Six Nigerian banks report N3trn profit in 2024

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Six Nigerian commercial banks recorded N3.41 trillion profit after tax in the 2024 financial year, a figure that is greater than the N2.1 trillion recorded in the 2023 financial year.

This is notwithstanding the backdrop of mixed grievances of transactions and services, customer grievances, and the country's hard economic climate.

The figure represents a 62.38 percent increase over the figure posted in the 2023 financial year.

The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent, who monitored the banks' 2024 audited accounts listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) platform, says the banks together posted an increase in their gross earnings.

In addition, their profit before tax rose to N4.1 trillion in 2024, 42.7 percent above N9.61 billion in the corresponding period in 2023.

Banks that were considered include Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc and Wema Bank Plc.

The banks charged profit to equity holders, non-controlling interests, and earnings per share (basic and diluted).

In addition to its dividend, GTCO also announced a final dividend of N7.03 per share that brought the total dividend for 2024 to N8.03 per share, compared to N3.20 per share paid in 2023.

Zenith proposed a final dividend of N4.00 per share plus the N1.00 per share interim dividend, resulting in a total of N5.00 per share.

UBA paid a total dividend of N5.00 per share, Fidelity paid a final dividend of N2.10 per ordinary share, and Stanbic IBTC paid a final dividend of N3.00 from N2.20 paid in 2023.

Similarly, the banks' donation to non-political and charitable organizations also rose to N969 billion for the 2024 FY from their N2.6 billion donation in 2023.

Although, however, there were some of the customers' complaints that had been lodged by the banks.

GTCO had 941,241 and cleared it, settling 935,081 with 7,998 pending, while UBA had 3,210,708 and was able to clear 2,090,122 and had 1,120,907 pending by the time the 2024 FY closed.

Zenith Bank has a total of 203,787 and was able to settle 202,384 and had 1,403 complaints to settle.

Wema Bank has a good account of 783,461 and paid 780,063, having 11,372 complaints pending, including the number carried forward (C/F).

Reacting to these winds, financial analysts advised that the Central Bank of Nigeria must enhance its supervisory and monitoring function to deter banks from overcharging customers.

President of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, stated that the CBN's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) facilitated several banks to raise interest income.

Uwaleke stated that interest income led to an increase in lending rates but not a matching increase in savings rates.

He went on to state that other factors driving banks' profit exchange rate improvement were the depreciation of the Naira, which made banks with foreign-denominated assets benefit.

"Now how do we actually close this gap, this disconnec"t, between the risk sector and the financial sector, and how do we also make the bank customers also start to get a sense of the fortunes of banks, if one can put it that way?"

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has to indeed supervise and monitor the banks so that they charge fair prices to the customers.

"There is the suggested bank fee structure by the CBN for banks, but there is a need for the regulator to make sure that customers do not suffer the consequences of some of the inefficiencies we experience from some banks," he stated.

Uwaleke further stated that the CBN would also direct banks to inflate savings rates in tandem with lending rates.

"It is also the responsibility of the CBN to make sure that whenever the policy rate goes up, as we have witnessed in 2024, typically banks are quite swift to raise lending rates, but savings rates do not tend to shift as much.

So, the CBN ought to direct the banks on the difference between savings and lending rates and that it should not exceed a particular point.

Hence, savings rates must also rise in tandem with lending rates when policy rates are hiked," he opined.

The expert explained that the customers were also stakeholders in the banking industry, and thus the CBN had to safeguard them.

Past President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, stated that banks prefer to introduce all manner of charges to the detriment of their customers.

Unegbu lamented that a few of the customers were not willing to fight their banks in case of some 'illegal' charges. Banks are charging all kinds of even illegal charges, and if people complain, they won't react because they believe that the amount of money is insignificant."

”Customers are docile too; they are sleeping; they should wake up and take these banks to court for some of these illegal charges,” he said.

The client will ask, for instance, is it due to N50 that I'm heading to court?

"It is not the N50 but the principle behind it and the banks are taking advantage of this as a very good reason to scam customers of their hard-earned cash.

"If you charge N50 to 1,000 customers, you can do the math," he stated.

Unegbu urged the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN) to wake up to their role by compelling banks to be answerable for their 'unfair' treatment of customers.

A few of the bank customers interviewed by NAN claimed that their grievances to their banks concerning failed transactions and debits were still outstanding to be attended to by the banks.

Mrs. Catherine Itoha, a GTCO client, stated that the bank did not refund more than N20,000 the bank withdrew from her account through a series of failed Point of Sale (PoS) transactions for 11 months.

Itoha called for some banks and their staff to take a cue from morals of equity of practice when dealing with their customers.

"Customers make the banks exist so, we should be treated with fairness."

GTB debited me in around four different transactions that I had conducted, but so far, they have not reversed any of these amounts.

"I went to the bank, completed forms, and talked to their employees one-on-one, but still the problem was not resolved since last year," she explained.

Mr. Augustine Ode, a customer of Zenith Bank, called on the CBN to verify the excesses of some banks, which were alleged to short-change customers and reap immense profits.