Six Nigerian banks – Zenith Plc, First Bank Nigeria Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Diamond Bank Plc, have been listed among the top 1000 banks in the world by The Banker Magazine.
The six banks were ranked among The Banker Magazine’s Top 25 Banks in Africa in the magazine’s 2017 1000 Global Banks ranking.
Zenith Bank was placed first in Nigeria and 10th in Africa.
The bank was also ranked as the 430th bank in the world.
It was followed by First Bank, 12th in Africa and 567th in the world, while GTB emerged third in Nigeria, 13th in Africa and 588th in the global ranking.
Access Bank was named fourth in Nigeria, 14th in Africa and 628th globally while UBA emerged fifth in Nigeria, 22nd in Africa and 832 globally.
Diamond Bank was named the sixth largest bank in Nigeria, 24th in Africa and 881 in the world.
The Banker Magazine noted that Africa’s leading economies faced adverse conditions over the 2016 review period, as low commodity prices continue to shake the continent’s growth trajectory.
“Dealing with a shortage of foreign exchange, heightened political risk and volatile currencies, the performances of some regional lenders have suffered.
“Yet, as the rankings demonstrate, this is not a one-dimensional story. In some cases, African lenders have improved on their positions in the Top 1000 ranking, helped in part by prudent growth strategies and diversified business models.”
Zenith Bank had fallen on the list from seventh place last year to 10th in the 2017 Africa table following a 25 per cent fall in the bank’s Tier 1 capital, largely attributable to the poor performance of the naira over the review period.
The Banker Magazine noted that every Nigerian lender in the 2017 ranking experienced a significant reduction in Tier 1 capital.
UBA was also among the top five banks by return on capital in Africa which was led by three Egyptian.
State-owned National Bank of Egypt scoops the top spot with 66.8 per cent.
Commercial International Bank (CIB), a private lender, comes in second with 55.9 per cent.
In third place is Banque Misr on 53.3 per cent. Rounding off the top five are Angola’s Banco BIC and Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa, with 44 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.
South Africa’s Standard Bank Group topped the regional table with $8.6 billion in Tier 1 capital.
This represents a 15 per cent increase from the 2016 ranking, accompanied by a notable jump in the global table from 160 to 149.
Rounding out the top three positions are fellow South African lenders FirstRand and Nedbank, second and third, respectively.
FirstRand’s Tier 1 marginally decreased over the review period, dropping by 3.8 per cent.
Conversely, Nedbank posted a 24.7 per cent gain.
