Zenith Bank has emerged first
among Nigerian banks in this
year’s Top 1000 World Banks
Ranking of The Banker
Magazine of the Financial
Times Group, London, United
Kingdom.
Thirteen Nigerian banks made
the 2013 ranking. They are;
Zenith Bank, First Bank,
Guaranty Trust Bank, Access
Bank, United Bank for Africa,
Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First
City Monument Bank, Skye
Bank, Diamond Bank, Stanbic
IBTC, Union Bank and Standard
Chartered Bank.
Zenith Bank moved 35 places
from 322 in the world last year
to 287, First Bank however
dropped 29 places to end at
367 from 338 last year,
Guaranty Bank moved to 417
from 455, Access Bank moved
to 506 from 541 and UBA
moved to 553 from 563.
In the capital asset ratio of
soundness parametre, 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.
According to a press release
from the Country
Representative – Nigeria of
The Banker, Mr. Kunle
Ogedengbe, 13 Nigerian banks
made the ranking this year and
it saw the return of Union
Bank to the league of top
global banks.
These movements according to
analysts are 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.
Ogedengbe stressed that the
ranking is usually based on the
definition of Tier–1 Capital as
a measure of a bank’s ability
to lend on a large scale and
endure shocks, as set out by
Basel’s Bank for International
Settlements (BIS) and that it
aims to show global
international banks’ soundness
in relation to the Basel
guidelines on capital adequacy.
The percentage change in the
Tier-1 Capital, which
underlines the strength of
banks, for Zenith Bank
increased by 23.82 per cent,
the highest out of the Nigerian
banks that made the ranking.
According to the Banker
magazine, Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China
(ICBC) has leapfrogged two
U.S. banks to top the 2013
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.
“ICBC has for some time
ranked as the top bank by
market value. Britain’s HSBC,
which gains much of its
earnings from Asia, was fourth
in The Banker’s list, with China
Construction Bank (CCB)
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 and Agricultural Bank of
China – filled the top positions
for profit in 2012. ICBC’s $49
billion 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.
Banker Magazine report said
“In fact, Africa stands out as
top performer this year. At 2.3
per cent, it now has a higher
share of global profits than
Western Europe, despite
accounting for less than 0.8
per cent of global assets. Pre-
tax profits are up more than
30 per cent in this year’s
ranking, more than double the
rise in China. Its return on
assets is 2.1 per cent, far
outstripping Asia-Pacific or
Latin America.
“China and Brazil both
recorded return on assets of
below 1.6 per cent, with
Brazil’s total profits actually
falling in financial year 2012.
Kenya is the top African
market for return on assets, at
more than 5 per cent, and
enjoys a new entrant in the
ranking – the Cooperative
Bank of Kenya entering at
1000. Elsewhere, Bangladesh is
one of the fastest-growing
markets, and it has a 43 per
cent return on capital. Total
assets per capita are not much
more than $40, making this the
most underbanked country
represented in the Top 1000″.