Investors await nine month results from major Nigerian banks as concerns grow over lending, asset quality and credit availability
Delays in the release of nine-month 2026 financial results by several major Nigerian banks are raising concerns about credit growth, asset quality and the availability of financing for businesses and households.
The reporting gap has left investors without current information on the performance of some of the country’s largest lenders, making it harder to assess whether banks are expanding their loan books or becoming more cautious amid elevated borrowing costs and tighter risk management.
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Access Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and Fidelity Bank were among the major lenders yet to publish their nine-month results as of the weekend preceding the report. First HoldCo and Stanbic IBTC had released their figures, offering contrasting indications of lending performance and asset quality.
The delays follow earlier disruption to the publication of some banks’ half-year audited accounts, with audit completion and regulatory approvals among the issues affecting reporting timelines.
For Nigeria’s property market, the uncertainty matters because banks remain important sources of funding for developers, construction companies, homebuyers and businesses operating across the real estate value chain. The outstanding results will help clarify whether lenders are maintaining credit expansion or prioritising lower-risk investments over private-sector lending.
Early Results Show Different Lending and Asset-Quality Trends
First HoldCo reported a 60.8 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to ₦911.24 billion for the nine months ended 30 September 2026. However, its interest income declined by 8.7 per cent to ₦2.09 trillion, while its customer loan book increased by 4.8 per cent year on year to ₦9.39 trillion.
Its non-performing loan ratio rose to 10.4 per cent from 8.5 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. The increase raises questions about asset quality and whether the bank may need to strengthen provisioning or apply tighter lending standards.
Stanbic IBTC reported a different trend. Its customer loans increased by 9.7 per cent to ₦2.61 trillion, while total income rose by 24.8 per cent to ₦817.77 billion. Its non-performing loan ratio stood at 2.7 per cent in the first half of 2026, down from 4.7 per cent a year earlier.
The figures are not directly equivalent in every respect, particularly because the reported non-performing loan ratios cover different reporting periods. Nevertheless, they illustrate why investors are waiting for comparable disclosures from the remaining lenders before drawing conclusions about the banking sector as a whole.
High Interest Rates Could Influence Banks’ Lending Decisions
Banks face pressure from funding costs and competition from government securities, which can offer attractive returns without the same direct exposure to private-sector borrowers.
Market analyst Charles Fakrogha of Foresight Securities and Investment Limited warned that these conditions could encourage lenders to direct more funds towards treasury bills, bonds and other government instruments instead of expanding credit to households and businesses.
Such a shift could have wider economic consequences. Manufacturers, small businesses and traders rely on bank credit to finance inventories, equipment, payroll and day-to-day operations. More restrictive lending conditions could increase financing costs, delay investment and constrain business expansion.
The same pressures matter for property developers, whose projects often require substantial upfront capital and depend on predictable access to construction finance. Higher borrowing costs can make developments more expensive and weaken the financial viability of projects intended for middle- and lower-income buyers.
For prospective homebuyers, limited access to affordable mortgages can also make ownership harder to achieve, particularly where household incomes struggle to keep pace with property prices and other living costs.
Rising Impaired Loans Could Tighten Credit Conditions
The quality of banks’ loan portfolios is another key concern. David Adonri, vice-chairman of Highcap Securities, noted that lenders with weaker asset-quality positions may become more selective in approving new loans.
An increase in impaired loans can prompt banks to strengthen underwriting, increase provisions for potential losses and reduce exposure to borrowers considered higher risk. While these measures can protect balance sheets, they may also make financing more difficult for businesses and individuals that cannot meet stricter lending requirements.
For the property sector, this could affect developers seeking project finance and buyers who depend on mortgage lending. Smaller developers and projects with longer repayment periods may face particular pressure if banks prioritise borrowers with stronger cash flows and shorter credit cycles.
However, the available results do not establish that all Nigerian banks are reducing lending. Stanbic IBTC’s reported loan growth demonstrates that lending trends can differ across institutions. The outstanding results will be important in determining whether tighter credit conditions are widespread or concentrated among particular lenders.
AMCON Levy Adds to Pressure on Bank Earnings
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) levy remains another cost affecting bank profitability.
First HoldCo recorded an AMCON levy of ₦112.94 billion in the first nine months of 2026, while GTCO’s levy stood at ₦55.9 billion in the first half of the year.
The levy reduces the amount of earnings available after expenses and can influence how investors assess profitability and potential dividend payments. Its effect must be considered alongside interest income, impairment charges, operating expenses and the performance of each bank’s loan portfolio.
For investors, strong headline profits alone may not provide a complete picture of a lender’s financial position. Loan growth, asset quality, funding costs and capital strength are also important indicators of whether earnings can be sustained.
Delayed Disclosures Leave Investors With an Information Gap
The delayed results have complicated comparisons between listed banks, leaving investors to rely on a narrower pool of current financial information when evaluating earnings, credit quality and dividend prospects.
Timely disclosure allows shareholders and analysts to compare institutions on a more consistent basis and assess whether changes in performance reflect stronger underlying business activity or higher risk. Prolonged delays can increase uncertainty and make it more difficult to price banking stocks accurately.
The reporting timetable also matters to domestic and international investors allocating capital across Nigerian equities. Clear and predictable disclosures can support confidence by allowing market participants to make decisions using comparable information rather than incomplete estimates.
The delays do not, by themselves, establish that the affected banks are experiencing financial distress or concealing losses. Their significance will depend on the reasons for each delay and what the eventual results reveal.
What the Results Could Mean for Housing Finance
For Nigeria’s housing market, the central question is whether banks can continue extending credit to developers, homebuyers and other property-related businesses while managing funding costs and loan risks.
If the outstanding results show continued lending growth and stable asset quality, they could offer reassurance that credit remains available despite challenging operating conditions. If they reveal slower loan growth, rising impairments or tighter lending standards across several major banks, developers and prospective homeowners may face greater difficulty securing finance.
The distinction between bank profitability and credit availability is particularly important. A bank can report higher profits without expanding lending at the same pace, especially when government securities and other investments offer attractive returns.
Investors are therefore awaiting the remaining nine-month disclosures to assess not only how much banks earned, but also how they deployed their funds, managed credit risks and positioned their balance sheets for the final quarter of the year.
For the property sector, those figures could provide an important indication of the financing environment facing developers and homebuyers as Nigeria’s housing market continues to contend with high construction costs and limited access to affordable mortgages.
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