November 02, (THEWILL) — Nigeria’s major banks posted estimated gross earnings of ₦10.8 trillion in H1 2025, a double-digit growth compared to equivalent period in 2024. Investigations revealed that despite a significant revenue growth, aggregated profit before tax (PBT) across these banks shows a decline.
This suggests that margin pressures, higher impairment charges, and cost escalations weighed on the sector. Operating expenses also recorded a higher trajectory reflecting the upward inflationary trend while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy rate showed only a slight ease.
Below is the performance of 10 surveyed banks during the period.
Zenith Bank Plc
Gross earnings: ₦2.50 trillion (H1 2025) vs ₦2.10 trillion (H1 2024) → +20%
Interest income: ₦1.8 trillion vs ₦1.1 trillion → +60%
PBT: ₦625.63 billion vs ₦727 billion → -13.9%
Strong revenue growth but profit fell—highlighting cost or risk headwinds.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO)
PBT: ₦600.9 billion (H1 2025) vs ₦1,004 billion (H1 2024) → -40.1%
Interest income/net interest income grew by 30% + Core income rising, yet profit plunged due to high base and likely one-off gains in the prior year.
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA)
Gross earnings: ~₦1.608 trillion vs ₦1.371 trillion → +17.3%
PBT: ₦388.4 billion from ₦402 billion → -3.3%
Modest revenue growth but slight profit decline signals margin strain.
Access Holdings Plc
Gross earnings: ₦2.50 trillion vs ₦2.20 trillion → +13.8%
Net interest income: ₦984.6 billion vs ₦513.4 billion → +91.8%
PBT: ₦320.6 billion vs ₦348.9 billion → -8.1%
PAT: ₦215.9 billion vs ₦281.3 billion → -23.3%
Huge growth in interest income, yet profitability slipped implying higher risk or cost burdens.
Wema Bank Plc
Gross earnings: ₦303.20 billion vs ₦178.63 billion → +70%
PBT: ₦101.2 billion vs ₦30.55 billion → +231%
A standout performer—strong growth on both top and bottom lines.
FCMB Group Plc
Gross revenue: ₦529.2 billion vs ₦374.5 billion → +41.3%
PBT: ₦79.3 billion vs ₦64.2 billion → +23%
Good conversion of earnings into profits relative to many peers.
Sterling Financial Holdings Co Plc
PBT: ~₦45.5 billion vs ₦17.3 billion → +162.6%
Strong turnaround. Smaller bank, higher growth trajectory.
Fidelity Bank Plc
Gross earnings: ₦555.8 billion vs ₦380.2 billion → +46.2%
PBT: ₦124.3 billion vs ₦76.3 billion → +62.9%
Impressive double-digit growth in both revenue and profit reflects effective execution and asset expansion.
First HoldCo Plc
Gross earnings: ₦1.66 trillion vs ₦1.40 trillion → +18.1%
Interest income: ₦1.44 trillion vs ₦947.7 billion → +51.7%
Net interest income: ₦904.8 billion vs ₦514.9 billion → +75.7%
Non-interest income: ₦189.4 billion vs ₦435.7 billion → -56.5%
Impairment charges: ₦185.4 billion vs ₦93.0 billion → +99.4%
PBT: ₦356.1 billion vs ₦412.0 billion → -13.6%
Core lending income did very well, but profit dropped due to non-interest decline and rising impairments.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc
Gross earnings: ₦516.63 billion vs ~₦382.12 billion → +35.2%
Interest income: ₦384.7 billion vs ₦246.1 billion → +56.3%
Net interest income: ₦316.0 billion vs ~₦174.5 billion → +81.3%
PBT: ₦243.7 billion vs ₦147.0 billion → +65.8%
Total assets: ₦8.12 trillion vs ₦6.91 trillion → +17.5%
One of the strongest performers—good asset growth, margin improvement, and profit expansion.
Sector-Wide Takeaways
Top-line growth across the board is solid, especially driven by interest income as rates remain elevated.
Profitability is diverging: some banks are growing profits strongly (Stanbic IBTC, Wema, FCMB, Fidelity), while others with strong revenue but falling profits highlight cost, risk or one-off headwinds (Zenith, GTCO, Access, First HoldCo).
Risk and cost management matter more than ever: high impairments, shrinking non-interest income, and elevated operating expenses are undermining results.
Balance sheets remain robust, but growth alone isn’t enough; quality of earnings, asset quality, and cost control will determine which banks sustain the success trend in H2 2025 and beyond.
The first half of 2025 underscores a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s banking sector. While top-line growth remains robust, underlying profitability is uneven. Rising interest income is lifting revenues, yet escalating costs, higher impairments, and shrinking non-interest income are testing the resilience of even the largest institutions.
As the sector moves into the second half, banks that can balance growth with disciplined cost and risk management will likely emerge stronger, while others may struggle to convert revenue gains into sustainable profits. The message is clear: size and scale alone no longer guarantee financial health; strategic agility and operational efficiency are the new benchmarks for success.
Nigerian banks are pushing to beat the recapitlisation deadline of March 2026 – through increased shareholder participation and other windows. As of the end of the first half of 2025, at least five banks had met the new capital thresholds issued by the CBN. They include Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Lotus Bank, and Jaiz Bank.
In March 2024, the CBN directed commercial banks with international authorisation to increase their capital base to N500 billion and national banks to N200bn, while those with regional authorisation are expected to achieve a N50 billion capital floor.
Similarly, non-interest banks with national and regional authorisations will need to increase their capital to N20 billion and N10 billion, respectively. CBN gave the banks a deadline of March 2026.
Access Bank was the first tier-1 lender to hit the N500bn new capital threshold for banks with international authorisation as set by the CBN. Its parent company, Access Holdings, announced in late December that it had received regulatory approvals for its N351 billion Rights Issue.
The Holdco said that with the success, the bank’s share capital would increase to N600 billion, N100 billion above the regulatory minimum requirement. With this feat, Access Bank was able to cross the threshold within the same year as the CBN directive.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze
