Ranking by Assets
Business growth and expansion in 2023 took quite an unusual turn and the biggest asset builders among Nigeria’s biggest organisations in the year rode on the back of windfalls. It was a year in which how much a company had in offshore assets mattered more than ever before, as the naira exchange rate fell suddenly to an all-time low.
The worst local currency depreciation in Nigeria’s history distributed foreign exchange gains and losses quite unfairly and only businesses highly diversified across geographies stood on the side of big time gains by way of earnings and asset values.
Banks that have extensive offshore operations are the reapers from the ruins, having to their names the biggest balance sheet growth records in the post consolidated banking operations. Their large offshore assets swelled in naira’s depreciated value and the gains brought in windfalls never seen before to the bottom lines.
Asset growths accelerated considerably in the year and banks, which traditionally dominate corporate rankings by the size of the balance sheet, emerged distant leaders in the year.
On the other hand, industrial enterprises mostly found themselves on the side of untold foreign exchange losses with those having significant offshore liabilities leading the way. The development punctured bottom lines, drained off retained earnings, consumed equity capital and shrank balance sheets.
Helped by inflation, however, some companies were able to register improvements in the balance sheet but hardly were any companies able to build assets throughcapacity expansion programmes in 2023.
As in the previous year, banksfinanced asset growths mostly with accelerated growth in depositors’ funds, as further hike in interest rates induced significant inflow into deposit portfolios. New borrowings and expanded profit retentions also enabled them to finance the growths on the asset side of the balance sheet.
Repeating the pattern of the previous year, the first nine members of Nigeria’s largest corporate organisations are all banks but no longer in the former order.
Holding firmlyto the number one position among the top 100 largest companies in Nigeria is Access Holdings Plc,the multinational banking group that built a balance sheet of N26.7 trillion in 2023. The bank achieved an accelerated growth of 77.9 percent in asset base in the year compared to an increase of 27.8 percent in 2022, marking the strongest growth is the size of the balance sheet for the bank in decades.This is one of the top record growth rates in assets among banking companies in the year. The bank financed the asset expansion with an increase of 78 percent in total liabilities to N24.5 trillion and 77.5 percent rise in equity base to N2.2 trillion during the year.
Disrupting the ranking order at the top level for the second year is United Bank for Africa Plc, a global financial giant that beat most of the other banks by the growth margin in 2023. The bank, which pushesupward the ranking of Nigeria’s largest corporates for the second year, moves from the 3rdseat in 2022 to seizethe 2ndplace from Zenith Bank Plcin 2023 with total assets of N20.6 trillion. The bank maintained an aggressive growth path in the year, accelerating from 27 percent growth in assetsin 2022 to 90.2 percent expansion in the balance sheet size in 2023. This is the highestgrowth margin in assets among Nigeria’s largest banks in 2023.
Zenith Bank, which haslarge offshore operations, steps down from its previous 2ndposition on the ranking to settle on the 3rdwith an asset base of N20.4 trillion at the end of 2023. The bank continued on the path of aggressive growth in the year but failed to maintain the lead in asset expansion among the banking group as it did in the previous year. It grew the size of itsbalance sheetby 65.8 percent in 2023, speeding up from30 percent in 2022, representing a creation ofmore than N8 trillion in new assets in the year.With bigger credit and deposit portfolios than UBA, Zenith reserves high potential for upward movement on the ranking. With a marginal difference between the two banks, which of them gets ahead the next time will depend on who beats the other on the path of growth in 2024.
FBN Holdings Plc retainedits position as Nigeria’s 4thlargest corporate organisationwith a balance sheet size of N16.7 trillion at the end of 2023 operations. While it achieved a much accelerated growth rate from 18.4 percent in 2022 to 60.1 percent in 2023, again it trailed theother banks’growth rates.Moving against the trend of monumental foreign exchange gains by banking majors, the bank’s extensive offshore operations rolled in huge exchange losses in the year. It was however able to counter the impact of that with a windfall from huge gains in financial instruments that powered a much elevated earnings story of the holding company in 2023.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc is unmoved on the5thspot on the table, which it occupied withtotal assets of N9.7 trillion at the end of 2023. The bank continued speeding up on theasset growth path from18.6 percent in 2022 to 50.3 percent in 2023.It looks very much like a long term position for it for now, neither hoping for an upward push any time soon nor expecting a rival from beneath. However, stronger growth rates by the next two members on the table should begin to get its attention.
