Nigerian banks are showing off huge balance sheets and record profits after tax, having had a fruitful runover in 2023.

Legit.ng analysis showed that the banks benefited enormously from naira depreciation and also interest income due to high lending rates.

Data obtained from Nigerian Exchange Limited showed that leading tier-one banks- Access Holdings, Zenith Bank, FBNH, GTCO and UBA recorded a total profit of N2.75 trillion.

The banks also recorded N5.07 trillion from interest incomes while forex gain contributed N2.64 trillion to the bank's strong performance.

Interest income is the amount paid to a bank by a customer for lending.

Breakdown of banks' performance

The banks also recorded N5.07 trillion from interest incomes while forex gain contributed N2.64 trillion to the bank's strong performance.

Interest income is the amount paid to a bank by a customer for lending.

Here is a snapshot of the bank's performance based on released financial statements for full year 2023.

Zenith bank

Zenith Bank recorded a stellar performance among the banks surveyed, with its profit after tax of N676 billion being the highest for 2023.

The bank also reported remarkable triple-digit growth of 125% in gross earnings to N2.13 trillion for the full year of 2023, up from N945.6 billion reported in 2022."

It also recorded significant growth in income from loans and advances to customers, reaching N671.92 billion.

In its financial statement, Zenith Bank also revealed that it made N228.98 billion in forex gains in 2023.

Access Holdings

Access Bank Holdings, the parent company of Access Bank, recorded the second-highest profit among the five banks.

Data shows that the bank reported a profit after tax of N619 billion and interest income of N1.65 trillion, which is a 99% growth compared to the previous year.

Customer loans and advances also increased to N747.22 billion, and forex gains for the year were N628 billion.

UBA

United Bank for Africa Plc also reported an exceptional and impressive performance across all its major indicators during the financial year ended 2023.

After paying its tax, the bank said it made a profit of N607 billion in 2023, a 257% increase from N170 billion reported in 2022.

While profit before tax grew by 277% to N758 billion, rising from N201 billion recorded at the end of the 2022 financial year. Also worth noting is that UBA recorded an interest income of N1.0 trillion and a forex gain of N659.3 billion.

GTCO

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, in its financial statement, reported a profit after tax of N539.6 billion. While its forex gains increased by 588.7% to N441.79 billion and Interest Income stood at N550 billion.

First Bank First Bank of Nigeria Holdings’ profit at the end of 2023 rose to N309.89bn, which is 127% higher than N136.17bn at the end of the corresponding period in 2022.

The bank recorded an interest income of N917.71 billion, a 66.27% increase from the N551.94 billion in 2022.

Also, more money was made from fees and commissions, which stands at N204.90 billion from N143.98 billion in the previous year.