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FirstBank Celebrates 2021 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Week, Calls for All to Adopt Kindness as a Way of Life
The best definition of kindness is not one provided by any of the world’s best dictionaries but one demonstrated by how we treat others on a daily basis. Kindness is a universal language that does not require any special knowledge, exposure, skills, training or background to understand and appreciate it as a beneficiary or observer of a kind act. Neither is any special knowledge or training required to show and extend it to others. Just as anyone and everyone can be shown acts of kindness, all persons without exception can and ought to show and extend acts of kindness to others. Kindness flows from deep within us, from the better angels of our nature. Hence, the common idiom “the milk of human kindness”.
This is probably the backdrop to the theme “Kindness…a Way of Life”, which FirstBank has chosen for commemoration of its 2021 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Week (CR&S Week). This year’s CR&S Week, scheduled to hold from 26th – 30th July 2021, will feature Kind Comments Days, visits to orphanages/less privilege homes, webinars focused on the kindness theme, SPARK school engagement among other activities – lined up for each of the days. The yearly CR&S Week is a dedicated week designed to offer FirstBank staff, customers and the public opportunities to demonstrate the milk of human kindness that flows in them and give their time and resources to defined causes. It seeks to amplify FirstBank’s innate culture of giving and volunteering as embodied in its Employee Giving and Volunteering programme.
The Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Week was introduced in 2017 as part of the bank’s longstanding Employee Giving and Volunteering programme created to enable and encourage staff to give back to society through donations and volunteering. Specially designed to reignite acts of random kindness in the society with events that are tailored to reorient people towards the right values, it provides a veritable platform for encouraging the citizenry to intentionally create positive impact in their immediate environment. One of the main highlights of the first CR&S Week was the SPARK Initiative. S.P.A.R.K stands for Start Performing Acts of Random Kindness. But originally the “S” stood for “Staff”. It was changed to “Start” to broaden the initiative beyond just staff and encourage everyone else to be part of the kindness brigade. Also, “P” originally stood for “Promoting” but was changed to “Performing” to convey the sense that participants are equally involved in actually doing kind acts and not only promoting kindness.
Held between 25 – 29 September 2017 with “Promoting Kindness: Putting You First” as theme, the maiden CR&S Week was the first of its kind in Nigeria’s financial services industry. It highlighted the role FirstBank’s corporate citizenship interventions was playing in driving positive impact across various communities – all within one compact week. It was aimed at encouraging people everywhere to step out of their comfort zones, shift attention from themselves and their personal needs to others in society who have not been as fortunate as they have and perform a random act of kindness towards them. The first edition of the CR&S Week provided opportunity for FirstBank staff to give their time and resources to promote acts of random kindness within their communities and contribute to the welfare and well-being of others through giving and visits to orphanages/homes of the less fortunate and internally displaced people (IDPs). Within the same Week the bank held career counselling sessions with secondary school students across the six geo-political regions in Nigeria with FirstBank staff coordinating the impactful sessions that inculcated the values of financial literacy and inclusion in young students. Also, staff had the opportunity to nominate beneficiaries they believe are deserving of random of acts of kindness. Through this activity, Baby Ijeoma was nominated as one of the beneficiary that received corrective heart surgery in India which was in partnership with Vama Wave Foundation. The impact of the first edition went beyond Nigeria as FirstBank’s subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK also participated, benefitting people and at least 22 charities in six countries.
The second edition of the CR&S Week held from 19 – 23 June 2018. Themed “Touching Lives: You First”, the 2018 Week was intended to demonstrate FirstBank brand promise to always put stakeholders first. It focused mainly on five key initiatives/activities. First was the launch of a partnership with VisionSpring to advance social impact by providing vision screening and affordable eyeglasses for 10,000 low-income earners. This aligned with the bank’s financial inclusion and financial literacy approach of promoting accessible and affordable financial products and services to disadvantaged groups with the goal of bringing these marginalised populations into the mainstream economy, improving their chances for resilient livelihoods and financial stability. Second were giving and visits to orphanages/less privilege homes. This was the biggest platform for employee engagement during the week. It followed a needs assessment of the orphanages to be visited to enable employees donate appropriate items, and employees responded generously, donating at a scale that had never been done before. In all, eight countries witnessed this initiative while more than 26 charities participated.
