PREMIUM TIMES releases maiden annual bank performance report

PREMIUM TIMES has announced the release of its maiden annual bank performance report.

The magazine, a painstaking coverage of Nigeria’s banking sector amid the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, was released in print Monday, the paper said.

It provides a compelling examination of how 14 listed commercial banks and five unlisted others performed in a year dominated by a devastating pandemic.

In addition to distilling banks’ financial reports to highlight their earnings, profits, assets and several other key parameters, the magazine addresses salient topics that reveal the banks’ struggle with Nigeria’s economic difficulties of that year.

There are also reports on the earnings of banks’ top officials and the gender imbalance on their boards.

“This is an industry flagship that provides unmatchable clarity on the defiance, successes, and failures of our lead financial institutions during one of Nigeria’s most challenging economic years,” said Idris Akinbajo, PREMIUM TIMES managing editor.

“Our aim is to make it easier for readers to better understand the workings of an industry that plays a high-priority role in any country’s economic life.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic presented the world with a once-in-a-lifetime health and economic crisis in 2020, shutting the global economy and battering businesses, it merely compounded pre-existing problems for Nigerian banks.

The impact of lockdowns on investments and public expenditure that provide banking oxygen, worsened inflation and currency problems, as well as sometimes hard-to-meet monetary policies.

Banks’ responses to the twin issues were varied, the magazine shows with articles, infographics, and visualizations.

While some banks shut units deemed unprofitable or unsustainable, others restructured or opened promising new lines.

Access, Sterling and Guaranty Trust, for instance, restructured into holding companies, while Stanbic IBTC is establishing a life insurance unit.

In response to the rising fintech threat, banks moved towards agency and digital banking. Zenith Bank said its multiple digital products, including EazyMoney, helped push its customer strength to 13.1 million from 9.5 million in 2019.

Banks reported a moderate growth with none of the 19 commercial banks analysed reporting a loss. Assets rose 28 per cent to N56 trillion with the little-known Globus Bank recording the fastest pace of asset rise.

Fifteen banks paid N2.7 billion for various violations, including breaching a rule on using forex sourced in the Nigerian market to import textile, and violating money laundering procedures.

The bank report is PREMIUM TIMES’ second print product, and is expected to run annually.

The magazine sells for N5000 and is available at PREMIUM TIMES’ offices and designated bookshops and newsstands. Digital version of the publication can also be purchased via the PREMIUM TIMES online store.