Fidelity BankPlc comes on the6thpositionit held in the previous year, which it occupies with an asset size of N6.2 trillion. The bank gained much speed in asset growth from 21.3 percent in 2022 to 56.3 percent in 2023.It continues to registersome of the strongest asset expansions among banking institutions year after year, good enough to keep its closest rival at a comfortable distance.
Next on the ranking is Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc that retains the 7thposition on Nigeria’s largest 100 companies with a closing balance sheet of N5.1 trillion at the end of 2023. It broke free fromunimproved asset growth rate of 10.3 percent in 2022 to a record growth of 69.9 percent in 2023. The bank has not seen asset expansion that high in decades – which came quite handy to keep its rival at bay.
FCMB Group follows on the 8thposition on the ladder with total assets of N4.4 trillion in 2023. It grew the balance sheet by48.3 percent in the year, a major improvement from 19.6 percent in 2022. The bank was head to head with Stanbic IBTC Holdings in the previous year but the latter’s stronger growth last year has created a wider gap between the two.
Union Bank of NigeriaPlc maintains the 9thposition with total assets of N4.2 trillion at the end of 2023 trading. The bank geared up on the growth track from 7.7 percentincrease in asset base in 2022 to51.5 percent in 2023 – the strongest growth attained in many years. It keeps running neck to neck with FCMB Group above and its rival beneath.Whichever slows down can be sure to be beaten in 2024.
Dangote Cement Plc staged a comeback to recapture the 10thspot among Nigeria’s biggest asset carriers in 2023, a position it lost to MTN Nigeria Communications Plc in the previous year.The cement producer moves one step up from the 11thposition with total assets of N3.9 trillion, representing a rebound from 9.3 percent increase in assets in 2022 to 50.6 percent expansion in 2023.
MTN Nigeria Communications steps down to the 11thplace on the league with a balance sheet size of N3.2 trillion, stepping back a bit after jumpingfive places to the 10thposition in the preceding year. Its undoing was foreign exchange losses that threw it into the red and dug a deep equity hole in the balance sheet.All the fresh equity capital it injected that multiplied asset base three and half times in 2022 was more than consumed by the loss incurred in 2023.
Following closely on the 12thposition is Seplat Energy Plc, a big player in oil and gas with an asset base of N3.1 trillion. The company advances two steps up the ladder from the 13th place in the previous year, having achieved the highest growth margin of 93.1 percent in the balance sheet among the top rankers in 2023.
Other companies that made top entries on the table include Sterling Financial Holding CompanyPlc with assets of N2.5 trillion and Wema Bank with a balance sheet size of N2.2 trillion. Other companies with assets in excess of the N1-trillion mark are BUA Cement Plc with total assets of N1.2 trillion, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and BUA Foods Plc with assets of less than N1.1 trillion each.
Ranking By Market Capitalisation
Stock market capitalisation improvedgenerally in 2023, as the market regained confidence after the electoral cycle-induced slowdown in the preceding year.It was a generally bullish market through the year with increased participation of foreign traders combined with renewed interest of domestic traders. The two functions kept the market’s momentum up, as traders and investors relied on the market to try to beat high inflation that eventhe hike in money market rates could not deal with.
Company stocks were generally upward boundthrough the year with little or no negative responses to the impact of foreign exchange losses and the major increase in fuel pump price on corporate earnings. Unlike in the preceding year, therefore, share price increases were the key factor in the increase in market capitalization in 2023.
Market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange Limited grew by N13.02 trillion or 46.7 percent in 2023 to close at N40.92 trillion with the big companies coming alive withsome of the strongest growth records in market capitalisation in years. This compares to an increase of N5.6 trillion or 25.2 percent recorded in 2022.
