Top Banks Record N4.1trn Profit Amid Decline.

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Nine of Nigeria’s leading banks posted a combined profit after tax of N4.115 trillion for the nine months ending September 2025, reflecting a slight 1.5 per cent drop compared to the N4.176 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024. The banks involved are Access Holdings, Ecobank Transnational, GT Holdings, FBN Holdings, Sterling Holdings, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, UBA, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.

A review of their financial statements for the period showed that five banks recorded growth in profits, while four experienced declines. The five gainers—Wema Bank, Sterling Holdings, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC, and UBA—collectively increased their profit after tax by 37 per cent year-on-year, rising from N1.28 trillion in 2024 to N1.753 trillion in 2025.

Wema Bank led the pack with a 299 per cent rise in profit, growing from N43.2 billion to N172.4 billion. Sterling Holdings followed closely with a 130 per cent increase to N62.3 billion from N27.4 billion. Stanbic IBTC recorded a 52 per cent profit jump to N278.5 billion, compared to N182.9 billion the previous year, while Ecobank’s profit climbed by 43 per cent to N702.4 billion from N492 billion. UBA also achieved a modest 2.5 per cent improvement, moving from N525.3 billion to N537.5 billion.

On the other hand, four major banks—Access Holdings, GT Holdings, FBN Holdings, and Zenith Bank—recorded a combined decline of 18.4 per cent in their profits, falling from N2.897 trillion in 2024 to N2.362 trillion in 2025. Access Holdings’ profit slipped by 2.2 per cent to N448 billion from N458 billion, while Zenith Bank’s profit dropped by 7.6 per cent to N764.2 billion from N827.3 billion. FBN Holdings reported an 18.4 per cent fall to N450.9 billion from N533.9 billion, and GT Holdings experienced the steepest decline, with profit falling by 35 per cent to N699.6 billion from N1.085 trillion.

Despite the overall marginal decline in total profit, mid-tier banks such as Wema, Sterling, and Stanbic IBTC demonstrated impressive resilience and growth, cushioning the impact of reduced earnings among larger institutions like GT Holdings, Access, FBN, and Zenith.