13 Nigerian Banks make top 1,000 banks list
Thirteen Nigerian banks are listed among the 'Top 1000 World Banks,' released by The Bankers magazine, owned by the Financial Times Group, London.
Zenith Bank Plc, First Bank Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, GTB, in that order, were the top three Nigerian banks in the ranking.
Other nNigerian banks in the list are Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank, Skye Bank, Diamond Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Union Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, in that order.
According to a report from the Country Representative, Nigeria, The Banker magazine, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, at the weekend, this year's ranking saw the return of Union Bank to the league of top global banks.
'Zenith Bank moved 35 places from 322 in the world last year to 287; First Bank moved from 338 to 367, Guaranty Trust Bank moved to 417 from 455; Access Bank moved to 506 from 541 and UBA moved to 553 from 563,' he stated.
These movements, according to analysts, is a good sign of the improvements of the soundness of the Nigerian banks among the world global banks and the robust monetary policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Ogedengbe stressed that the ranking was usually based on the definition of Tier-1 Capital as set out by Basel's Bank for International Settlements, BIS, and that it aimed to show global international banks' soundness in relation to the Basel guidelines on capital adequacy.
He further explained that the percentage change in the Tier-1 Capital, which underlined the strength of banks, for Zenith Bank increased by 23.82 per cent, the highest in the wholly Nigerian banks that made the ranking.
'In the capital asset ratio of soundness parameter, Zenith Bank came top at 17.70 per cent followed by Guaranty Trust Bank at 16.23 per cent. Third is Fidelity Bank at 15.67 per cent, Standard Chartered Nigeria is fourth at 13.38 per cent followed by FCMB at 12.00 per cent and First Bank at 11.96 per cent; Access Bank at 11.60 per cent; Stanbic IBTC at 11.55 per cent; Ecobank at 11.14 per cent; Skye Bank at 9.90 per cent; UBA at 7.65 per cent; Diamond Bank at 7.31 per cent; and Union Bank at 6.35 per cent,' he added.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)<601398.SS> has leapfrogged a pair of U.S. banks to top a global ranking of banks with the most capital, highlighting the growing size and importance of Chinese lenders.
ICBC topped The Banker magazine’s annual list of the top 1,000 banks for the first time, relegating Bank of America to third from first, while JPMorgan Chase remained second. ICBC was third last year.
Britain’s HSBC , which gains much of its earnings from Asia, was fourth in The Banker’s list, with China Construction Bank (CCB)<601939.SS> ranked fifth.
China had four banks in the top 10 and 96 in the Top 1,000. Its top four lenders – ICBC, CCB, Bank of China <601988.SS> and Agricultural Bank of China <601288.SS> – filled the top positions for profit in 2012. ICBC’s $49 billion (32 billion pounds) profit put it top of the profit table for a third successive year.
Total profit for the biggest 1,000 banks is now back close to levels achieved before the 2007/09 financial crisis, but the regional share has shifted significantly, The Banker said.
In 2006 European banks accounted for 46 percent of global profits and 58 percent of assets, but last year that had dropped to less than 2 percent of profits and 43 percent of assets.
Asia’s banks have lifted their share of profits to 56 percent from 19 percent in the same time and increased their share of assets to 35 percent from 22 percent.
Spain’s Bankia posted the biggest loss last year at $33 billion, with six of the 10 biggest losses coming from Spain, the magazine estimated.