Nigeria Financial Services Sector 2026

Audited FY2025 results for 41 NGX-listed Financial Services companies — ₦5,145.0bn in banking PAT, ₦113.0bn from insurance, and ₦41.0bn from capital markets, against a 27.5% MPR backdrop.

Executive summary

This report presents audited FY2025 financial results for 41 companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) under the Financial Services sector, spanning banking and financial holding companies, insurance, mortgage banking, microfinance, and capital markets sub-sectors. The coverage universe — sourced directly from NGX company filings and annual financial statements — represents the entirety of the NGX-listed Financial Services universe, with two entities (Unity Bank [MRF] and Staco Insurance [DWL]) unable to provide FY2025 data at time of this report. All monetary figures are normalised to Nigerian Naira millions (₦'m) for cross-sector comparison.

The banking sub-sector delivered aggregate PAT (for the ten commercial and financial holding companies) of ₦5,145.0bn across FY2025, equivalent to approximately 97% of the total identifiable sector PAT. Zenith Bank anchored the banking sector's profitability with ₦1039.7bn in PAT, followed by GTCO (₦853.5bn). Elevated monetary policy rates — the CBN held the MPR at 27.5% for the bulk of the year — created a historically wide net interest margin environment, turbocharging deposit-funded banks while simultaneously pressuring non-bank borrowers and insurance investment portfolios. Total disclosed banking assets (across eleven banks with available balance sheet data, excluding GTCO and Unity Bank) stood at approximately ₦230.0 trillion.

The insurance sub-sector contributed approximately ₦113.0bn in aggregate PAT from 16 companies with positive earnings. NEM Insurance led with ₦23.8bn PAT and a sector-high insurance DPS of 150 kobo, followed by AIICO (₦22.7bn) and Mutual Benefits Assurance (₦16.4bn). Three insurers — LASACO, FTGINSURE, and implicitly PRESTIGE — reported losses or near-zero earnings, reflecting the structural fragility of smaller under-capitalised underwriters operating in a high-inflation, high-reinsurance-cost environment.

Capital markets entities contributed ₦41.0bn in PAT, led by United Capital (₦28.1bn) and NGX Group (₦10.5bn).

Key findings

1. FX & Monetary Policy Tailwinds for Banks

   Sustained MPR of 27.5% and elevated USD/NGN rates (N1,500–N1,600 range through much of 2025) sharply widened net interest margins across the banking sub-sector, directly fuelling the record profitability cycle that began in 2024.

2. CBN Recapitalisation Exercise Shaped Capital Strategy

   The Central Bank of Nigeria's March 2026 deadline for minimum capital requirements (₦500bn for international, ₦200bn for national banks) shaped FY2025 capital strategy across the banking universe — driving rights issues, dividend conservation, and accelerated retained earnings growth.

3. IFRS 17 Insurance Reporting Standardised

   All NGX-listed insurers now report under IFRS 17, with Insurance Revenue replacing gross written premium as the primary top-line metric. This structural change makes year-on-year comparisons with pre-2023 figures non-trivial and reduces apparent revenue for some business lines.

4. Insurance Sector Profitability Diverged Significantly

   PAT margins in insurance ranged from approximately 22.8% (Cornerstone) to deeply negative (LASACO: −10.2%, FTGINSURE: loss-making), reflecting the breadth of underwriting quality, claims experience, and investment portfolio management across the sub-sector.

5. Dividend Policies Showed Divergence

   GTCO led the market with a combined DPS of N12.76 (N1.00 interim + N11.76 final); STANBIC paid 650 kobo; ZENITHBANK declared N10.00 per share — while FIDELITY, FIRSTHOLDCO, STERLINGNG, and the majority of insurers conserved capital entirely.

6. Regulatory Flags & Distress Noted for Several Companies

   Three companies (STACO [DWL], FTGINSURE [DWL], UNITYBNK [MRF]) carried NGX regulatory flags as at filing dates, and LASACO filed unaudited results. PRESTIGE, INFINITY, and SUNUASSUR retained BLS classifications.

SECTOR PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW: FY2025

The 41 covered entities span a wide scale range — from pan-African banking groups with trillions in gross earnings to micro-scale insurance companies earning under ₦5bn in insurance revenue. The table below segments the coverage universe into three tiers by revenue/gross earnings scale and business model type.

Tier 1: Large-Cap Banks (Gross Earnings > ₦2 trillion)

The six large-cap banking and financial holding entities — ACCESSCORP, ETI, GTCO, ZENITHBANK, UBA, and FIRSTHOLDCO — collectively account for the substantial majority of both the sector's identifiable gross earnings and balance sheet assets.

Tier 2: Mid-Tier Banks & Large Composite Insurers (₦100bn–₦2tn Revenue / GE)

FIDELITYBK, STANBIC, FCMB, WEMABANK, and STERLINGNG anchor the mid-tier banking segment with PAT ranging from ₦76,334m (STERLINGNG) to ₦376,530m (STANBIC). FCMB's NPL ratio of 5.09% warrants monitoring as the highest disclosed NPL among mid-tier banks. Among insurers, AIICO (₦137,028m insurance revenue), AXA Mansard (₦160,565m), and Mutual Benefits (₦80,050m) represent the large composite insurer cluster, all operating with multi-line NAICOM licences.

Tier 3: Small-Cap / Specialist Entities (Revenue < ₦100bn)

This tier encompasses Nigeria's mortgage banks (ABBEY, INFINITY, LIVINGTRUST), the NPF Microfinance Bank, the majority of insurance companies (NEM, CORNERST, LINKASSURE, SOVRENINS, GUINEAINS, etc.), and capital markets entities (NGXGROUP, AFRIPRUD, UCAP, DEAPCAP). Despite modest absolute revenue scales, several entities here delivered disproportionately strong returns — NEM Insurance's ₦23,833m PAT and 150 kobo DPS, INFINITY's 20th consecutive dividend year despite BLS classification, and UCAP's ₦28,147m PAT against a capital-light investment banking model.

