Zenith Bank led Nigeria’s banking industry in 2025 profit after tax, becoming the first lender to exceed the ₦1 trillion mark. GTCO and Access Holdings followed, while OPay’s return to profitability placed the fintech ahead of Sterling Financial Holdings and Jaiz Bank.
Key takeaways
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Zenith’s ₦1.04 trillion PAT establishes a new profitability benchmark for Nigerian banks, putting it about ₦174 billion ahead of GTCO and roughly ₦297 billion ahead of Access.
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The top three—Zenith, GTCO and Access—generated a combined ₦2.65 trillion, representing about 62% of profit among the top 10 conventional banks in the comparison.
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OPay swung to profit from a $50.98 million loss in 2024, reporting $72.47 million in 2025 as revenue jumped 161% to $536.25 million.
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Wema’s ₦194.4 billion profit underscores the growing earnings capacity of digital-led tier-two lenders.
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First HoldCo’s ₦45 billion figure appears materially lower than its tier-one peers and is as a result of the kitchen sink year it had in 2025, when it took billions in provisions for bad loans. Profit has rebounded to ₦526.1 billion as at Half-Year, 2026.
- Profit After Tax for the twelve (12) banks hit a whooping ₦4.3 trillion.
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