Five Nigerian mid-sized banks recorded significant growth in their balance sheets and earnings in the first half of 2026, with their combined assets rising to N20.47tn as of June 30.
The banks — Wema Bank, FCMB Group, Sterling Financial Holdings, Jaiz Bank and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank — also reported a combined profit after tax of N338.4bn during the six-month period.
Their aggregate gross earnings stood at approximately N1.43tn, according to financial figures compiled from their reported results.
The five institutions belong largely to the Tier 2 segment of Nigeria’s banking industry. The country’s largest Tier 1 banks had not yet published their audited first-half 2026 results at the time of the analysis.
FCMB Group recorded the largest balance sheet among the five institutions, with total assets of approximately N8.36tn at the end of June. Wema Bank followed with N5.76tn, while Sterling Financial Holdings reported assets of N4.67tn.
Jaiz Bank, Nigeria’s largest fully licensed non-interest bank, had assets of approximately N1.64tn, while Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank recorded about N53.25bn.
FCMB and Wema accounted for about 80 per cent of the combined profit generated by the five institutions. Together, they posted approximately N271.25bn in profit after tax during the period.
Wema Bank reported particularly strong growth in its first-half results. Its profit after tax increased by 50.1 per cent year-on-year to N131.37bn, while profit before tax rose by 53.7 per cent to N154.56bn.
The bank’s gross earnings increased 36.9 per cent to N415.09bn, while interest income rose by 42.7 per cent to N342.64bn.
Wema’s total assets also expanded by 13.5 per cent from N5.07tn at the end of 2025 to N5.76tn by June 2026. Loans and advances to customers increased by 21.7 per cent to N2.12tn, while customer deposits reached approximately N3.45tn.
FCMB Group reported gross earnings of about N676.2bn, representing a 27.8 per cent increase from the corresponding period of 2025. Its profit after tax rose by 90.5 per cent to approximately N139.9bn, while profit before tax climbed 98.8 per cent to N157.3bn.
The group’s total assets stood at N8.36tn, representing a 9.53 per cent increase.
Sterling Financial Holdings also recorded growth, posting N50.30bn in profit after tax and N279.6bn in gross earnings. Its profit after tax increased by 20.4 per cent from N41.78bn recorded a year earlier.
The group’s total assets grew by 19.3 per cent to approximately N4.67tn, while customer deposits rose 21.1 per cent to N3.62tn. Loans and advances increased by 13.7 per cent to N1.61tn.
However, Sterling’s credit impairment charges rose significantly to N23.85bn from N5.21bn during the comparable period.
Jaiz Bank reported profit after tax of about N15.1bn, compared with N14.45bn in the first half of 2025. Its assets increased by approximately 27 per cent from N1.29tn at the end of last year to N1.64tn.
As a non-interest bank, Jaiz generates income through financing and investment activities rather than conventional interest-based lending. Its income from financing and investment transactions rose to N54.5bn during the period.
Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank remained significantly smaller in scale, with total assets of N53.25bn. Unlike the other institutions, its operations are focused primarily on mortgage and housing finance.
Economist and public affairs analyst Dr Aliyu Ilias attributed the strong earnings recorded by the banks partly to increased economic activity, particularly in the stock and foreign exchange markets.
Ilias, however, urged financial institutions to channel more credit towards productive sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, agriculture and small and medium-sized businesses.
He argued that stronger bank balance sheets could contribute more significantly to economic growth if financial institutions increased lending to businesses and other productive activities.
The first-half performance comes as Nigeria’s banking sector continues to adjust to changing monetary conditions, rising economic activity and reforms within the financial system.
The eventual release of audited results by the country’s larger Tier 1 banks is expected to provide a broader picture of the performance of Nigeria’s banking industry during the first six months of 2026.
