Access Bank UK leads FUGAZ peers in profit for 2025 

Four of the five FUGAZ banks operating licensed banking subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (Access, GTCO, Zenith, and UBA) posted approximately N399.2 billion combined pre-tax profit from those UK operations for the year ended 31 December 2025.

This is according to the full-year 2025 audited financial statements of Nigeria’s tier-one banks, collectively known as FUGAZ, which were filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

Extracts of subsidiary condensed results disclosed in the parent group annual reports represent a net improvement on the 2024 aggregate suggesting growing strategic importance of the UK corridor for Nigeria’s largest banks.

The standout performer was The Access Bank UK Limited, which posted a pre-tax profit of N288.6 billion, the highest among FUGAZ UK subsidiary and equivalent to more than 72% of the entire FUGAZ group’s combined UK pre-tax profit.

Access UK performance was up approximately 11.4% from N259.1 billion in 2024, cementing the UK entity as one of Access Holdings’ most productive international assets.

Zenith Bank (UK) Limited also delivered growth, with PBT rising 17.6% to N98.9 billion from N84.1 billion the prior year, reinforcing its status as the second-largest FUGAZ earner in the UK market.

Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Limited saw its pre-tax profit contract by about 18.3%, from N21.9 billion in 2024 to N17.9 billion in 2025, while UBA UK Limited swung to pre-tax loss of N6.2 billion from a profit of N19.3 billion the prior year.

What the data is saying: 

A look at the individual pre-tax and post-tax profit performances of the four FUGAZ banks with disclosed UK subsidiary results in 2025 paints a picture of widening divergence within a segment that was broadly profitable just a year ago.

• Access Bank UK posted a pre-tax profit of N288.6 billion in 2025, up from N259.1 billion in 2024 — a year-on-year increase of approximately 11.4%.
• Post-tax profit figures were not separately disclosed in publicly available sections of the parent’s filing, but the UK subsidiary’s after-tax contribution remains embedded in the broader Access Holdings group PAT of N743 billion for the year.
• Zenith Bank UK recorded a pre-tax profit of N98.9 billion in 2025, up from N84.1 billion in 2024, a gain of approximately 17.6%.
• The entity’s post-tax profit, as reported in Zenith Bank Plc’s 2025 condensed subsidiary results, came in at N74.1 billion, up 18.1% from N62.74 billion in 2024.
• The difference between PBT and PAT reflects the tax charge on the UK-domiciled entity.
• GTBank UK posted a pre-tax profit of N17.9 billion in 2025, a decline of approximately 18.3% from N21.9 billion in 2024. Post-tax profit figures were not separately itemized in GTCO’s 2025 annual report.
• UBA UK swung to a pre-tax loss of N6.2 billion in 2025 from a pre-tax profit of N19.3 billion in 2024 — a reversal of N25.5 billion, the only FUGAZ subsidiary in the UK to post a loss for the year.
• The earnings gap between Access Bank UK and its nearest UK peer, Zenith, widened from N175 billion in 2024 to N189.7 billion in 2025 reflecting its international reach and expanding footprint across UAE, Paris, and Hong Kong branches, in addition to subsidiaries in Malta, Mauritius, and France.

More insights: 

Beyond the headline profit numbers, the balance sheet trends across the UK subsidiaries add important context to how each institution is navigating the UK market.

• Access Bank UK crossed the N16.7 trillion threshold in total assets during 2025, with its balance sheet growing approximately 76% from N867 billion to N9.5 trillion. This made it the fastest-growing FUGAZ UK operation by assets base during the year.
• Zenith Bank UK’s customer deposits of N3.65 trillion, up from N3.47 trillion were the highest of any single FUGAZ UK entity — and notably, the highest of all of Zenith’s foreign subsidiaries, surpassing the combined deposit base of its African units in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia at N3.1 trillion.
• This deposit dominance reflects the UK subsidiary’s deep relationships with institutional clients, commodity traders, and high-net-worth individuals with Nigerian and Sub-Saharan African connections.
• The bank’s total assets only grew modestly from N4.1 trillion to N4.3 trillion.
• This could be a direct outcome of the parent group’s strategic decision to rebalance its investment portfolio in 2024, and the full integration costs associated with establishing its Paris branch, which formally commenced operations in November 2024.
• GTBank UK’s total assets also edged slightly to N1.127 trillion from N1.124 trillion, as the bank operated in a more competitive UK market environment.
• The contraction in profitability from N21.9 billion to N17.9 billion likely reflects the non-recurrence of large FX-linked revaluation gains that inflated the 2024 base, a pattern mirrored at the GTCO group level where overall PBT declined marginally from N1.27 trillion to N1.23 trillion.
• A significant strategic development, however, was GTCO’s admission to the London Stock Exchange in July 2025 as a secondary-listed international commercial company, the first FUGAZ banking group to achieve a dual listing in both Lagos and London.
• UBA UK’s total assets appreciated slightly from N727 billion to N881.52 billion, reflecting the pre-tax loss position during the year.

