bottom Line, a backpage column for Punch Newspaper every Thursday.
Under his leadership, Prime Business Africa combines deep newsroom experience with a focus on accountability journalism, aiming to bridge information gaps between Africa’s private sector and the global economy.
