The uniform year end policy for banks instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recorded its first set of results as four banks last week announced their results for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Unity Bank have achieved combined gross earnings of N464.2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2010.

The common year end for banks is a measure instituted by the CBN to strengthen its effectiveness in risk based supervision. It was designed to enhance the regulator’s hand-on knowledge of the banks’ operations, the complexity of their risk profile and to provide real-time and continuous evaluation of their operations.

Zenith Bank Plc audited result for the year ended December 31, 2010 shows Gross Earnings of N192.4 billion, as against N277.3 billion in the comparable period of 2009. Profit after tax stood at N37.4 billion compared with a Profit after tax of N20.6 billion in 2009. The Net Asset Value stood at N363.5 billion compared with N337.7 billion in December 2009.

Guaranty Trust Bank, audited result for the year ended December 31, 2010 shows Gross Earnings of N153.9 billion, as against N162.5 billion in the comparable period of 2009. Profit after tax stood at N38.3 billion compared with a Profit after tax of N23.6 billion in 2009. The Net Asset Value stood at N210.8 billion compared with N192.2 billion in December 2009.

Access Bank Plc audited result for the full year ended 31st December 2010 shows Gross Earnings of N91.1 billion, as against N84.9 billion in the 15 months period ended December 31, 2009. Profit after tax stood at N11 billion compared with a loss after tax of N4.4 billion in 2009. The Net Asset Value stood at N175.3 billion compared with N168.3 billion in December 2009.

Reacting to the result, Group Chief Executive of Access Bank Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, said: "The macro prudential initiatives instituted by the Central Bank of Nigeria to stimulate the economy towards the path of sustainable growth and to ensure recovery of the banking sector have provided a launch pad for banks with strong fundamentals to grow their business profitably.

"I am pleased to report that our 2010 performance places Access Bank amongst the leaders in the Nigerian banking industry and more importantly our focus on business sustainability will ensure the sustenance of our renewed growth trajectory".

Also in his submission, Group Deputy Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe, said: "I am pleased that we almost doubled our gross earnings from Commercial Banking business in the financial year ended 2010. This combined with successful efforts to recover provisioned assets ensured the segment returned to strong profitability.

"Our treasury business contributed strongly to bottom line profits, whilst our increased lending to top corporate clients by our Institutional Bank came at reduced margins. "We see tremendous opportunities in our retail banking segment and have made significant various investments around personnel, risk management capacity, and product development all geared towards an aggressive retail expansion drive in 2011".

With pre-tax profit at N13.5 billion in the financial year ended December 2010, Stanbic IBTC Bank came out with total assets increasing to N384.5 billion. According to the audited results for the year just made public, the profit before tax grew by 31 per cent to N13.5 billion compared to the N10.3 billion recorded in December 2009, gross earnings eased by five per cent to N56.7 billion, compared with prior year’s N59.8 billion, while total assets went up 13 per cent from N340.5 billion in December 2009.

Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Chris Newson, emphasised that the bank is strategically primed to achieve higher growth in the years ahead despite the tough operating conditions. His words: "The Group produced good results in the first nine months of 2010 and I am pleased to announce that this trend continued into the final quarter of the year. Despite the testing operating environment, we have grown our business responsibly and have made good progress in expanding our loan book.

‘’We recorded a 41 per cent increase on December 2009’s levels of gross loans, with a corresponding 24 per cent reduction in our non-performing loans portfolio. This is testament to our ability to unlock profitable investment outlets in the face of significant market liquidity and efficiency of our risk management systems."

Long term strategic growth and profitability are anchored on the bank’s current branch expansion project, Newson said, the overall objective being to avail a growing number of Nigerians access to its services and products, while other fundamentals are being strengthened for enhanced performance and efficiency. "Our cost efficient branch roll out strategy saw us open 71 new branches in 2010, bringing our total number of branches in Nigeria to 141 as at year end 2010.

We are now present in all the 36 states, including the FCT. The bank continued to maintain its traditional signature capital strength and healthy liquidity position throughout the year, and is well-positioned to increase market share on the back of our growing footprint, excellent service and talented people backed by cutting edge technology," he stated.

Gross loans and advances went up by 41 percent to N187.1 billion as against N133.1 billion in December 2009, while the operating income of N48.3 billion was an increase of 10 per cent compared to N43.8 billion in 2009. For the shareholders, 2010 was an excellent year as each will earn a dividend of 39 kobo per share, an increase of 30 per cent over the 30 kobo paid in 2009.

Unity Bank’s result also show the bank had swung to a pre-tax profit of N13.31 billion for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared to a loss of N20.97 billion in 2009. The bank management told Reuters that its loans and advances increased 30 per cent to N113.97 billion during the period.