By Omoh Gabriel
LAGOS — Four Nigerian banks have been ranked among the best 500 brands in the world. The ranking which was done by a London-based company and published in The Banker named FirstBank of Nigeria Plc as the number one bank brand in Nigeria in its current Top 500 World Bank Brands Ranking.

According to the Brand Finance ranking, FirstBank has the highest brand value in Nigeria at $170 million and is closely followed by Guaranty Trust Bank with $169 million. Zenith Bank has a brand value of $147 million with United Bank for Africa having a brand value of $121 million. The banks’ brands also did Nigeria proud as the country is among the World’s Top 50 by Total Brand Value by Country.

Nigeria leads the continent outside of Southern Africa. South Africa has a total brand value of $8,207 million followed by Nigeria’s $607 million with Morocco completing the Africa representation with $463 million.

According to a release by the Country Representative, Nigeria, The Banker, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, the publication that carried out the ranking in association with Brand Finance, First Bank came top amongst the Nigerian banks and was joined in the ranking by Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa.

Apart from the four, no other Nigerian bank made the ranking.

Brand Finance Plc is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy with support for business needs in different areas including technical valuations for accounting, tax and legal purposes ; valuations in support of commercial transactions (acquisitions, divestments, licensing and joint ventures) involving different forms of intellectual property; and valuations as part of a wider mandate to deliver value-based marketing strategy and tracking, thereby bridging the gap between marketing and finance.

According to the Top 500 Bank Brands report, though there are numerous ways of calculating brand value, Brand Finance uses methods recognised by courts and tax authorities. The valuations of the brand take into account data on the whole financial group and brand-specific financial data. These are however broken down into different streams such as product lines and geographical locations. Brand Finance uses a royalty relief method that values the brand based on what would be paid to use the brand if it were owned by a third party.

In the Top 500 World Bank Brands 2012, South Africa has ten banks, Nigeria has four banks and Morocco has two banks. Total global bank brand value is $746,752 million dollars with Africa contributing $16,283 million representing 2.18 per cent of the world’s total brand value. The amount shows a drop in world’s brands value which was $855,025 million in 2011.

This, according to the Global Transaction Services Editor of The Banker, Jane Cooper is a function of the woes in the wider economy. A position that is supported by the CEO of Brand Finance, Mr. David Haigh who said that the financial crisis “has thrown up the issue of the brands’ origin” and that “the ones that have maintained their reputation can be characterized by country”.

The top ten bank brands in the world remain in Europe, Americas and Asia. The number one bank brand in the world is HSBC, domiciled in the United Kingdom. It is followed by Wells Fargo, Bank of America (both from the USA), Santander (Spain), Citi, American Express (both from the USA), BNP Paribas (France), Bradesco (Brazil) and China Construction Bank (China).

http://www.google.com/search?q=Top+500+Banking+Brands+2012&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=

At least they're doing better than Nigerian universities in the rankings. But how come it's only banks that made the list. What happened to companies like MTN, Dangote, Reltel etc.

Its a bank rating by brand and by brand means public perception and the value of goodwill. The are not tangible but it shows the strength of a brand anyway

afam4eva:

At least they're doing better than Nigerian universities in the rankings. But how come it's only banks that made the list. What happened to companies like MTN, Dangote, Reltel etc.

Is Reltel still operating?

My bed is doing a better job as a "safe" than all Nigerian banks.

Nice, but we are miles behind South Africa. Just look at the gap

J12:

Is Reltel still operating?

Yes, they are. They own ZOOM, the internet service provider. Though they're no more a force to reckon with like before.

Ileke-IdI:

My bed is doing a better job as a "safe" than all Nigerian banks.

Can I be your friend pleeeeasssss

Good to hear

four shame on the others

Well a million tanx 2 regulators in that sector atleast s'thing 2 show dat Nigeria is a complete write-off. A wake-up call 4 ot her aspects of d economy and social well being

Did hear someone mention Reltel? Reltel or Doomobile does not worth more than NGN2m.

Great development. Nigeria is becoming one of the emerging ecomomy in the world and there's still possibilities, we may achieve Vision 2020, Folks, have faith.

good news.

Well, this is a welcome development. Nonetheless, we(the government) need to strive higher and apply the same muscle used in regulating the banking industry to regulate other facets of our economy especially crude oil and manufacturing sectors!

na smal smal we go reach there.

Thats a good development. Shows that we are making headway with our banking reforms.

efisher:

Nice, but we are miles behind South Africa. Just look at the gap

Did you think we were on any level with South Africa?
As far as brands go, SA is the USA of Africa. They have their homegrown brands which are more valuable than some European brands.

SURPRISE! So GTB comes after First bank followed by Zenith.I never knew Gtb has overtaken those banks.Wonders shall never end!

Ndata:

SURPRISE! So GTB comes after First bank followed by Zenith.I never knew Gtb has overtaken those banks.Wonders shall never end!

In terms of brand value, this is different from enterprise value and market capitalization.

I knew all along that First Bank is a force to be RECKON with. We are the First bankers, lo.l

Yes this is very true. I read an article at work today about Nigeria being a fertile ground for investment opportunities and was i like really? Nigeria? and my colleague was like, is this not the same place you're always telling us there's crisis?,

is there anybody here that works at the bank?? i have a finance-related question to ask.

SO WERE IS ACCESS&FCMB?