MTN Nigeria Communications emerged Nigeria’s number one corporate organisation on market capitalisation in 2023 just as we projectedin the previous ranking that a further strong growth could see the telecoms company on the top of the league. Unscathed by a huge loss of N137 billion and negative shareholders’ funds of N40.8 billion in the year, MTN moves from the second spot to overthrow Dangote Cement with a market capitalisationof N5.54 trillion.Its growth rate accelerated from 9.1 percent in 2022 to 26.7 percent in 2023 –a gain of over N1 trillion in the year.
Dangote Cement steps down to the 2ndposition on the chart with a market capitalisation of N5.45 trillion at the end of 2023. This is equally a major acceleration from a marginal improvement of 1.6 percent in the previous year to 22.6 percent growth in 2023.Its loss of position follows a persisting slower growth than its rival.
As in the previous year, the BUA brothers take the next two places on the ranking of the most capitalized companies in Nigeria but one displaces the other.
BUA Foods, the newcomer that entered the market from the top in 2022 on the 4th position, advances further to seize the 3rd place on market capitalisation. The food manufacturing concern closed the 2023 operations with a market capitalisation of N3.48 trillion, a high jump of 197.5 percent in the year. The company’s share price multiplied close to three times in 12 months to close at N193.40 in 2023.
Sacked from the 3rd place on the table, BUA Cement stepsdown to the 4thposition witha market capitalisation of N3.28 trillion at the end of 2023. This is a slight decline from its market capitalisation of N3.31 trillion at the close of 2022 operations. The cement producerslumped from an outstandingrise of 45.8 percent in market capitalisation in 2022. Its bottom line plunged to a four-year low at N69.5 billion in 2023, as profit capacity was deflated by a slowdown in sales and upshot in costs.
Next on the 5th position is Seplat Energy, which for the second time, jumps three steps from the 8th place in the previous year with a market capitalisation of N1.36 trillion at the close of 2023. The oil and gas company had advanced from the 11th to the 8th positions on the table in 2022. It recorded triple digit growth at 110 percent in market capitalisation, displacing Nestle Nigeria – the previous occupant of the position.
Zenith Bank leads the banking group to retain the 6th position on the market capitalisation league with N1.21 trillion. The bank has maintained its lead of the rest of the banking companies on market capitalisation for a while, recovering from a slight decline in value in the previous year to a big leap at 56.2 percent in 2023.
Holding on to its 7th position also is Guaranty Trust Holding Company, the second bank on the ranking with a market value of N1.19 trillion, just slightly below Zenith Bank. Recovering from a drop of 11.5 percent in market capitalisation in the prior year, it achieved an outstanding growth of 76.1 percent in market value in 2023.
One of the biggest upward movements on market capitalisation at the top end of the ranking is made by Geregu Power, the electric power generating company that climbed five steps from its previous 13th position to take the 8th spot vacated by Seplat Energy. Its market capitalisation swelled by 167.8 percent to stand at N997.5 billion at the end of 2023.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings holds firmly the 9thspot for the second year with a market capitalisation of N902.45 billion. The bank came alive from a drop of 7.1 percent of its market capitalisation in 2022 to a record growth of 108.2 percent in 2023.
United Bank for Africa follows the example of Geregu Power to jump five steps up on the table from the 15th to the 10th place over the period, sending Nigerian Breweries – the previous occupant all the way down to the 17thseat. The bank registered one of the biggest increases in market capitalisation in the year at 235.3 percent to stand at N877.22 billion at the end of 2023.
Down from the 5th position, Nestle Nigeria climbs down to displace FBN Holdings on the 11th place on Nigeria’s biggest companies with a market capitalisation unchanged at about N871.92 billion. Its drawback is failing to grow after losing N362 billionor 29.3 percent in market value in the previous year.
Stepping down for the second year, FBN Holdings settles on the 12th position previously held by Lafarge Africa with a market capitalisation of N845.33 billion despite an outstanding growth of 107.5 percent in value in the year. Access Holdings moves one step ahead to take the 13th seat vacated by Geregu Power with a market capitalisation of N822.87 billion.
