A total of 12 commercial banks have recorded Profit After Tax (PAT) of N366. 452 billion in the first six months of 2017. Although, their profits took a hit from huge impairment charges, the amount is an improvement of N76.675billion higher than N289.777 billion booked by the lenders in the corresponding period of 2016.
The lenders are: First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Union Bank, Sterling Bank, Diamond Bank, Zenith Bank plc and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). Others are Access Bank, UBA, EcoBank, Fidelity Bank and Stanbic IBTC holdings.
For instance, First Bank of Nigeria Holdings recorded a N6.4 billion (17.9per cent) decline in PAT from N35.9 billion booked in 2016 to N29.5 billion in the first 6 months of 2017.
FCMB’s PAT declined by N12.7 billion to N3.0 billion in the first half of 2017 from N15.7 billion in the corresponding period of 2016.
Union Bank’s PAT slightly improved to N9.2 billion from N8.8 billion recorded last year partly because it booked a 36.8 per cent decrease in impairment charges and the lender did not give out too much of its deposits as loans.
Sterling Bank’s PAT decreased to N3.8 billion in H1: 2017 from N4.0 billion recorded in 2016. In the same way, Diamond Bank recorded slight improvement in its PAT from N9.1 billion in H1: 2016 to N9.3 billion in H1: 2017 while Zenith Bank recorded most impressive PAT of N75.3billion in the first half of 2017, compared to N35.5 billion recorded in 2016.
Next on the positive note is Guaranty Trust Bank which recorded a 16.6 per cent increase in PAT from N71.8 billion last year to N 83.7 billion this year. Access Bank recorded N39.5 billion PAT, representing 17.5 per cent increase from N33.6 billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
In the the same vein, UBA’s PAT increased by 56.2 per cent to N42.3 billion from N27.1 billion while that of Ecobank rose by 19.7 per cent to N37.7 billion from N31.5 billion recorded in the first half of 2016. Fidelity Bank Plc released its audited half year result for 2017 with improvement in Profit after Tax (PAT) by 65.6 per cent or N3.6 billion to N9.04 billion from N5.46 billion in H1 2016; while Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, recorded 113 per cent profit after tax (PAT) growth from N11.317 billion to N24.112 billion.