Nigeria’s top ten banks on the NGX reported a combined pretax profit of N2.7 trillion for the six months ended June 2025.
Although this represents a 12% decline from the N3.16 trillion recorded in the same period last year, it still highlights the sector’s solid performance.
Profitability remains one of the most important measures of financial health and operational efficiency, an indicator that investors and analysts closely track to assess how well institutions are performing.
Pretax profit, in simple terms, shows how much a company earns after accounting for operating expenses, impairments, and other costs, but before taxes are deducted.
This article examines the performance of Nigeria’s top banks in their H1 2025 financial results, most of which have been published, except for Fidelity Bank, which has yet to release its numbers.
The focus here is on the pretax profit amount generated during the six-month period, rather than on year-on-year changes in performance.
With that context, here are the 10 most profitable Nigerian banks in the first half of 2025.
FCMB Group Plc secured the 8th position with a pretax profit of N79.1 billion, a 23.2% increase from N64.2 billion last year.
Gross earnings surged 41.3% to N529.2 billion, with interest income at N458.4 billion, up 70.3%.
- Loans and advances to customers were the main drivers at N299.1 billion, compared to N192.4 billion the previous year.
After interest expenses of N251 billion, net interest income rose to N207.4 billion from N106.1 billion, nearly doubling year-on-year.
FCMB generated N47.3 billion in fees and N22.1 billion in trading income. Following an impairment of N36.2 billion on financial instruments, operating profit stood at N79.3 billion, with pretax profit at N79.1 billion.
The balance sheet remained solid, with total assets at N7.5 trillion, up from N7.05 trillion, and retained earnings rising 27.3% to N239.9 billion.
