Four Tier1 banks in the country, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank advanced a total of N7.193 trillion to both their individual and corporate customers in the 2017 financial year.
This was contained in the 2017 audited financial results submitted by the banks to the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The banks also disclosed that they made a total of N488.959 billion in the year under review just as they collected a total of N10.476 trillion from customers in the same year.
The breakdown shows that United Bank for Africa offered a total of N1.650 trillion loans to its customers in the year under review from N1.405 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016, Access Bank advanced a total of N1.995 trillion as against N1.809 trillion in 2016.
Zenith Bank, which offered its customers a total of N2.289 trillion in 2016, recorded N2.100 trillion in 2017 while Guaranty Trust Bank also recorded a total of N1.448 trillion to customers from N1.588 trillion it did in the corresponding period of 2016.
In all, the banks recorded a N2 billion or 0.03 per cent improvement from N7.191 trillion they recorded in 2016 to N7.193 trillion.
The four banks recorded N83.363 billion or 20.55 per cent improvement in profit after tax in the year under review when they raked in N488.959 billion from N405.596 billion they posted in 2016, while profit before tax of these banks rose by N86.28 billion or 17.159 billion from N502.826 billion to N589.106 billion.
Further breakdown shows that Zenith Bank posted a profit after tax of N177.900 billion in 2017 from N129.652 billion in 2016; Guaranty Trust Bank recorded N170.469 billion from N132.280 billion in 2016.
United Bank for Africa’s profit rose from N72.264 billion in 2016 to N78.590 billion, while Access Bank’s profit stood at N62.0billion in 2017 from N71.400 billion it recorded in 2016.
The N10.476 deposits from customers recorded by these banks came out of N2.062 trillion recorded by Guaranty Trust Bank as against N1.986 trillion it posted in 2016 while Access Bank recorded a total of N2.344 trillion deposits from its customers in 2017 as against N2.089 trillion it collected in 2016.
United Bank for Africa also recorded a deposit of N2.733 trillion from its customers against N2.485 recorded in 2016, while Zenith Bank recorded N3.437 trillion from its customers in 2017 as against N2.983 trillion it recorded in 2016.
Commenting on the results, Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Bank said: “Our operating performance in 2017 was impacted by the residual effects of macro-economic conditions of 2016, characterised by slow economic expansion and adverse credit conditions, which resulted in making conservative provisions on our loan book.
“Despite the macro and regulatory headwinds, our underlying business remained strong as reflected in the gross earnings growth of 20 per cent to N459 billion in 2017. We grew our loan book to position it for improved earnings, whilst driving deposit mobilisation from targeted segments to diversify our funding base.”
In his own reaction, Kennedy Uzoka, the GMD/CEO United Bank of Africa, said: “the results, underlines the success of our strategy of expanding across Africa, diversifying revenues and capturing the broader business opportunities inherent in Africa’s growth. The results reinforce the sustainability of our business model and the capacity to deliver superior long-term return to shareholders as the economic and business environment improves.”
“In 2017, we made strong progress in our strategic initiative of dominating transaction banking across all our countries of operation, gaining market share in all lines of our business. Even as the non-oil sectors of our largest country of operation, Nigeria, remained relatively weak, we still grew earnings by 20 per cent to N462 billion, a third of which is attributable to non-funded income,” he further noted.