FBN Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA), GTCO, Access Holdings and Zenith Bank, generally regarded as the top five tier-one Nigerian banks by market capitalisation posted combined gross earnings of N4.2 trillion in their 2023 half-year (H1) operations, a figure that is 6.7 percent less than 2022 full-year earnings.
The five banks achieved gross earnings of N4.2 trillion in H1, up from N1.96 trillion recorded in the corresponding period in 2022.
The H1 figure posted by the five banks is close to N4.5 trillion achieved in the 2022 full-year operations, despite the macroeconomic challenges. But operators and investors over the weekend, expressed hope over the sustainability of the performance, telling them to restructure to survive ongoing reforms.
A breakdown of the gross earnings of the banks for the 2023 H1 performance showed that United Bank for Africa (UBA) recorded the highest figure amounting to N981.8 billion as against N372.4 billion posted in the corresponding period in 2022, representing 164 per cent growth.
Zenith Bank followed with N967.3 billion, 139 per cent higher than N404.8 billion recorded in H1, 2022. Access Bank ranked third with 58 per cent increase in gross earnings to N940 billion from N591.8 billion achieved within the same period in 2022.
GTCO trailed with N672.6 billion, representing 181 per cent growth when compared to N239.3 billion recorded previously while FBN Holdings’ gross earnings also rose from N359.2 billion to N656.6 billion representing an increase of 82.8 percent.