The biggest upset on market capitalisation is made by Transcorp Hotels – the hospitality company that travelled all the way from the 29th spot on the board to occupy the 14th position. The company’s market capitalisation multiplied more than 11 times in 2023 to N718.82 billion.
Two other companies with market capitalisation in excess of N500 billion are Dangote Sugar Refinery with a market capitalisation of N692.37 billion and Lafarge Africa with a market value of N507.40 billion at the end of 2023.
Ranking By Number of Employees
Generally, corporate Nigeria in 2023 maintained the long-going pattern of jobless growth. This is no surprise in an economy in which windfalls in asset values gave a semblance of capacity expansions and foreign exchange gains and inflation joined hands to drive corporate sales and profits.
The operating climate of business gave virtually no room for reasonable job creation to the extent that the top two companies by employees in the year hold the positions with reduced number of personnel.Resort to cost saving digital and online services continues to complement lean staff structures in company operations.This explains how banksand other high volume drivers are able to achieve massive asset expansion and rake in huge revenues and profitswith little or no increase in the number of employees.
The banks however seem to give an impression of turning a new leaf in 2023 from killing jobs to topping up. Unlike in the previous year when the number of employees declined in the majority of the banks, almost all of them improved the reading on the number of staff in 2023 with two of them showing double digit growth. On the contrary, manufacturing companies turned out to be the job killers in the year.
Of the top 20 companies by number of employees in 2023, the number of them that recorded double digit growth in workforce doubled from three in 2022 to six.The number of them that cut jobs dropped fromnineto fiveover the same period and the rest recorded either moderate or marginal increases.
Heading the 100 largest labour-employing companies in Nigeria in 2023is Dangote Cement, which retains its leadershipwith 19,073 workers. The figure is however a decline from 19,112 employees in 2022 – a sudden shift from double digit increase in the workforce in the preceding year.
Julius Berger, the construction company, also retains the second position among the largest employers of labour in 2023 with 11,716 people on its payroll. This is a drop of 16.6 percent from the preceding year’s figure of 14,043 employees. The company had grown its workforce by 5.1 percent in 2022.
The banks took the stage in the next four places on the table, turning the tide from job losses to gains. United Bank for Africa leads the banks on the 3rd position as it did in the previous year with 10,007 personnel in 2023. This is a gain of 4.3 percent in its job record, recovering from a drop of 5.9 percent in 2022.
FBN Holdingskeeps its 4th place on the ranking with a workforce of 8,773 at the end of 2023, showing one of the leading gains in employment at 10 percent in the year. This is an upturn from a decline of 2.5 percent in the number of employees in 2022.
Zenith Bank comes on the 5th position with staff strength of 8,165, which represents a marginal gain of 1.1 percent in the year. The bank is one of the few that grew the workforce in 2022 at 7.4 percent from 7,517 workers it had at the end of 2021.
Access Holdings holds on the 6th position on number of employees with 7,334 workersat its command at the end of 2023. This is an increase of 7.5 percent in the year, reversing a marginal decline in the bank’s employment at the end of 2022.
Flour Mills of Nigeria repeats its interruption of the filing of banks to retain the 7thplace on the board with 5,919 employees at its service in 2023. The diversified manufacturing grouprecorded one of the highest job growths at the top end of the ladder withan increase of 14 percent in 2023.
The banks again line up to take the next five places on the chart in confirmation of the new strength in job recovery they found in 2023. Guaranty Trust Holding Company stays on the 8th position on the table with 5,485 employees at the end of 2023. The bank grew jobs by 5.7 percent in the year and has maintained increases in its personnel over the past three years.
FCMB Group comes next on the 9th position as in the previous year with 3,554 workers at the end of 2023. This is an increase of 6.3 percent in the year – the first recovery of jobs in the bank after three years of sustained job cuts.
