Commercial banks count loss amid persistent Naira scarcity

Commercial Banks like many other businesses in the country are still counting their losses amid the lingering Naira scarcity as most bank branches now shut down operations due to fear of attacks from desperate customers.

According to findings, banks like FirstBank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Unity, United Bank for Africa, Sterling Bank, Stanbic bank, and Jaiz bank have suffered significant losses.

Investigation shows that the banks have lost N87.4 billion in market value within a week of trading activities (March 2nd, 2023 to March 10th, 2023) on the Nigerian Exchange.

The largest loss was experienced by First Bank, whose share price dropped from N11.65 per share on March 2 to N11 per share on March 10.

This resulted in a staggering loss of N23.3 billion for First Bank shareholders, as the bank’s market value decreased from N418.1 billion on March 2 to N394.8 billion on March 10.

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Zenith Bank followed suit in terms of the banks with the biggest loss, with N18.8 billion wiped off the value of the bank.

Zenith Bank’s market value stood at N828.8 billion on March 2, when the share price was at N26.4. However, the bank’s market value dropped to N810 billion on March 10, as its share price plummeted to N25.8 per share at the end of trading.

During the same period, UBA’s share price dropped from N8.7 on March 2 to N8.25 on March 10, resulting in the market value of the bank dropping from N297.5 billion to N282.14 billion, and a loss of N15.3 billion in the one week under review.

Other banks that experienced losses in market value during this period include Access Bank, whose market value dropped from N330.5 billion to N325.2 billion, resulting in a loss of N5.33 billion.

FCMB’s market value dropped from N88.7 billion to N85.3 billion, resulting in a loss of N3.36 billion. GTB’s market value dropped from N785.8 billion to N779.9 billion, resulting in a loss of N5.8 billion.

Unity Bank’s market value dropped from N66.6 billion to N60.7 billion, resulting in a loss of N584.4 million. Sterling Bank’s market value dropped from N44.6 billion to N43.1 billion, resulting in a loss of N1.43 billion.

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Finally, Stanbic Bank’s market value dropped from N531.2 billion to N518.2 billion, resulting in a loss of N12.9 billion.

Jaiz Bank’s market value dropped from N31.4 billion to N31.08 billion, resulting in a loss of N345.4 million.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in October announced the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 notes last October and the new notes were released in mid-December.

People were initially given until the end of January to hand in all their old notes, although this had previously been extended amid the chaotic scenes. But the shortage of the new notes had created a crisis for the banks as many customers attacked bank branches across the country forcing many of them to shut down operations.