Five mid-sized Nigerian banks expanded their combined total assets to N20.47tn and recorded N338.4bn in profit after tax in the first half of 2026, according to financial figures compiled by The PUNCH for this analysis.

In banking, assets refer to items a bank owns or is owed that carry financial value and can deliver future economic benefits. They include loans, cash, investments and property.

The lenders, classified as Tier 2 banks, are Wema Bank, FCMB Group, Sterling Financial Holdings, Jaiz Bank and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank. Together, they generated N1.43tn in gross earnings, or turnover, in the six months ended June 30.

Nigeria’s biggest banks, known as Tier 1 lenders, have yet to publish their audited results for the first half of 2026.

FCMB Group, which is 44 years old, had the largest balance sheet, with total assets of about N8.36tn as of June 30.

Wema Bank, an older lender, followed with total assets of N5.76tn, while Sterling Financial Holdings reported N4.67tn.

Jaiz Bank, Nigeria’s first and largest fully licensed non-interest (Islamic) bank, which operates on Sharia-compliant, ethical finance principles, reported assets of approximately N1.64tn.

Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank was substantially smaller, with total assets of about N53.25bn.

FCMB and Wema accounted for the bulk of the profit. Together, they earned about N271.25bn, or roughly 80 per cent of the combined N338.4bn.

FCMB alone contributed about 41 per cent of the aggregate profit, while Wema accounted for approximately 39 per cent.

Sterling contributed nearly 15 per cent, Jaiz about 4.5 per cent, and Infinity Trust less than 1 per cent.

The analysis of Wema’s figures shows that its profit was almost as large as FCMB’s, even though its balance sheet was substantially smaller.

Wema reported N131.37bn in profit after tax on N415.09bn in gross earnings, while its assets reached N5.76tn.

In its unaudited results, the 81-year-old lender stated that its profit after tax rose 50.1 per cent from the corresponding period of 2025.

Its profit before tax climbed 53.7 per cent to N154.56bn, while gross earnings increased 36.9 per cent to N415.09bn.

Wema’s interest income rose 42.7 per cent to N342.64bn.

The bank’s balance sheet also grew. Total assets increased 13.5 per cent from N5.07tn at the end of 2025.

Loans and advances to customers rose 21.7 per cent to N2.12tn, while customer deposits increased to about N3.45tn.

FCMB’s H1 2026 results showed gross earnings of about N676.2bn, up 27.8 per cent from the previous year.

Its profit after tax reached approximately N139.9bn, an increase of about 90.5 per cent.

Profit before tax rose 98.8 per cent to N157.3bn.

Total assets stood at approximately N8.36tn, up 9.53 per cent.

Sterling Financial Holdings reported N50.30bn in profit after tax and N279.6bn in gross earnings for the first six months.

Its profit increased 20.4 per cent from N41.78bn a year earlier, while profit before tax rose 21.9 per cent to N55.53bn.

Gross earnings grew by 31.5 per cent.

The lender’s credit impairment charges rose sharply to approximately N23.85bn, from N5.21bn in the comparable period.

Despite this, the group maintained its reported non-performing loan ratio at 4.7 per cent.

Sterling’s customer deposits grew 21.1 per cent to N3.62tn, while loans and advances increased 13.7 per cent to N1.61tn.

Its total assets rose 19.3 per cent to approximately N4.67tn.

Jaiz Bank’s balance sheet reached approximately N1.64tn, representing growth of about 27 per cent from N1.29tn at the end of 2025.

The Islamic lender reported profit after tax of about N15.1bn, compared with N14.45bn a year earlier.

Its profit before tax was approximately N15.42bn.

Jaiz operates differently from conventional banks because it is a non-interest bank. Its income comes from financing and investment activities rather than conventional interest income.

Its gross income from financing and investment transactions rose to N54.5bn, from N44.01bn in the first half of 2025.

Income from financing contracts reached N29.61bn.

The bank’s asset growth came with higher liquidity. Cash balances with the Central Bank of Nigeria rose to N460.13bn, while funds due from banks and other financial institutions reached N384.74bn.

Financing assets stood at N282.2bn.

Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank is an outlier in scale among the five institutions. Its balance sheet is measured in tens of billions of naira rather than trillions, with total assets put at N53.25bn.

Its business is also more specialised than that of the universal and commercial banking groups in the comparison. Mortgage banks focus mainly on housing finance and related activities, so their balance sheets and revenue structures are not directly equivalent to those of diversified financial holding companies.

Economist and public affairs analyst, Dr Aliyu Ilias, told The PUNCH that the strong earnings reflected the significant benefits banks were deriving from economic activities, particularly in the stock and foreign exchange markets.

He noted that while stronger banks were positive for the economy, financial institutions should do more to support productive sectors, particularly manufacturers, agriculture and small businesses.

“Banks should actually support MSMEs and agriculture through direct lending,” Ilias said, urging the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that banks comply with measures aimed at improving credit to those sectors.

He stated that the banking industry’s strong position was also linked to the growing contribution of the services sector to the Nigerian economy.

He added that the strength of banks could support broader economic development if more credit was channelled into businesses and other productive activities.