Celebration of the UN International Widows’ Day on 23rd June 2018, which coincided with the last day of the CR&S Week, was the third activity. Driven by the International Women’s Society (IWS) in Lagos with whom the bank partnered to organise an empowerment outreach for 500 widows in Lagos, it provided start-up capital and capacity building required to successfully run start-ups and small businesses, to the widows. Fourth was a Career Counselling Day for over 10,000 senior secondary school students, as part of the broader FutureFirst programme of the bank aimed at ensuring the youth are empowered to be financially independent through fulfilling careers and the right financial knowledge. Fifth and final was the SPARK (Start Performing Acts of Random Kindness) initiative, which included a SPARK Day set aside in the bank for people to act within their individual spheres of influence to promote kindness. The initiative also saw the bank receiving about 200 internal and external nominations of people deserving of kindness, out of which 24 beneficiaries were to emerge. The 2018 Week was marked across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones with two states from each zone, totalling 12 states in all. It was also commemorated in the six countries/markets outside Nigeria where FirstBank already had subsidiaries – UK, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
In 2019, the CR&S Week held from 1 – 6 July 2019 with the theme “Ripples of Kindness: Putting You First”. The theme was informed by the bank’s belief that every act of kindness (regardless of how little or in whatever form) ignites a ripple effect that goes on without end. The year’s CR&S Week focused mainly on the SPARK initiative, which had gained so much traction since its humble beginnings in 2017. A Kindness Manifesto for both internal stakeholders and external stakeholders was introduced. There were other new activities or initiatives. A Nice Comments Day was introduced for the first time and scheduled to hold on the first day of the CR&S Week. The basis for it, according to the bank’s committee that oversaw the planning and implementation of the 2019 CRS Week, is the important place of words in the “kindness ecosystem”. The committee underlined this point when it noted as follows: “One of the truest reflections of how kind we are is our choice of words. That’s why we have created Nice Comments Day to help build a kinder world [through kind words].”
Another new initiative introduced in 2019 was the SPARK School Engagement, which involved launching the SPARK initiative in schools to promote the 3Cs projected as the pillars of kindness – Compassion, Civility and Charity. The schools – secondary schools across Nigeria – were to be visited to educate students on acts of kindness, encouraging them to make kindness a lifestyle. A crowd-funding initiative was also added in 2019 to enable both employees and external stakeholders donate to defined humanitarian causes, such as supporting widows, sending children (from indigent homes) to school and providing health care for the physically challenged and the old. As at August 2019, nearly N7 million had been raised through the crowd-funding initiative.
The regular initiatives/activities were also retained in 2019. There were visits to orphanages/less privilege homes. Widows’ empowerment was organised in collaboration with International Women’s Society (IWS), Nigeria to empower a select number of widows across Nigeria. The implementation in Nigeria covered the six geopolitical zones with activities held in four states per zone, amounting to 24 states in all. Six subsidiaries of FirstBank also implemented the programme in their markets/countries – UK, Ghana, DRC, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Senegal. In all, 25 schools benefitted with 6,000 students participating in terms of the School Engagement; 50 charities and NGOs, including Leap Africa and IWS, were partnered. Over 20,000 orphans/less privilege people including widows were reached and impacted.
No CR&S Week could take place in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions on public gatherings and visits. But FirstBank did not just fold its hand and sit idly. The bank did something absolutely amazing, demonstrating uncommon solidarity with a vulnerable segment of society – children. Realising that the harsh effects of the COVID-19 crisis were borne disproportionally by children, whose education and thus future were being endangered due to the lockdown and prolonged closure of schools, FirstBank embarked on a mission to do something about it. Working with partners, such as IBM, UNESCO, Robert & John, Curious Learning and the Lagos State Government, it launched the bold and ambitious e-Learning Initiative designed to move one million children onto safe online learning platform. The Initiative was to minimise the disruption to children’s education, ensuring that they remained fully engaged during the difficult period and are not left behind by their peers across the (developed) world. There are already over 150,000 students benefitting from the e-Learning initiative in the height of the COVID-19 crises. In addition, the Bank deployed communication material to create more awareness of the SPARK Initiative and to sensitize staff, customers and the public during the unprecedented times.
