With over six months gone in the year, 2022, commercial banks in Nigeria have begun to disclose their profit before tax for the first half of the year.
Profit before tax (PBT) is a measure of a company’s profitability that looks at the profits made before any tax is paid. It matches all the company’s expenses, which include operating and interest expenses, against its revenues but excludes the payment of income tax.
The announcement is part of the statutory responsibility of commercial banks to the public as instructed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Commercial banks in Nigeria, within the first six months of the year, were faced with challenges including continued supply-chain interruptions due to COVID-19, the Russia and Ukraine conflict, and the resultant rise in prices of global commodities and foreign exchanges accessibility.
Recall that CBN said banks accessed N4.4 trillion through the Standard Lending Facility (SLF) within three months.
From June to August, the total SLF stood at N4.44 trillion with June accounting for over 43.3 percent of the amount accessed in the period. The amount scaled down from N1.93 trillion in June to N1.46 trillion in July. It dropped further to 1.06 trillion last month; while in May, the SLF stood at N953.6 billion.
What Banks Generated
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa’s profit before tax rose by 12.6 per cent to N85.7bn in the first half of 2022 from N76.2bn recorded in the same period of 2021. The tier1 lender’s gross earnings rose by 17.8 per cent to N372.4bn from N316bn in the same period of 2021 financial year.
Operating income also grew by 20.1 per cent to N256bn in the period, while the firm’s profit after tax closed the first half at N70.3bn, up by 16.1 per cent compared to the N60.6bn of the same period in 2021.
For Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, the profit before tax rose by 11 percent to N103.2bn as of the end of June 2022 from N93.1bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
The Group’s loan book (net) increased by 1.8 per cent from N1.80tn recorded as of December 2021 to N1.83tn in June 2022, while deposit liabilities increased by 6.4 per cent from N4.13tn in December 2021 to N4.39tn in June 2022.
Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio stayed closed at 22.0 per cent, while asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 loans ratio and Cost of Risk closed at 6.2 percent and 0.2 per cent in June 2022 from 6.0 percent and 0.5 per cent in December 2021, respectively.
Zenith Bank Plc grew its gross earnings by 17 per cent from N346bn in the first half of 2021 financial period to N405bn in the corresponding period of 2022. Its profit before tax grew 11 per cent year-on-year from N117bn to N130bn. Earnings per share also grew from N3.38 to N3.55 over the same six-month period.
The Group also recorded an 11 per cent year-to-date increase in total customer deposits to close the period at N7.15tn. The retail strategy of the Group continues to deliver outstanding results as retail deposits grew by 17 percent from N1.82tn to N2.13tn.
Fidelity Bank Plc posted a profit before tax of N25.1 billion for its half-year 2022 operations, against N20.6 billion achieved in the corresponding period in 2021.
An analysis of the bank’s half year performance showed that PBT rose by 21.6 per cent, from N20.6 billion to N25.1 billion, while gross earnings increased by 37.9 percent from N154.8 billion on account of 52.9 per cent growth in interest income. Also, the bank grew total deposits by 13.1 per cent to N2.29 trillion driven by double-digit growth in low-cost deposits.
Union Bank Plc recorded a profit before tax of N12.3 billion in its unaudited financial statements for the period ended 30th June, 2022, representing a rise by 6.7% from N11.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.
The Bank’s financial results sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX show that gross earnings went up 12.5% to 87.4billion from N77.7billion in HI’21 driven by higher earning assets.
Ecobank Group has reported 24% growth in unaudited H1 2022 profit before tax to $261 million from $210 million posted the prior-year period.
According to the group in a statement, if adjusted for the impact of foreign currency translation (or at constant currency), PBT increased by 53%, driven by positive operating leverage. In addition, PBT increased in each of its business lines with Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), Consumer Banking (CSB) and Commercial Banking (CMB), growing their PBTs by 33%, 43%, and 15%, respectively, in the first half of 2022.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has posted a profit of N31 billion for the first half of the year 2022, a 36% high from the N23 billion it reported in the first half of last year.
Amid an inflationary period witnessed in the first six months of the year 2022, the company saw its gross earnings rise by 42 billion from N93 billion in the half year 2021 to reach N135 billion in half year 2022.
The FCMB Group Plc reported a growth in earnings, revenue, deposits, loans and asset under management growth in its half year 2022, H1’22, financial results.
The Group recorded a profit before tax of N15.4 billion, a 73.2 percent year-on-year growth compared to N8.9 billion in 2021 and double-digit growth across its business segments: 84.2% in the Banking Group, 42.7% in Consumer Finance, 41.9% in Investment Management, and 253.8% in Investment Banking.
Unity Bank Plc has announced a gross earnings of N27.6 billion for the first half of 2022 ended June 30. The figure represented a growth of 17.09 per cent compared with N23.6 billion posted in the comparative period of 2021.
The bank’s profit before tax during the period under review rose by 23 per cent to N1.8 billion from N1.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2021. Profit after tax for the period equally increased by 23 per cent to close at N1.6 billion from N1.38 billion in the preceding period.