Banks have recorded another round of extra-ordinary profits against the backdrop of foreign exchange revaluation gains arising from depreciation of the Naira.
The financial reports turned in to the regulators by leading banks indicated a profit before tax of N2.292 trillion just in the nine months of 2023.
About 63.6 per cent, amounting to N1.457 trillion of the profit came from foreign exchange related transactions.
The same banks made just N225.416 billion in the corresponding period of 2022, indicating forex profit growth rate of 546.5%.
Meanwhile, according to details of the financial reports of the nine banks released by the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, the profit of N2.292trillion also shows a staggering increase of 156.4 per cent against N897.717billion recorded in the corresponding period of last year, 9M’22.
The nine banks which Financial Vanguard reviewed their results include FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank, GTBank Group, UBA, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Wema Bank, Sterling Bank Holdings, Fidelity Bank and Jaiz Bank.
Other major banks yet to release their figures include, Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (ETI), Union Bank, Polaris Bank, FCMB, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, FSDH Merchant Bank, NOVA Merchant Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Providus Bank, and others.
While these banks have been seen by analysts as late filers, Ecobank had informed the Exchange in letter stating: “ETI, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group with banking operations in 34 countries, notifies the general public that it is currently undergoing an external audit of the 2023 Third Quarter Financial Results of Ecobank Group for the period ended September 30, 2023 (“the Audited Results”).
“The Board and Management of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated took the decision to undergo an audit of the 2023 Third Quarter Financial Results of the Ecobank Group.