Nigerian banks rally N21trn deposits in 3 months

In what appears as growing confidence in the banking sector, Nigerian banks increased deposits by N21 trillion in the first quarter of 2023.

The new deposits, according to a report, push up bank deposits to N136 trillion.

This was contained in the audited reports and regulatory filings by commercial banks and their holding companies.

According to the audited report, the total deposits in the banking sector rose by 63 per cent from about N70.5 trillion in 2022 to about N115 trillion in 2023.

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The data, provided to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed impressive growth across all cadres and tiers of banks, with the middle tier and newly established banks competing well with the first-generation and largest banks.

Experts say the implication of the report was that the banks have recorded sustained growth in deposits despite the challenging macroeconomic environment.

From tier 1 banks to tier tier 2, among others, all banks have recorded steady growth as the report indicated.

For instance, Zenith Bank’s total deposit, which rose by 69 per cent from N8.98 trillion in 2022 to N15.17 trillion in 2023, closed March 2024 at N16.78 trillion.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) has doubled its deposits since 2022, rising from N4.6 trillion in 2022 to N7.55 trillion and N9.2 trillion in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 respectively.

United Bank for Africa (UBA)’s deposits grew from N10.86 trillion in 2022 to N14.9 trillion in 2023 and closed at N18.4 trillion in March 2024.

FCMB Group has grown deposits steadily from N2.07 trillion in 2022 to N3.4 trillion in 2023 and N3.7 trillion in the first quarter 2024.

Premium Trust Bank, which commenced operations in April 2022 as a national bank, grew its deposit base by 382 per cent from N55 billion in December 2022 to N265 billion in December 2023. It closed the first quarter 2024 at N309 billion.

Also, Fidelity Bank’s deposits rose steadily from N2.58 trillion in 2022 to N4.02 trillion in 2023 and closed in first quarter 2024 at N4.71 trillion. Access Holdings saw a quantum jump from N11.3 trillion in 2022 to N19.8 trillion in 2023 and N24.7 trillion in March 2024.

Sterling Holding Financial Company crossed the N2 trillion mark to N2.15 trillion in first quarter 2024 from N1.4 trillion and N1.8 trillion in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The rise in deposits has made it seamless for banks to increase lending to the private sector, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and support the growth of the economy.

A recent report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that banks’ credits to the private sector grew by N30 trillion in one year.

Similarly, banks have recorded significant growth in profitability in 2023, with average profit growth in the sector in double digits. The growth in profitability, according to experts, was largely due to business expansions, but in several instances, boosted by gains from foreign exchange (forex) revaluation gains.

Speaking with our correspondent, a financial analyst, Ayokunle Olubunmi of Augusto, attributed the rise in deposits to revaluation carried out by the banks to increase their foreign exchange earnings.

He also said the rising interest rates also contributed to the rise, while projecting a further increase before the year runs out.

“Remember some of these deposits are actually in USD and given the changes in the operation of the foreign exchange market in which the CBN wants banks to be sourcing the FX directly, you would see that a lot of banks have been strategically positioning themselves to attract foreign currency deposits and with the devaluation that you have noticed that by the time you convert those foreign currencies to naira, the value will increase,” Olubunmi stated.