CBN Grows Profit After Tax by 44% to N103.8bn in FY 2022

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally released its long-awaited audited accounts for the last seven years, and in the most recent figures for recent the financial year ended December 31, 2022, the apex bank saw a profit after tax (PAT) of N103.8 billion, a 44 per cent increase from the N75.1 billion achieved in the 2021 fiscal year.

Business Post reported earlier that the CBN, during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and the governance of now suspended Mr Godwin Emefiele, the books never saw the light of day from 2016 till 2022.

However, the recent decision of President Tinubu to investigate the operations of the banking industry watchdog in Nigeria under the suspended CBN Governor may have triggered the release of the financial statements.

It was discovered that the CBN posted post-tax profits every, including in 2016 and 2020 when the country slipped into recession under Mr Buhari.

In 2022, the apex bank earned a net interest income of N1.8 trillion compared to N1 trillion a year earlier, representing an 80 per cent surge in net interest income.

Net operating income was N1.2 trillion compared to N1.1 trillion same period in 2021. Total operating expenses also rose from N1.1 trillion in 2021 compared to N1.2 trillion in 2022.

Meanwhile, Ways and Means, loans and advances in the form of overdrafts given to the federal government by the CBN stood at N23.3 trillion and generated an interest of N1.9 trillion for the apex bank compared to N1.2 trillion in the prior year.

Although the CBN Act only allows 5 per cent based on the FG’s revenues to the nation’s purse, the loan had ballooned and surpassed the benchmark allowed.

Last year’s numbers showed that the Abuja-headquartered lender earned an additional N247 billion and N156 billion from the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) and via FGN Securities, respectively.

The apex bank also reported another N422.7 billion in income derived from “debt instruments measured at fair value through profit and loss (FVTL), which account for the bank’s current investments to reflect its current market price.”

The CBN noted that it earned N104.5 billion in income from commissions from the sale of foreign currency and other related transactions.

Another N15.9 billion was earned from processing currency, Bureau de Change (BDCs) application and registration, commission on fund transfers, and other banks and financial institutions’ application and licensing fees in the year under review.