Nine of Nigeria’s leading banks reported a combined profit after tax (PAT) of N4.115 trillion for the nine months ending September 2025, marking a 1.5 per cent decline from the N4.176 trillion recorded during the same period in 2024.
The banks are Access Holdings, Ecobank Transnational, GT Holdings, FBN Holdings, Sterling Holdings, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, UBA, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.
A Vanguard analysis of their financial statements revealed a mixed performance — five banks recorded profit growth, while four posted declines.
Collectively, the five banks that grew their profits — Wema Bank, Sterling Holdings, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC, and UBA — posted a 37 per cent year-on-year increase, rising from N1.28 trillion in 2024 to N1.753 trillion in 2025.
- Wema Bank led the pack with a 299 per cent jump in profit to N172.4 billion, up from N43.2 billion a year earlier.
- Sterling Holdings followed with a 130 per cent rise to N62.3 billion from N27.4 billion.
- Stanbic IBTC grew its profit by 52 per cent to N278.5 billion from N182.9 billion.
- Ecobank recorded a 43 per cent increase to N702.4 billion from N492 billion.
- UBA posted a modest 2.5 per cent growth to N537.5 billion, compared to N525.3 billion last year.
In contrast, Access Holdings, GT Holdings, FBN Holdings, and Zenith Bank saw their combined profits fall by 18.4 per cent, dropping from N2.897 trillion in 2024 to N2.362 trillion in 2025.
- Access Holdings recorded a 2.2 per cent decline to N448 billion from N458 billion.
- Zenith Bank’s profit fell 7.6 per cent to N764.2 billion from N827.3 billion.
- FBN Holdings posted an 18.4 per cent drop to N450.9 billion, down from N533.9 billion.
- GT Holdings suffered the steepest decline, down 35 per cent to N699.6 billion from N1.085 trillion in the same period of 2024.
Despite the overall decline, analysts note that the strong performance by mid-tier banks like Wema and Sterling highlights a shifting competitive landscape in Nigeria’s banking sector.
