Quote:By Mayowa Tijani



The year 2018 has been very challenging and equally eventful for the Nigerian banking sector. Skye Bank morphed into Polaris Bank, while Access Bank and Diamond Bank are fixing the bolts and nuts of the biggest banking deal of 2018.

The banking sector, which controlled trillions of naira in market value and transactional strength in 2018, also had a bleeding year, as many of the listed entities had massive declines in share price and market capitalisation.

The biggest bank in Nigeria, by market cap, for 2018 is Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), with a year-end market cap of over N1 trillion at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Unity Bank had the smallest market cap by the end of the year, but had a drastic increase in market value, with a 109.8 percent increase in share price, to lead the pack as the best performing bank at the exchange for 2018.

Access Bank, on its way to becoming Nigeria’s largest bank, come 2019, had the worst year, in terms of market value, shedding 35.05 percent of its share price in 365 days.

Since the Herbert Wigwe-led bank made the move to acquire Diamond Bank, the latter has gained more than 45 percent in market value, becoming the bride of the Nigerian bourse.

HERE ARE THE BEST AND WORST PERFORMING BANKS OF 2018

A) RANK, B) BANK, C) SHARE PRICE(N), D) SHARE PRICE GAIN/LOSS (%) E) MARKET CAP (N’BILLION)

A. B. C. D. E. 
1 Unity Bank 1.07 +109.8 12.51
2 Sterling Bank 1.90 +75.93 54.70
3 Diamond Bank 2.18 +45.33 50.49
4 FCMB. 1.89 +28.57 37.43
5 Wema Bank. 0.63 +26.00 24.30
6 Stanbic IBTC 47.95 +17.38 491.04
7 Ecobank 14.00 -9.20 337.40
8 Zenith Bank 23.05 -10.10 722.12
9 First Bank of Nigeria 7.80 -11.36 285.37
10 GTB 34.45 -15.46 1,001
11 Fidelity Bank 2.03 -17.48 58.82
12 Jaiz Bank 0.50 -20.63 14.73
13 UBA 7.70 -25.73 263.38
14 Union Bank of Nigeria 5.60 -28.21 231.03
15 Access Bank 6.80 -35.05 196.71

The ranking above is basically driven by market forces and share value, it does not directly take into account corporate governance issues, non-performing loans (NPLs), and other management factors.

By market cap, the leading banks for 2018 are GTB, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Ecobank and First Bank of Nigeria.

Banks not listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), such as Keystone Bank, were not taken into consideration while compiling this list.