SECTOR STRUCTURE & COVERAGE UNIVERSE

The NGX Financial Services sector classification encompasses commercial and financial holding companies, insurance and risk management businesses, mortgage and microfinance banks, and capital markets intermediaries. All 41 companies in the coverage universe below hold primary listings on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). Data was sourced from annual financial statements (IFRS-compliant) filed on the NGX platform, supplemented where necessary by directors' reports and five-year financial summary disclosures.

Competitive Structure and Market Dynamics

The NGX Financial Services sector spans entities that compete across distinctly different products and customer segments — commercial banks do not compete directly with insurance underwriters or mortgage banks, but all operate within overlapping regulatory perimeters (CBN, NAICOM, and SEC) and share macroeconomic exposures. The unifying structural characteristic is the sector's exposure to Nigeria's interest rate and FX environment, regulatory capital requirements, and the discretionary financial services spending of Nigeria's consumer and corporate base.

MACRO ENVIRONMENT: WHAT SHAPED SECTOR PERFORMANCE IN FY2025

Seven macro variables shaped the FY2025 operating environment for NGX-listed Financial Services entities. The dominant forces were the continuation of the CBN's restrictive monetary policy stance — with the benchmark MPR held at 27.5% — and the structural legacy of naira depreciation that drove significant nominal asset growth and FX-related income across the banking sub-sector. These were partially offset by elevated claims inflation in insurance, and ongoing structural challenges around recapitalisation compliance for smaller entities.

Company-Level Macro Impact Assessment

The macro environment of FY2025 was unambiguously most favourable for the large-cap, deposit-funded commercial banks — particularly those with significant FX trading operations (ETI, UBA, GTCO) and strong CASA (current account/savings account) deposit franchises that lowered cost of funds relative to the prevailing rate environment. Insurance companies and non-bank financial entities faced a more challenging mix: high rates helped investment income but hurt reserve valuations, while inflation drove claims costs upward. The macro environment is expected to ease modestly through 2026 as CBN begins signalling a potential rate normalisation cycle, which will reshape the profitability dynamics in the sector.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE DEEP-DIVE: COMPANY BY COMPANY

The following profiles cover all 41 companies in the coverage universe. All monetary values are in NGN millions (₦'m) unless otherwise stated.

5.1 Banking & Financial Holdings

Access Holdings Plc (ACCESSCORP)

5.2 Mortgage Banking & Microfinance

Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc (ABBEY)

5.3 Insurance

AIICO Insurance Plc (AIICO)

5.4 Capital Markets

Africa Prudential Plc (AFRIPRUD)

COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

The most striking finding from a cross-company comparison is the extraordinary concentration of profitability in the top five banking entities. Zenith Bank (₦1039.7bn), GTCO (₦853.5bn), Stanbic IBTC (₦376.5bn), UBA (₦373.7bn), and Wema Bank (₦194.5bn) together account for over ₦2.9 trillion of the sector's ₦3.64 trillion identifiable PAT — more than 80%. This level of concentration is a structural feature of Nigeria's financial sector: the largest five banks intermediate the overwhelming majority of credit and deposits, and benefit disproportionately from the NIM environment created by a high monetary policy rate.

CAPITAL MARKETS ACTIVITY IN FY2025

FY2025 saw significant capital markets activity shaped by three structural imperatives: the CBN bank recapitalisation deadline (March 2026), the NAICOM insurance minimum capital requirements, and the filing calendar dynamics created by NGX's 90-day post-year-end reporting window. Rights issues, large dividend declarations, and a corporate restructuring (UNITYBNK-Providus) were the dominant event types.

Corporate Governance Observations

All NGX-listed companies in the coverage universe are subject to the NGX Corporate Governance Code (2022 revised edition) and, where applicable, the CBN Corporate Governance Guidelines for banks (2023) and the NAICOM Corporate Governance Code for insurers. The sector therefore operates under a multi-regulator governance framework, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the overarching capital markets regulator.

FORWARD OUTLOOK & KEY INDICATORS FOR 2026

The 2026 outlook for the NGX Financial Services sector is shaped by a potential transition in the monetary policy cycle, completion of the structural recapitalisation exercises across banking and insurance, and the emerging comparability baseline that two full years of IFRS 17 reporting will provide for insurance sector analysis. The SysIN Macro Monitor database and individual company filings are the primary sources for ongoing tracking of the indicators below.

Frequently asked questions

What was the aggregate PAT for the banking sub-sector in FY2025?

The banking sub-sector delivered an aggregate PAT of ₦5,145.0bn across FY2025 for the ten commercial and financial holding companies, representing approximately 97% of the total identifiable sector PAT.

Which bank led in profitability in FY2025 and by how much?

Zenith Bank anchored the banking sector's profitability with ₦1039.7bn in PAT, followed by GTCO with ₦853.5bn.

What was the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) for most of 2025?

The CBN held the MPR at 27.5% for the bulk of 2025.

How did the insurance sector's profitability compare to banking in FY2025?

The insurance sub-sector contributed approximately ₦113.0bn in aggregate PAT from 16 companies with positive earnings, significantly less than the banking sector's ₦5,145.0bn PAT.

What is the recapitalisation deadline set by the CBN for Nigerian banks?

The Central Bank of Nigeria's deadline for minimum capital requirements is March 2026, with ₦500bn for international banks and ₦200bn for national banks.