In spite of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy, the banking industry still had an uptick as 10 banks which had released their nine months unaudited results on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)recorded a joint profit of N582.44 billion, a 3.6 percent improvement over N562.42 billion which they jointly made in the comparable period of 2019.
The banks which had released their nine months unaudited result include FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank and Unity Bank Pc.
Although some of the banks had seen a decline in their profits, profit- after- tax of the others improved during the nine months of 2020. Zenith Bank recorded the most profit as it made N159.31 billion at the end of the nine months period ended September 30, 2020, a 5.7 percent improvement over N150.72 billion it made in the comparable period of 2019.
Guaranty Trust Bank recorded the second largest profit despite a drop in its profitability. As against N146.98 billion which the bank made in the nine months period of 2019, its profit- after- tax went down by 3.2 percent to N142.28 billion.
Access Bank had seen one of the best increase in profits as its after tax profit rose by over 15 percent to N102.3 billion from N88.43 billion which it made in the comparable period of 2019. Fidelity Bank’s nine months profit also rose slightly to N20.46 billion compared to N19.05 billion which it made in the nine months period of 2019.
FBN Holdings was also able to record an improvement in its profit as after tax profit rose from N47.24 billion which it made in 2019 to N54.355 billion at the end of the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.
United Bank for Africa also recorded a profit of N77.13 billion by the end of the nine months period of 2020 as against N81.62 billion which it made in the comparable period of 2019. Sterling Bank had likewise seen its profit level drop slightly from N7.59 billion which it made in the nine months period of 2019 to N7.36 billion in the comparable period of 2020.
In total, the deposit base of the 10 banks rose to N28.123 trillion as at September 30, 2020 as against N22.73 trillion which it was as at December 31, 2019. Loans and advances to customers rose by 11 percent from N13.316 trillion as at December 31, 2019 to N14.8 trillion by the end of the nine months period ended September 30, 2020.
