By Damilare Adeleye
Ecobank Group has posted $195 million in profit before tax for the first quarter of 2026, up 21% compared to the preceding year.
The pan-African bank disclosed this in its unaudited Q1 2026 results obtained on Monday on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
According to the results, attributable profit to shareholders of ETI rose 11% to $93 million, translating to earnings per share of $0.0038, or 0.38 US cents.
Return on tangible equity hit 19.5%, while return on average assets stood at 1.6%. Tangible book value per share increased 6% YoY to $0.077.
Net revenue climbed 23% to $636 million, with 38.7% generated from stable, recurring non-interest income. The bank’s cost-to-income ratio improved to 49.0%, down from 51.6% in Q1 2025, signaling “positive operating leverage.”
“Ecobank’s first-quarter results were strong, showcasing significant growth in deposits, an increase in net interest margin, efficiency improvements from transformation initiatives, and robust business momentum,” said the CEO of Ecobank Group, Jeremy Awori.
Payment revenue jumped 18% to $78 million, powered by an 18% rise in wholesale payment disbursements to $38 billion, 7% growth in card-related fees, and a 64% surge in merchant solutions fees to $6.9 million.
“The value of digital transactions increased by 54% to $25.7bn, while volumes grew 2% to approximately 57m during the quarter,” the bank stated, adding that customer deposits also rose $5.0 billion to $23.4 billion, with low-cost CASA deposits accounting for 88.3% of the total.
“The deepening of client relationships and enhanced digital engagement led to a $5.0 billion year-on-year increase in customer deposits, resulting in an 11% rise in earnings per share to 0.34 US cents,” Awori added.
Gross loans and advances to customers increased 2% YoY to $12.5 billion. However, non-performing loans rose 71% YoY to $1.2 billion, representing 9.5% of total gross loans.
The bank attributed the jump “mainly due to an increase in NPLs in Nigeria as part of prudent measures to exit the Central Bank of Nigeria’s forbearance regime in 4Q25.”
Reserves for expected credit losses increased 64% YoY to $1.0 billion, or 8.1% of total loans.
By region, UEMOA posted the highest ROE at 40.1% on PBT of $71 million. Nigeria recorded a PBT of $11 million with ROE of 20.9%, while AWA delivered $105 million PBT and 23.3% ROE.
Ecobank said its capital position “remains sound,” with estimated Common Equity Tier 1 and Total Capital Adequacy Ratios of 13.4% and 16.8% as of March 31, 2026. “These figures are approximately 486 and 429 basis points above the regulatory minimums,” the release noted.
Awori said the bank “successfully navigated these challenges by prioritising our customers’ financial needs” despite global pressures.
“Despite a challenging operating environment characterised by the war in the Middle East and turmoil in energy and global financial markets, we successfully navigated these challenges,” he said.
“These results reflect the resilience of Ecobankers, our diversified pan-African business model, growth across our business lines, and our disciplined execution of the Growth, Transformation, and Returns (GTR) strategy.”
He added that the bank remains focused on “client excellence and growth” in CIB and on “broadening our range of products and solutions” in CCB, where the primary customer base grew 13%.