Despite a rather gloomy first three month of the year 2020, eight banks in the country were able record N228.66 billion profit after tax (PAT) for the first quarter as income from electronic transactions rose by nearly 16 per cent.
With the spread of Covid-19, banks had begun advising their customers to make more use of the electronic channels to avoid spreading the virus through handling of cash and with the lockdown of Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, customers in the tree states had been forced to make use of electronic channels.
The first quarter unaudited financials of Access Bank, FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First City Monument Bank, Stanbic IBTC, United Bank for Africa and Union Bank show a 15.98 per cent in earnings from electronic transactions which rose from N37.655 billion recorded in the first three months of 2019 to N43.675 billion in Q1 2020.
Access Bank and FBN holdings had the highest earnings from electronic channels recording N11.45 billion and N11.023 billion respectively. The e-business income for Access Bank had risen sharply by over 200 per cent from N3.61 billion recorded in Q1 2019, while that of FBN Holdings rose by 9.7 per cent compared to N10.05 billion it made in the comparable period of 2019.
United Bank for Africa had followed making N8.301 billion in Q1 2020, a 7.4 per cent improvement over N7.73 billion which it made in the comparable period of 2019, as Zenith Bank saw a decline of 37 per cent in its electronic banking earnings which dropped from N8.73 billion in Q1 2019 to N5.44 billion in Q1 2020.
Guaranty Trust Bank had posted a N2.49 billion in electronic banking transactions in Q1 2020 as against N3.18 billion which it recorded in Q1 2019, as FCBM e-banking earnings dropped slightly form N2.401 billion in Q1 2019 to N2.176 billion in Q1 2020, while Union Bank’ income from e-channels rose from N1.225 billion to N2.09 billion in Q1 2020.
Profitability was however on the rise for all the banks with the exception of Access Bank which saw its profit after tax decline slightly from N41.14 billion in Q1 2019 as it posted a PAT of N40.93 billion in the first three months of 2020.
GTB’s profit after tax stood at N50.07billion, as against N49.3 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2019, as its Loan Book grew by eight per cent to N1.622 trillion in March 2020. Also, its customers’ deposits grew by 9.3 per cent to N2.77 trillion in Q1 2020, up from N2.53 trillion in the same period in 2019.
UBA’s profit after tax for the period increased by five per cent to N30.1 billion, up from N28.6 billion during the previous comparable quarter, as Zenith Bank posted a profit of N50.52 billion, a slight improvement over N50.23 billion which it made in the comparable of 2019.
FBN Holdings had recorded a 52 per cent increase, having posted a PAT of N25.7 billion in the first quarter of 2020 compared to N15.79 billion which it had made in the comparable period of 2019, as Union Bank reported a PAT of N6.02 billion compared to NN5.27 billion which it made in Q1 2019.