What greater demonstration of kindness could there have been in 2020 given the circumstances the whole world found itself, especially vulnerable children? So there may not have been a CR&S Week in 2020 but the same kindness narrative that has characterised all activities of the various CR&S Week since 2017 clearly shone through FirstBank’s COVID-19 response, especially its e-Learning Initiative. In future, people would probably easily be forgiven if they assumed the e-Learning Initiative represented FirstBank’s CR&S Week in 2020. FirstBank has demonstrated uncommon consistency over the years to its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Week and the ideals it seeks to project through the platform. This has earned the bank the right to make the bold call that is the theme of this year’s CR&S Week.
The question is whether we will heed the clarion call to adopt kindness as a way of life. Will we go out there and extend kindness to others in ways that will make them realise that kindness is not just a word taken from the dictionary but an act that should always be expressed to others? Will we embrace kindness as our new way of life? Will we commit to making our everyday a Kind Comments Day, thus giving others permission and the strength to do the same? Will we Start Performing Acts of Random Kindness towards all and make them feel obligated to start acting kindly towards other people as their new lifestyle?.
Zenith Bank Plc has released its unaudited financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2025, with a remarkable 16% year-on-year growth in gross earnings from N2.9 trillion recorded in Q3 2024 to N3.4 trillion in Q3 2025. The Group’s performance continues to demonstrate resilience, strong momentum, disciplined execution and an ability to deliver long-term shareholder value in spite of challenging macroeconomic environment.According to the financial results presented to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), the growth in gross earnings was driven by a sustained growth in interest income which grew by 41% year-on-year to N2.7 trillion. The growth in interest income was supported by a high-yield rate environment and an expansion in the Bank’s investment portfolio. Despite the increase in interest expense by 22% to N814 billion on the back of a tightening monetary cycle and a growth in the Bank’s funding base, the Bank was able to achieve a healthy Net Interest Margin (NIM) of 12% as against 10% in September 2024. Non-interest income declined by 38% to N535 billion, underpinned by a 60% decline in trading gains.Profitability remained strong, with profit before tax at N917 billion as against N1.00 trillion reported in September 2024. Profit after tax also declined by 8% to N764 billion and Earnings Per Share (EPS) came in at N18.60 as against N26.34 in September 2024, as the Bank took bold measures to improve the quality of its loan portfolio.The Bank’s total assets grew by 4% from N30 trillion in December 2024 to N31 trillion as at September 2025. This was largely supported by customer deposits, which rose by 8% to N23.7 trillion within the same period. Gross loans declined by 9% to N10 trillion as at September 2025, while Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio improved to 3% due to the write-off of non-performing loans.Return on Average Equity (ROAE) and Return on Average Assets (ROAA) stood at 23.3% and 3.3% respectively. Cost of funds increased to 4.5%, underscored by the broader elevated interest rate environment. The Group’s cost of risk stood at 10% while cost-to-income ratio rose to 45%.Coverage ratio and liquidity ratio remain solid and well within regulatory limits at 211.1% and 53% respectively. This highlights the Bank’s strong capital position and liquidity profile as well as its ability to fund strategic growth opportunities. It also reflects its unwavering commitment to a prudent risk management, compliance and corporate governance culture. Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Dame Dr. Adaora Umeoji, OON, said: “the Bank’s robust performance is an attestation to the resilience of the Zenith brand, result-driven strategy, and the adaptability of our people in an evolving operating environment. We have fortified our capital base, reset our asset quality, and are well positioned for sustainable and profitable growth”.Looking to Q4 2025, Dame Dr. Umeoji reinforced her optimistic outlook: “This result confirms the resilience of both our business model and our people. We’re on a solid growth path that we expect to maintain through the remainder of the year. Our focus on innovation, digital transformation, and developing solutions that address our clients’ changing needs positions us to capitalise on emerging .
