CBN Held Half-Year Results Of UBA, GTB, Stanbic IBTC, Fidelity Bank, Others

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to regulate approvals of some top Nigerian Banks, leaving investors in a dilemma to wait for weeks to see their audited half-year 2021 results.

Brand News Day Nigeria gathers that some of the largest Nigerian banks include GT Bank (now GT HoldCo), UBA, Stanbic IBTC and Fidelity bank are holding back to publish their audited half-year results as they anticipate endorsement to do so from the apex bank.

Notably, the Central Bank approves audited financial statements of banks before they are published on the Nigerian Stock Exchange giving the bank clearance on how it classifies its non-performing loans, determine its regulatory ratios such as capital adequacy ratios, cash reserve requirements etc. It also approves the dividend payments.

Whilst the review of company results and subsequent approval are done to instil investor confidence, the delays affect decision making and ruin investment opportunities for some investors who rely on results to take bets on stocks. But the central bank is not all to blame.

CBN Held Half-Year Results Of UBA, GTB, Stanbic IBTC, Fidelity Bank, Others

A review of the filing of some of the banks reveals they held their board meetings in August to approve the results tabled before the management of the banks about 30 days after the end of the first half of their financial year. For example, GT HoldCo communicated to the public on August 25th that its board had approved the results on July 28th, 2021, and subsequently submitted the results to the CBN. UBA disclosed on August 13 that its board met on August 12 to consider and approve the half-year audited accounts which they subsequently approved and also submitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Stanbic IBTC on the other hand notified investors that it was experiencing “slight delays” in the release of its results delays due to anticipated CBN approvals. On June 22nd it initially informed the investing public of its desire to audit its half-year results and targeted August 29th as the date is expected to receive it from the CBN.

Fidelity Bank, another bank yet to release its results disclosed on August 27th that its board approved the results on August 5th but was still awaiting CBN approval.

While banks await regulatory approval, their share prices were left depressed in August 2021. GTB and Fidelity closed the month 2% and 4% down respectively while Stanbic IBTC and UBA closed flat. Zenith and Access Bank who both recently released results also closed flat in August at -1% and -2% respectively. However, FBN and FCMB who have released their results reported slight gains of 1% and 2% respectively. As of the 27th of August, the banking All Share Index was down 0.62% and is expected to close negative when the

Exchange releases its end of month performance. A recent Nairametrics report indicated FUGAZ stocks lost a whopping N7.6 billion last week alone in market value.