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The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) freshly released 2025 annual report shows Group profit for the year came in at ₦136.44 billion, more than triple the ₦38.84 billion reported in 2024, according to the Summary Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements.
The standalone Bank, by contrast, posted a profit of ₦86.81 billion, down 47.6% from ₦165.69 billion in 2024.
Total assets grew 18.1% to ₦138.86 trillion, powered by a jump in external reserves and a near-quadrupling of “other assets,” while a new expense line — “monetary and financial stability expenses” of ₦1.24 trillion, which did not exist in 2024 — became the single biggest driver of a 431% surge in other operating expenses.
Group vs. Bank
The most striking feature of the 2025 results is the divergence between the Group (consolidated, including subsidiaries such as the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc, NIRSAL, and InfraCorp) and the Bank on a standalone basis.
At the Group level, 2024’s result was dragged down by a one-off ₦13.88 trillion loss on settled foreign-currency derivatives — swaps, forwards and futures unwound during the year — a legacy of the naira reforms and FX-market unification pursued since 2023.
That drag essentially disappeared in 2025 (down to just ₦21.6 billion), lifting net operating income even though gross operating income fell sharply as fair-value and revaluation gains normalized.
The Group additionally benefits from ₦37.1 billion in profit from equity-accounted associates (including Bank of Industry and NEXIM) and pays a modest ₦8.3 billion in tax at the subsidiary level — items the tax-exempt parent Bank does not carry.
The standalone Bank tells a cleaner story: operating profit fell from ₦165.69 billion in 2024 to ₦86.81 billion in 2025, a…
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Read Full Article by Bala Augie at moneycentral.com.ng
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