opportunities whilst maintaining our disciplined approach to growth.” She assured shareholders that the robust performance, combined with improved asset quality and the Bank’s strong capital base, positions Zenith Bank to deliver exceptional returns with expectations of sustained value creation. “We’re well placed to sustain this momentum whilst maintaining responsible leadership in the Nigerian banking industry and delivering exceptional value to all our stakeholders.”The Bank’s track record of excellent performance has continued to earn the brand numerous awards, including being recognised as the Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital for the sixteenth consecutive year in the 2025 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking, published by The Banker and “Nigeria’s Best Bank” at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025. The Bank was also awarded Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards for 2020, 2022 and 2024; Best Bank in Nigeria from 2020 to 2022, 2024 and 2025, in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards; Best Bank for Digital Solutions in Nigeria in the Euromoney Awards 2023; and was listed in the World Finance Top 100 Global Companies in 2023.Further recognitions include Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria for five consecutive years from 2021 to 2025 in the World Finance Banking Awards and Most Sustainable Bank, Nigeria in the International Banker 2023 and 2024 Banking Awards. Additionally, Zenith Bank has been acknowledged as the Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria, in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards for four consecutive years from 2022 to 2025 and ‘Best in Corporate Governance’ Financial Services’ Africa for four consecutive years from 2020 to 2023 by the Ethical Boardroom.The Bank’s commitment to excellence led to Zenith being also being named the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in The Banker’s Top 500 Banking Brands for 2020 and 2021, Bank of the Year 2023 to 2025 at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards, and Retail Bank of the Year for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022 and 2024 to 2025. The Bank also received the accolades of Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria and Best Innovation in Retail Banking, Nigeria, in the International Banker 2022 Banking Awards, Bank of the Year 2024 by ThisDay Newspaper; Bank of the Year 2024 by New Telegraph Newspaper; and Best in MSME Trade Finance, 2023 by Nairametrics. The Bank’s Hybrid Offer was also adjudged ‘Rights Issue/ Public Offer of the Year at the Nairametrics Capital Market Choice Awards 2025.Zenith Bank has also bagged several non-financial awards including, Most Responsible Organisation in Africa, Best Company in Transparency and Reporting and Best Company in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at the SERAS CSR Awards Africa 2024.
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Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or “the Group”) has released its Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements as of September 30, 2025, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE)
The Group posted profit before tax of ₦900.8billion on the back of strong performance on the core earnings lines of interest income and fee income which grew y-o-y by 25.6% and 16.8% respectively. The strong core-earning performance continued to narrow the y-o-y dip in PBT to 26%, thereby cushioning the impact of the ₦523.2bn fair value gains recognised in Q3-2024, which did not recur in Q3-2025.
The Group recorded growths across all its Asset lines and continues to maintain a well-structured, healthy liquid and diversified balance sheet in all the jurisdictions wherein it operates a Banking franchise, as well as across its Payments, Pension and Funds Management business verticals.
Group’s total assets and shareholders’ funds closed at ₦16.7trillion and ₦3.3trillion, respectively. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very robust and strong, closing at 36.5%, likewise asset quality improved as evidenced by IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans which closed at 3.3% and 4.4% % at Bank and Group level in Q3-2025 (Bank 3.5%, Group 5.2% in December 2024). Cost of Risk (COR) also improved to 2.2% from 4.9% in December 2024. In specific terms, the Group’s loan book (net) grew by 16.5% from ₦2.79trillion as of December 2024 to ₦3.24trillion in September 2025. Similarly, deposit liabilities grew by 16.0% from ₦10.40trillion to ₦12.06trillion during the same period.
Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “Our third quarter performance underscores the consistency and resilience of our business model, as well as the continued strength of our diversified financial services ecosystem. We are seeing steady, sustainable growth across our banking and non-banking businesses, supported by disciplined execution and a strong focus on operational efficiency. The improvements we have made to our digital and payments infrastructure are enhancing customer experience, deepening engagement, and driving greater integration across our ecosystem.”
He further stated: “Looking ahead, our focus remains on advancing our competitive edge through innovation, operational excellence, and a commitment to superior customer outcomes. With a clear growth trajectory and strong organizational alignment, we are well-positioned to sustain performance momentum and deliver another year of industry-leading results.”