The slight asset appreciation with the pretax loss is consistent with the broader group’s 2025 headwinds: a N140.6 billion net FX loss, a 54% increase in impairment charges, and a 70.8% surge in operating expenses that together drove group PBT down 47% on the year.

What you should know: 

The UK subsidiary performances are best understood against the backdrop of how each parent banking group fared in its full-year 2025 results.

• Access Holdings’ gross earnings rose 13.3% to N5.53 trillion and profit before tax grew to N1.007 trillion from N867 billion in 2024, making it only FUGAZ bank to grow both gross earnings and PBT in double digits during the year.
• The group’s profit after tax came in at N743 billion. The strong group performance was underpinned by a 16.7% growth in its loan book to N13.34 trillion, resilient trade finance income, and a 40.3% increase in FX income to N1.23 trillion — the only FUGAZ bank to record FX income growth in 2025, as peers suffered sharp reversals from the prior year’s devaluation windfall.
• Zenith Bank Plc reported gross earnings of N4.19 trillion and profit before tax of N1.26 trillion — though the latter was a modest 4.8% decline from N1.33 trillion in 2024. Profit after tax held broadly flat at N1.04 trillion.
• Zenith’s performance was supported by a 33% rise in interest income to N3.6 trillion, even as trading and FX income fell 89.7% to N135.8 billion, reflecting the naira’s relative stabilisation after two years of aggressive devaluation.
• Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) posted group gross earnings of N2.15 trillion and pre-tax profit of N1.23 trillion in 2025, essentially flat against the N1.27 trillion recorded in 2024. Profit after tax was N865.7 billion.
• GTCO continued to distinguish itself as the most efficient bank in the FUGAZ cohort, with its capital adequacy ratio rising to 43.82% — the highest among peers — and its impairment charges declining by 51.4% to N66.4 billion, the only bank to report a reduction in credit loss provisions.
• GTCO’s London Stock Exchange listing in July 2025 was a historic milestone, enabling international institutional investors to access GTCO shares via Depositary Interests on the LSE main market for the first time.
• UBA’s profit before tax fell 47.3% to N423.4 billion from N803.7 billion in 2024, and profit after tax declined to N404.7 billion.
• Gross earnings contracted marginally to N2.97 trillion. The group absorbed a net FX loss of N140.6 billion — a full turnaround from a N181.8 billion FX gain the prior year — alongside a 54.4% surge in impairment charges to N381 billion and a 70.8% increase in operating expenses.

UBA’s diversified pan-African structure, with operations across 24 markets, continued to provide geographic breadth, though it was insufficient to offset the scale of the macro headwinds in 2025.

Four of the five FUGAZ banks operating licensed banking subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (Access, GTCO, Zenith, and UBA) posted approximately N399.2 billion combined pre-tax profit from those UK operations for the year ended 31 December 2025.

This is according to the full-year 2025 audited financial statements of Nigeria’s tier-one banks, collectively known as FUGAZ, which were filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

Extracts of subsidiary condensed results disclosed in the parent group annual reports represent a net improvement on the 2024 aggregate suggesting growing strategic importance of the UK corridor for Nigeria’s largest banks.

The standout performer was The Access Bank UK Limited, which posted a pre-tax profit of N288.6 billion, the highest among FUGAZ UK subsidiary and equivalent to more than 72% of the entire FUGAZ group’s combined UK pre-tax profit.

Access UK performance was up approximately 11.4% from N259.1 billion in 2024, cementing the UK entity as one of Access Holdings’ most productive international assets.

Zenith Bank (UK) Limited also delivered growth, with PBT rising 17.6% to N98.9 billion from N84.1 billion the prior year, reinforcing its status as the second-largest FUGAZ earner in the UK market.

Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Limited saw its pre-tax profit contract by about 18.3%, from N21.9 billion in 2024 to N17.9 billion in 2025, while UBA UK Limited swung to pre-tax loss of N6.2 billion from a profit of N19.3 billion the prior year.

What the data is saying: 

A look at the individual pre-tax and post-tax profit performances of the four FUGAZ banks with disclosed UK subsidiary results in 2025 paints a picture of widening divergence within a segment that was broadly profitable just a year ago.

• Access Bank UK posted a pre-tax profit of N288.6 billion in 2025, up from N259.1 billion in 2024 — a year-on-year increase of approximately 11.4%.
• Post-tax profit figures were not separately disclosed in publicly available sections of the parent’s filing, but the UK subsidiary’s after-tax contribution remains embedded in the broader Access Holdings group PAT of N743 billion for the year.
• Zenith Bank UK recorded a pre-tax profit of N98.9 billion in 2025, up from N84.1 billion in 2024, a gain of approximately 17.6%.
• The entity’s post-tax profit, as reported in Zenith Bank Plc’s 2025 condensed subsidiary results, came in at N74.1 billion, up 18.1% from N62.74 billion in 2024.
• The difference between PBT and PAT reflects the tax charge on the UK-domiciled entity.
• GTBank UK posted a pre-tax profit of N17.9 billion in 2025, a decline of approximately 18.3% from N21.9 billion in 2024. Post-tax profit figures were not separately itemized in GTCO’s 2025 annual report.
• UBA UK swung to a pre-tax loss of N6.2 billion in 2025 from a pre-tax profit of N19.3 billion in 2024 — a reversal of N25.5 billion, the only FUGAZ subsidiary in the UK to post a loss for the year.
• The earnings gap between Access Bank UK and its nearest UK peer, Zenith, widened from N175 billion in 2024 to N189.7 billion in 2025 reflecting its international reach and expanding footprint across UAE, Paris, and Hong Kong branches, in addition to subsidiaries in Malta, Mauritius, and France.

