Access Bank, FirstBank, others pay N163.58bn as salaries in Q1 2022

Thirteen listed commercial banks paid a sum of N163.58 billion as personnel expenses in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 14 per cent when compared to the N143.48 billion paid to their staff in the corresponding period of 2021.

The banks do not report their staff strength in their unaudited financial statement, however, based on the audited reports of the banks, they have a total staff strength of over 50,900 as of December 2021.

According to the financial reports of Access, FCMB, Fidelity, First Bank, GT Bank, Jaiz Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Sterling, UBA, Union, Unity, Wema, and Zenith Bank, Access Bank led with N29.25 billion.

The recently restructured bank paid a sum of N29.25 billion to its employees as total package in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 45.8 per cent compared to N20.06 billion spent in the corresponding period of 2021.

They paid N27.68 billion as wages and salaries while others were restricted to share performance plans, contributions to defined contribution plans, and retirement benefit obligations.

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FBN Holdings, which is a highly diversified financial holding company spent a sum of N25.62 billion as total employee expenses in the period, a marginal increase compared to N24.81 billion spent in the previous year.

The company had paid N128.77 billion to its employees for the entire year in 2021, which is the highest paid by any of the banks in the year. FBN was also the highest paying bank in the first quarter of 2021.

United Bank for Africa is third on the list, having spent N25.58 billion on employee expenses in the first quarter of the year, a 20 per cent increase compared to N21.31 billion spent in the corresponding period of 2021.

Out of the total employee package for the period under review, the bank paid N24.79 billion as staff salaries, accounting for 96.9 per cent of the total employee remuneration. In similar fashion as the other banks, UBA’s staff strength reduced to 10,193 as of December 2021 from 10,817 recorded in the previous year.

The most capitalized bank listed on the stock exchange spent a sum of N21.54 billion on employee expenses in the review quarter, which is 16.1 per cent higher than the N18.55 billion paid in the first quarter of 2021.

In terms of staff strength, the bank boasts of 7,517 employees as of December 2021, which is slightly lower than the 7,544 employees on its payroll the previous year.

Stanbic IBTC paid a sum of N12.38 billion as total employee expenses in the first quarter of 2022, increasing by 30.6 per cent compared to N9.48 billion paid in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The holding company reduced its staff strength in the previous year to 2,895 as of December 2021 from 2,972 staff recorded in the previous year.

Others on the list include, Unity Bank – N10.54 billion; GT Bank – N9.82 billion; FCMB – N7.61 billion; Union Bank – N5.79 billion and Fidelity Bank – N5.5 billion.