Zenith Bank now Lead the top in Nigeria’s banking sector.

 

The Fist the say, shall be the Last but in this case, the First is now the Second, As expected last year, fiscal 2016 has registered a landmark in Nigerian banking when FBN Holding’s status as Nigeria’s largest bank was upset, eight years after a similar step down in 2008.

 Zenith Bank’s asset growth in 2016 was driven mainly by a 69% leap in due from other banks compared to FBN’s 15% increase. Zenith Bank carries the largest credit portfolio in the Nigerian banking industry, which it grew by 15% to N2.29 trillion in 2016. Zenith took over the leadership of the Nigerian banking industry by the size of the balance sheet in 2016. It accelerated growth from 6.7% in 2015 to 18.3% in 2016 and closed the year with an asset base of N4.739 trillion. The bank has maintained a faster growth rate than FBN Holdings over the past three years and with a decline in asset base of FBN Holdings in 2015, the leadership gap narrowed significantly.

FBN Holdings stepped down from its leadership position of the Nigerian banking industry by the size of the balance sheet in 2016 to take the second position with an asset base of N4.736 trillion. This is despite stepping up growth in assets from a decline of 4.1% in total assets in 2015 to achieve a growth of 13.7% in 2016. The average growth rate has been comparatively weak for the bank since 2014 when it suffered a drop of 16.5% in loans and advances. Except for a temporary step down in 2008, the bank has held the position of the largest bank in Nigeria for so long.