Zenith leads 9 others in top1000 bank ranking

ZENITH, FirstBank and GTB are among the top 10 banks in Nigeria that have been listed as part of the 1000 leading banks in the world.

According to a recent ranking by financial times, going by the banks shareholders fund, Zenith Bank tops in Nigeria, 7th in Africa and 325th in the world with $2.837 billion shareholders fund.

First Bank ranked the second top Bank in Nigeria with a shareholders fund of $2.036 billion, 11thtop bank in Africa and occupied the 417th position in the global ranking. Guaranty Trust Bank followed as the third top bank in Nigeria with shareholders fund of $1.673 billion and ranked 13th top bank in Africa and 490th in the world.

Next is Access Bank which ranked 4th in Nigeria with a shareholders fund of $1.536 billion, ranked 14th in Africa and was positioned as the 522nd Bank among the top 1000 banks in the world. United Bank of Africa is positioned as the 5th largest bank in Nigeria with shareholders fund of $1.004 billion, ranked 18th in Africa and 670 in the global 1000 top banks.

Other Nigerian banks in the top 1000 include Diamond Bank which sits at the 6th position with shareholders fund of $912 million. It is ranked as the 20th top bank in Africa and the 711th bank in the world. Fidelity also featured in the top 1000 and top 25 banks in Africa. It has $729 million as shareholders fund and is the 802 bank in the 1000 top world banks ranking.

Ekobank Transnational with registered office in Lome with presence in Nigeria is ranked the sixth among the top 25 banks in Africa and 306th in the global ranking.
Outside Nigeria, three South African banks, Standard Bank, FirstRand and Nedbank secured the top three positions in Africa respectively.

According to a statement by the Banker Today, a closer look at their performance reveals that the top three banks in Africa have suffered in the rankings largely as a result of the depreciating rand. Standard Bank’s total Tier 1 capital in the 2016 edition is $7.48bn, down from $10.19bn in the 2015 ranking. In the global rankings, Africa’s largest bank has now fallen from 123rd place to 160th.

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“FirstRand fared slightly better, with Tier 1 capital declining marginally from $7.98bn in the 2015 ranking to $7.18bn in the 2016 edition. All six South African banks in this year’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking registered a fall in Tier 1 capital. In each case, this decline was by more than 10% year on year.

Globally, Chinese banks continue to dominate The Banker’s latest global ranking of Top 1000 banks, but they are showing signs of slowing down. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) remains number 1 and China Construction Bank number 2, with 4 out of the top 5 places held by Chinese banks.

US banks did well in the ranking with JP Morgan placing third, Bank of America 6th, Citigroup 7th and Wells Fargo 8th. French banks remain competitive, with Credit Agricole staying in 11th place and BNP Paribas in 12th. French bank profits grew by 30% while both UK and German banks lost ground.

Meanwhile, UK bank profits fell 22% and HSBC is now the only British bank in the global top 10, placing 9th. . Germany’s leading bank Deutsche fell into a loss and an 18% decrease in capital the largest among the top 25 banks sent the bank tumbling from 16th to 21st in the global ranking.

Key emerging markets such as Brazil, India and Russia performed badly in the ranking due to sharp decreases in their currencies against the dollar and/or falls in commodity prices causing economic slowdowns. Russia’s Sberbank dropped 12 places from 43 to 51 and Brazil’s Itau fell 16 places from 41 to 57.