Fidelity Bank displaced Dangote Sugar Refinery to take the position of the 10th largest employer of labour with 3,063 workers in 2023. The bank made just a marginal addition to its workforce in the year,which was good enough to reclaim the position it lost to Dangote Sugar Refinery in the previous year.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings stands as the 11th largest labour employer in corporate Nigeria, displacing Sterling Financial Holding that held the position in 2022. The bank increased its staff marginally at 1.6 percent to 3,056 in 2023.Sterling Financial Holdings settles on the 12th position with staff strength slightly down at 3,042 at the end of 2023. This is a slip that sends it packing from the 11th seat and a step back from a top record expansion of 26.6 percent of workforce in 2022.
Down from the 10th position, Dangote Sugar Refinery captures the 13th seat on the ranking with 2,956 employees in 2023. Its workforce is down from 3,066 in 2022.
Other major employers of labour with staff strengths in excess of 2,000 are Nestle Nigeria that grew the number of employees by 2.4 percent to 2,375 and Nigerian Breweries that cut jobs by 14.2 percent to 2,305in 2023.
Ranking By Profit
Fiscal 2023 was a year in which companies that made profits made it bigger than ever before and those in losses built the biggest losses imaginable depending on which side of the operating divide they found themselves.
As in the year before, companies generally groaned under inflation-driven cost increases in 2023 but some companies, particularly banks and other financial institutions, rode on the back of foreign currency revaluation gains to grow revenues well above costs to produce the biggest profit margins and profit numbers in many years.
On the other side of the divide are companies where huge foreign exchange losses added to the general cost increases to gulp revenues and build huge losses or crash profits. The rest of the operators are locked in between these two extremes.
The best performers on profit leadership therefore are the high turnover-high profit margin players followed by medium and low turnover with high profit margin – the ability to convert the earnings into profit. Here, the banks take the lead and did beat everyone else hands down on how fast they expanded the bottom line in 2023. They registered profit increases ever seen in the world of banking in 2023 with every bank advancing its position on the league, taking over the leadership and occupying eight of the top 10 places on profit ranking.
Leading the banking group to the general advances on profit performance is Zenith Bank, which dethrones Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria from the 1stand 2nd positions,respectively,in the previous year to take over the leadership mantle as Nigeria’s number one company on profit volume. The bank built an after tax profit of N676.91 billion in 2023, which powers its rising from the 3rd position in the previous year to the 1st. The profit figure represents an increase of 202.3 percent and a big rebound from a drop of 8.4 percent in profit in 2022.The bank jerked up net profit margin from 23.7 percent in 2022 to 31.8 percent in 2023.
Access Holdings takes giant strides to recover from its loss of position in the previous year and launches from the 6th place on the table to take over the 2nd spot, knocking MTN Nigeria off the seat. The bank multiplied profit four and half times to close at N619.32 billion in 2023 – a big upturn from a profit drop of 4.6 percent in 2022 to a growth rate unmatched any time in the bank’s operating history. Its profit margin more than doubled from 11 percent in 2022 to 23.6 percent in 2023.
United Bank of Africa moves up from the 4th position to the 3rd vacated by Zenith Bank in sustaining gains up the performance ranking after jumping two places to the 4th position in the previous year. The bank multiplied profit three and half times to N607.70 billion in 2023 after achieving one of the most outstanding profit advances among banks in 2022. It raised net profit margin from 19.4 percent in 2022 to 28.8 percent in 2023.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company makes a comeback to the 4th position from which it stepped back in the previous year with an after tax profit of N539.66 billion. The bank recovered from a 3.2 percent profit decline in 2022 to register a historic rise of 219 percent in 2023. Its strength is a combination of outstanding growth in revenue and a comparatively high profit margin. It lifted profit margin from 30.9 percent in 2022 to 45 percent in 2023.
Sacked from its leadership, Dangote Cement finds no landing place until it went all the way down to the 5th spot. It finished the 2023 operations with an after tax profit of N455.58 billion, though a major acceleration from 5.9 percent increase in 2022 to 19.2 percent growth but no match to the high grade triple digit show by the banks. Its undoing is a huge foreign exchange loss of N164 billion together with increased production cost in the year.
