The Deputy Governor of the CBN Dr Sarah Alade reeled out some data on Nigerian banks which I thought was important to note. Here are the key ones.
1. Banks’ NPLs increased by 16.36 per cent, up from N344.26bn recorded in August 2013 to N400.57bn in the same period of this year. NPL’s ratio is 3.5percent at the end of August 2014.
2. Gross loans by the banks increased by 21.03 per cent from N9.278tn in August last year to N11.229tn in August 2014.
3. Bank’s have a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 17.75 per cent at the end of August 2014, as against 18.1 per cent at the same period of last year, using the Basel I capital adequacy framework.
4. The decline was due largely to increase in risk weighted assets (loans). Under the Basel II framework, the industry Capital Adequacy Ratio stood at 15.76 per cent as of the end of August 2014.
5. Two unnamed banks fell below the prudential minimum of 10 per cent in the period under both the Basel I and II frameworks.
6. The industry liquidity ratio declined from 50.6 per cent at the end of December 2013 to 42.6 per cent by June 2014 due to the increased Cash Reserve Requirement. By end-August 2014, the ratio stood at 43.87 per cent.
7. All the DMBs met the prudential minimum requirement of 30 per cent during the period under review.
8. Bank deposits grew by 5.94 per cent or N937.74bn from N15.783tn in August 2013 to N16.72tn a year after.
9. It said the industry’s unaudited profit before tax decreased marginally by about 0.004 per cent from N385.68bn for the period January to August 2013, to N385.67bn during a similar period in 2014.
10. Bank return on assets and return on equities declined from 2.63 per cent and 22.47 per cent in August 2013, to 2.39 per cent and 20.36 per cent as of August this year.
A full version of this article originally appeared in Punch