According to data analyzed by BusinessDay, seven listed Nigerian banks, including Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, and Wema Bank Plc, faced a significant surge of 260.9 percent in impaired loans.
This surge was attributed to rising interest rates, surging inflation, and the devaluation of the naira. The latest financial statements of these banks revealed that their combined impairment charges spiked to N949.3 billion in the past year, a considerable increase from N263 billion in 2022.
A further breakdown of the data revealed varying degrees of increases in impaired loans among the listed banks. GTCO recorded the highest growth at 764.7 percent, followed by UBA with a 632.3 percent increase and Zenith Bank with a 232.2 percent rise. Other banks such as FBN Holdings, FCMB, Wema, and Stanbic IBTC also experienced significant increases in impaired loans. Experts like Gbolahan Ologunro, a portfolio manager at FBNQuest, noted that most banks made substantial provisions due to the increase in their loan books as unfavorable macroeconomic conditions persists.
Source: Business Day