More insights: 

Beyond the headline profit numbers, the balance sheet trends across the UK subsidiaries add important context to how each institution is navigating the UK market.

• Access Bank UK crossed the N16.7 trillion threshold in total assets during 2025, with its balance sheet growing approximately 76% from N867 billion to N9.5 trillion. This made it the fastest-growing FUGAZ UK operation by assets base during the year.
• Zenith Bank UK’s customer deposits of N3.65 trillion, up from N3.47 trillion were the highest of any single FUGAZ UK entity — and notably, the highest of all of Zenith’s foreign subsidiaries, surpassing the combined deposit base of its African units in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia at N3.1 trillion.
• This deposit dominance reflects the UK subsidiary’s deep relationships with institutional clients, commodity traders, and high-net-worth individuals with Nigerian and Sub-Saharan African connections.
• The bank’s total assets only grew modestly from N4.1 trillion to N4.3 trillion.
• This could be a direct outcome of the parent group’s strategic decision to rebalance its investment portfolio in 2024, and the full integration costs associated with establishing its Paris branch, which formally commenced operations in November 2024.
• GTBank UK’s total assets also edged slightly to N1.127 trillion from N1.124 trillion, as the bank operated in a more competitive UK market environment.
• The contraction in profitability from N21.9 billion to N17.9 billion likely reflects the non-recurrence of large FX-linked revaluation gains that inflated the 2024 base, a pattern mirrored at the GTCO group level where overall PBT declined marginally from N1.27 trillion to N1.23 trillion.
• A significant strategic development, however, was GTCO’s admission to the London Stock Exchange in July 2025 as a secondary-listed international commercial company, the first FUGAZ banking group to achieve a dual listing in both Lagos and London.
• UBA UK’s total assets appreciated slightly from N727 billion to N881.52 billion, reflecting the pre-tax loss position during the year.

The slight asset appreciation with the pretax loss is consistent with the broader group’s 2025 headwinds: a N140.6 billion net FX loss, a 54% increase in impairment charges, and a 70.8% surge in operating expenses that together drove group PBT down 47% on the year.

What you should know: 

The UK subsidiary performances are best understood against the backdrop of how each parent banking group fared in its full-year 2025 results.

• Access Holdings’ gross earnings rose 13.3% to N5.53 trillion and profit before tax grew to N1.007 trillion from N867 billion in 2024, making it only FUGAZ bank to grow both gross earnings and PBT in double digits during the year.
• The group’s profit after tax came in at N743 billion. The strong group performance was underpinned by a 16.7% growth in its loan book to N13.34 trillion, resilient trade finance income, and a 40.3% increase in FX income to N1.23 trillion — the only FUGAZ bank to record FX income growth in 2025, as peers suffered sharp reversals from the prior year’s devaluation windfall.
• Zenith Bank Plc reported gross earnings of N4.19 trillion and profit before tax of N1.26 trillion — though the latter was a modest 4.8% decline from N1.33 trillion in 2024. Profit after tax held broadly flat at N1.04 trillion.
• Zenith’s performance was supported by a 33% rise in interest income to N3.6 trillion, even as trading and FX income fell 89.7% to N135.8 billion, reflecting the naira’s relative stabilisation after two years of aggressive devaluation.
• Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) posted group gross earnings of N2.15 trillion and pre-tax profit of N1.23 trillion in 2025, essentially flat against the N1.27 trillion recorded in 2024. Profit after tax was N865.7 billion.
• GTCO continued to distinguish itself as the most efficient bank in the FUGAZ cohort, with its capital adequacy ratio rising to 43.82% — the highest among peers — and its impairment charges declining by 51.4% to N66.4 billion, the only bank to report a reduction in credit loss provisions.
• GTCO’s London Stock Exchange listing in July 2025 was a historic milestone, enabling international institutional investors to access GTCO shares via Depositary Interests on the LSE main market for the first time.
• UBA’s profit before tax fell 47.3% to N423.4 billion from N803.7 billion in 2024, and profit after tax declined to N404.7 billion.
• Gross earnings contracted marginally to N2.97 trillion. The group absorbed a net FX loss of N140.6 billion — a full turnaround from a N181.8 billion FX gain the prior year — alongside a 54.4% surge in impairment charges to N381 billion and a 70.8% increase in operating expenses.

UBA’s diversified pan-African structure, with operations across 24 markets, continued to provide geographic breadth, though it was insufficient to offset the scale of the macro headwinds in 2025.