Overall, the Group continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Financial Services Industry in terms of key financial ratios i.e., Pre-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 39.5%, Pre-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 7.6%, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 36.5% and Cost to Income ratio of 28.8%.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc is a leading financial services group with operations across Africa and the United Kingdom. Renowned for its strong corporate governance, innovative financial solutions, and customer-centric approach, GTCO Plc provides a wide range of banking and non-banking services including payments, funds management, and pension fund administration. The Group is committed to delivering long-term value to stakeholders while driving growth and development across its markets
Access Holdings Plc (“the Group” or “the Company”) today announced its half-year audited financial results for the period ended June 30, 2025.The Group’s financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2025, reflect the resilience of our business model, the diversification of our revenue streams, and the steady progress to the execution of our five-year strategic plan. Gross earnings increased by 13.8% year-on-year to 2.5 trillion in H1 2025 from 2.2₦ ₦ trillion in H1 2024, driven by strong growth in interest income which increased by 38.9% year-on-year to 2.0 trillion from 1.5 billion in H1 2024. Net interest income also increased by 91.8% year-on-year to 984.6 billion in H1 2025 from 513.4 billion in H1 2024. Complementing this performance was a growth in net fees and commission income, which increased by 16.1% year-on-year to 237.7billion in H1 2025 from 204.7 billion in H1 2024. Profit before tax (PBT) and profit after tax (PAT) closed at 320.6 billion and 215.9 billion respectively underscoring the strength and resilience of our business model in the markets we operate in. Key balance sheet indicators remain strong with total assets, customer deposits, loans and advances, and shareholders’ equity closing at 42.4 trillion, 22.9 trillion, 13.2 trillion 3.8 trillion respectively. The Banking group demonstrated resilient performance in H1 2025. Interest income grew by 38.7% year-on-year to 2.0 trillion in H1 2025 from 1.5 trillion in H1 2024. Net interest income increased by 85%, from 536.7 billion in H1 2024 to 992.7 billion in H1 2025. Fee and commission income increased by 27% to 294.9 in H1 2025 from 232.5 billion in H1 2024 driven by increased transaction volumes. Profit before tax (PBT) and profit after tax (PAT) closed at 303.0 billion and 199.3 billion respectively. Banking group subsidiaries contributed 65% to the Banking group’s profit before tax (PBT) in H1 2025. This result highlights our journey towards sustainable performance and execution across our key African and international markets. The Group’s non-banking subsidiaries maintained a strong growth momentum. For Access – ARM Pensions, financial performance was robust, with revenue up 29.9% to 21.0 billion and profit before tax up 65.1% to 13.1 billion. The business delivered a₦ ₦
www.accessbankplc.com solid ROAE of 48.1%, a cost-to-income ratio of 35.1%, and a PBT margin of 62.5%, underscoring strong operational efficiency and profitability. Hydrogen Payments recorded a 40.5% growth in top-line revenue compared to H1 2024. Profit before tax (PBT) grew by 273% year-on-year. The total transaction value processed increased by 211%, reaching 41.1 trillion in H1 2025, up from 13.8 trillion in H1 2024. Access Insurance Brokers has sustained strong momentum, recording a 125% year-on-year increase in gross written premium, 146% growth in revenue, and a 161% improvement in profit before tax (PBT). Oxygen X, the Group’s digital lending arm, has sustained strong momentum since launch in Q3 2024, delivering 5.4 billion in revenue and 2.2 billion in profit before tax in H1 2025. Access Holdings’ businesses are well-positioned to deepen market penetration, expand product offerings, and leverage cross-sell opportunities across the Group to drive continued growth and profitability. The group’s focus remains on driving prudent growth and continued execution of its strategic priorities, scaling its digital and transaction-led income streams, increasing revenue diversification, embedding efficiency, innovation, and disciplined portfolio management across all areas of the business. It will also continue to uphold the highest standards of risk and governance discipline to ensure sustainable profitability.Access Holdings remains confident that it will continue to deliver sustainable value and returns to its shareholders. Its long-term objective is to build a stronger, more agile Group that consistently delivers superior returns, fosters innovation-driven growth, and optimises portfolio performance to create inclusive value across its markets while reaffirming investor confidence in the strength and future of Access Holdings. The Group appreciates the continued trust and support of its shareholders, customers, and employees. Together, the Group is building a stronger future.
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