The combined total assets of six of Nigeria’s biggest listed banks rose 6.73 per cent to N195.08tn on 30 September, 2026, from N182.79tn at the same point in 2025. Profit after tax grew 7.50 per cent to N3.11tn from N2.90tn, according to their unaudited financial statements.
The six lenders are Access Holdings Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Zenith Bank Plc, First HoldCo Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. Their combined balance sheets grew by N12.29tn over the period.
In separate phone interviews with The PUNCH, banking analysts said the expansion was positive but concentrated.
An Associate, Investment Research and Consulting at Afrinvest, Olamide Ologunagbe, said, “The 6.73 per cent growth in the combined asset base of the six banks to N195.08tn is a positive indicator of balance-sheet expansion. However, there is a difference between growth in asset size and improvement in asset quality or earnings capacity.”
Five of the six banks expanded their balance sheets. First HoldCo and Zenith together contributed N9.01tn of the N12.29tn gain, about 73 per cent. Growth came mainly from larger holdings of investment securities and a rise in lending.
“However, growth appears to have been driven partly by increased holdings of investment securities, reflecting banks’ preference for government securities amid elevated interest rates,” Ologunagbe said.
“First HoldCo and Zenith accounted for 73 per cent of the aggregate increase, indicating that expansion was concentrated among a few players,” she added.
A Senior Associate, Financial Services Research at CardinalStone, Ngozi Odum, said, “For the banks, the balance sheet is growing, but slowly. You can also see that FirstHoldco and ZenithBank contributed most of this growth, which reflects their size and market share.”
Access Holdings remained the largest bank by assets at N52.60tn, up 0.78 per cent from N52.20tn.
As of 30 September, 2026, Access Holdings’ assets stood at N52.60tn, Ecobank at N47.92tn, Zenith Bank at N34.39tn, First HoldCo at N32.20tn, GTCO at N18.37tn and Stanbic IBTC at N9.60tn.
Ecobank’s naira total assets were flat, slipping 0.11 per cent to N47.92tn from N47.97tn. In dollar terms, its assets rose 10.9 per cent to $35.96bn from $32.43bn.
Odum said the naira figure understates the bank’s performance. “It is best to analyse ETI in dollars because it is a pan-African bank, and currency movements – in this case, the naira – may misrepresent the movements in the business,” she said.
She said the naira had appreciated by 7.5 per cent against the dollar since the start of the year, so growth in dollar assets translated into a much smaller gain in naira terms.
“This is why relying on Naira values can be misleading,” Odum said.