Access Holdings, UBA, Zenith bank, 7 others report N322.26bn profit in 3 months

A total of 10 banks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reported N322.26billion profit before tax in the first three months of 2022, an increase of about 14 per cent from N282.41billion reported in the first three months of 2021.

The 10 banks also reported 11 per cent increase in profit after tax to N271.01billion in Q1 2022 from N244.65billion reported in Q1 2021.

Data gathered by Westernpost from the banks unaudited results for the period ended March 31, 2022 revealed that only Union Bank of Nigeria Plc reported 8.8 per cent drop in profit before tax, while Wema Bank grew its profit before tax by 119 per cent.

Zenith Bank still maintained its position as the most profitable bank in Nigeria, followed by Access Holdings Plc.

In the period under review, Zenith Bank reported 11.4 per cent increase in profit before tax to N67.99billion in Q1 2022 from N61.02billion in Q1 2021, while its profit gained about 10 per cent to N58.2billion from N53.06billion reported in Q1 2021.

Zenith Bank in a statement said,: “The Zenith Bank Group achieved a year-on-year (YoY) growth in gross earnings of 22 per cent from N157.3 billion reported in Q1 2021 to N191.5 billion in Q1 2022.

“This double-digit growth in the topline also spurred our bottom line as the Group recorded an 11per cent YoY increase in profit before tax, growing from N61 billion in Q1 2021 to N68 billion in Q1 2022. Profit after tax also grew by 10per cent  from N53.1 billion to N58.2 billion over the same period.

“Topline growth was mainly driven by the growth in interest income, fees on electronic products and trading income.

“Strong growth was recorded in Interest income which grew by 25per cent from N101.2 billion to N126.4 billion YoY in Q1 2022, as risk assets continue to grow with gradual improvement in pricing. Noninterest income grew by 12per cent from N51.2 billion to N57.2 billion YoY as the Bank continues to deploy its retail strategy thereby acquiring more customers and growing its electronic banking income from the increased volume of transactions across all channels.

“Going forward into the rest of the year, the Group will continue to focus on sustainable growth across all its business segments, deploy technology platforms and digital assets intuitively to serve the needs of its various customers in order to deliver enhanced returns to its stakeholders.”