By Omodele Adigun and Chinwendu Obienyi
Despite the high-interest rate environment, some Nigerian banks recorded rapid growth as their profits grew to N700 billion in nine months (9M) of 2022, Daily Sun analysis revealed.
It was expected that financial institutions, especially banks, would struggle to post decent results for the period under review, but a combination of investments in alternative channels, growth in customer acquisitions as well as huge transaction volumes in retail growth changed the supposed narrative in the banking sector.
The banks include Access Holdings Plc, First Bank of Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Union Bank and Zenith Bank Plc.
According to their financial results obtained from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX)’s website, Access Bank’s PAT grew N137.01 billion, First Bank recorded N85.7 billion while Fidelity Bank’s profit rose to N34.96 billion.
GTCO followed with N130.35 billion, UBA recorded N116.04 billion, Union Bank’s profit rose to N17.3 billion while Zenith Bank recorded N174.33 billion.
This meant that the banks’ profit grew to N695.79 billion in 9 months.
Sustaining the momentum from the previous year, Access Holdings Plc gross earnings grew by 30.2 per cent from N716.48 billion in 2021 to N933.07 billion in 2022. The bank’s profit before tax (PBT) grew to N147.30 billion from N135.07 billion while profit after tax (PAT) rose to N137.01 billion from N121.89 billion recorded in 2021.
Similarly, FBN Holdings signaled its firm return to profitability growth and industry leadership as its gross earnings grew by 27.5 per cent to N512.9 billion
The bank’s PBT recorded another strong growth of 119.1 per cent to N96.4 billion, whilst PAT also grew impressively by 142.1 per cent to N85.7 billion as the bank continued to reap the benefits of the changes to its business model in addition to revamping of the bank’s risk management and control architecture.
Fidelity Bank on its part, grew its revenue by N241.89 billion from N174.35 billion in 2021 PBT came in N37.79 billion as against N28.05 billion while PAT stood at N34.96 billion in the period under review from N26.51 billion.
GTCO’s PBT was 11.7 per cent year-on-year (y/y) higher at N169.72 billion, while PAT grew by 0.7 per cent y/y to N130.35 billion owing to the 74.9 per cent y/y increase in the income tax expense to N39.38 billion.
The revenue of UBA grew by 14.8 per cent to N564 billion from N491.10 billion. Overall, PBT was 13.3 per cent y/y higher at N138.49 billion, while PAT grew by 10.9 per cent y/y to N116.04 billion following a higher income tax expense of N22.45 billion (+27.1 per cent y/y).
Union Bank’s financial report showed that the bank’s PBT for the period under review rose by 14 per cent to N18.2 billion compared to N15.9 billion in the same period last year.
In the same vein, PAT also rose by 14.2 per cent to N17.3 billion from N15.2 billion in 2021. The bank explained that the growth in profits was supported by additional net interest income while its gross earnings rose by 12.4 per cent to N140.6 billion compared to N125.2 billion in the first nine months of 2021.
Zenith Bank reported a +26.5 per cent y/y increase in interest income to N390.76 billion, supported by the higher income from investment securities (+30.0 per cent y/y to N122.97 billion) and loan and advances to customers (+26.3 per cent y/y to N261.25 billion).
The bank’s revenue grew by 19.5 per cent to N629.91 billion in 2022 from N527.06 billion, PBT grew 12.6 per cent from N179.81 billion in 2021 to N202.55 billion while PAT stood at N174.33 billion.
Commenting on Access Holdings Plc’s result, analysts at Cordros Research, said the group’s performance remains strong in their view, particularly given the expansion in its non-core income while adding that they expect the growth trajectory to be sustained following the commencement of operations of the HoldCo’s payments businesses (Hydrogen Card, Hydrogen Pay & Hydrogen Switch).
Access Corporation, which builds on Access Bank’s scale and ethical standards has portfolio companies with significant complementarities, allowing the ecosystem to walk with customers across their life cycle while delivering value to stakeholders.
The institution had set its sights on how to deliver ambitious plans to transform the African financial services sector over the last 20 years.
Its Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Herbert Wigwe, said, “Looking ahead five years, Access Corporation is expected to be a leading financial and ecosystem player, with services spanning B2B and B2C marketplaces, B2B services, health, housing, digital, mobility content, mobility, core banking offerings, and other financial services such as insurance and wealth management”.