Only six of Nigeria's major listed banks distributed dividends totalling approximately N1.27 trillion to shareholders for the 2025 financial year, while five other profitable lenders were unable to make payouts after failing to satisfy the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) prudential requirements.
Findings from Financial Vanguard show that Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Wema Bank, and FCMB were among the lenders that met the regulatory conditions for dividend payments.
The five other banks recorded profits during the year but did not declare dividends, with the CBN's capital retention requirements, rising non-performing loans, and other prudential guidelines limiting their ability to distribute earnings to shareholders.
GTCO and Zenith Dominate N1.27tn Dividend Payments
GTCO and Zenith Bank accounted for the largest share of the dividends paid by the banks, with the two Tier-1 lenders contributing about 81.9 per cent of the total payout.
GTCO declared N429.83 billion in dividends, equivalent to N12.76 per share, while Zenith Bank paid N410.70 billion, representing N10 per share.
Stanbic IBTC distributed N63.61 billion, or N4 per share, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated paid $40 million, equivalent to $0.16 per share. FCMB declared N14.97 billion, representing 35 kobo per share.
Although the banks remained profitable, regulatory restrictions meant that profitability alone was not sufficient to guarantee dividend payments. The CBN's prudential rules require lenders to maintain adequate capital and other financial buffers before distributing earnings to shareholders.
Banks' Profit Falls Despite Stronger Earnings
The 11 major listed banks recorded a combined profit before tax of N6.4 trillion in 2025, down 3.8 per cent from the N6.7 trillion reported in 2024, based on their audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Tier-1 banks posted N4.15 trillion in profit before tax, compared with N5.06 trillion a year earlier, while Tier-2 lenders increased their combined pretax profit to N2.26 trillion from N1.60 trillion.
Despite the decline in profit, the banks' combined gross earnings increased significantly to N26.4 trillion from N23.2 trillion in 2024.
Gross earnings among Tier-1 banks rose to N18.2 trillion from N16.9 trillion, while Tier-2 lenders increased their combined earnings to N9.5 trillion from N7.6 trillion.
Access Holdings Leads in Gross Earnings
Access Holdings recorded the highest gross earnings among the Tier-1 banks at N5.5 trillion, up from N4.9 trillion in 2024. Zenith Bank followed with N4.1 trillion, compared with N3.8 trillion previously.
GTCO's gross revenue increased marginally to N2.15 trillion from N2.11 trillion, while First HoldCo rose to N3.4 trillion from N3.2 trillion.
United Bank for Africa (UBA), however, recorded a slight decline in gross earnings, falling to N2.97 trillion from N3.1 trillion in 2024.