FBN Holdings moves one step ahead to reclaim the 6th position from which it stepped back in the previous ranking. The bank grew after tax profit by 127.7 percent to N310.37 billion in 2023, a big upturn from a profit drop of about 10 percent in the preceding year. It rebuilt profit margin at 19.5 percent from a drop to 16.7 percent in the preceding year.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings pushes its way two places up the ranking to seize the 7th position vacated by FBN Holdings with an after tax profit of N140.62 billion in 2023. This is a much accelerated growth from 37.1 percent in 2022 to 80 percent in 2023, powered by gains in revenue and profit margin.
BUA Foods interrupts the line-up of banks on the 8th position with a profit of N112.10 billion in 2023, displacing its sister company, BUA Cement that held the position in the previous year. The company’safter tax profit slowed down from 30.9 percent growth in 2022 to 22.7 percent, being undermined by huge foreign exchange losses of N82 billion in 2023.
Banks take the next two places on the profit table both showing great potentials of moving further up the table. Fidelity Bank takes a long upward jump from the 14th to the 9th position with a profit of N99.45 billion in 2023. The bank lifted after tax profit by 112.9 percent in the year, being powered by a gain in profit margin from 13.9 percent in 2022 to 17.9 percent in 2023.
FCMB Group similarly launches all the way from the 17th place to become the 10th biggest company by profit volume in 2023. Its strength is in a top record growth of 198.8 percent in profit in the year to register a bottom line of N93.02 billion. The bank enhanced profit margin from 11 percent in 2022 to 18 percent in 2023.
Seplat Energy advances four places on the ranking from the 15th position to displace Dangote Sugar Refinery on the 11th place with an after tax profit of N81.33 billion in 2023. The energy company grew after tax profit by 83.1 percent in the year, as its revenue accelerated and profit margin improved.
Eliminated from the 8th position, BUA Cement drops all the way down to the 12th place on the ranking previously held by Lafarge Africa with a profit of N69.45 billion in 2023. The cement company suffered a drop of 31.2 percent in profit in the year after a slowdown in the preceding year.
Losing the 12th position, Lafarge Africa steps down to the 13th, forcing Nestle Nigeria to vacate the seat with a profit of N51.14 billion. This is a drop of 4.7 percent in profit for the cement producer in the year.
Wema Bank takes a flight from the 26th place on the table in the previous year to claim the 14th position vacated by Fidelity Bank with a profit of N35.99 billion. Multiplying profit more than three times in the year, the bank arrivesconfidently to the big league.
Other top names on the top profit table with after tax profit of N30 billion and above are Presco, the oil palm and rubber company, which grew profit by 152.2 percent to N32.86 billion to rank 15th on the table. Transnational Corporation follows on the 16th spot with a profit of N32.64 billion and its subsidiary and newcomer, Transcorp Power joins on the 17th position with N30.23 billion profit.
Major eliminations on the profit table in 2023 present a shocking picture of how are the mighty fallen.Leading the great fall is MTN Nigeria Communications that tumbles from number two in profit leadership to loss leadership in the year. It is followed by Dangote Sugar Refinery, which similarly disappeared from the 11th position on profit performance to become the 5th loss maker in 2023.
That is also the fate of Nestle Nigeria, which lost its 13th seat in the previous ranking to stand as the 4th biggest loss-making company in 2023. Union Bank crashed out of the 16th position in the previous year to land at the bottom of the profit ranking, just narrowly escaping a loss.Also, Nigerian Breweries falls from the 23rdposition to become the 3rd biggest loss maker in 2023.
Ranking By Revenue
Sales revenue deliveries in 2023 were largely a function of windfalls in earnings and the ability to pass on heightened inflation to consumers through price increases. It was a year for the banks, which are the big reapers of windfalls from foreign exchange gains as well as hike in interest rates.With gains left and right, banks staged quite impressive advances on revenue leadership in 2023.
Consumer-facing companies and industry-leading names had their way to elevated revenue deliveries by passing inflation-driven production cost increases to consumers. Except in a few industries such as breweries and construction, consumer demand stepped up in 2023, particularly in the first half of the year, which helped companies to push over high cost products to helpless consumers.
The stir from the banking group saw them through to hoisting a banking flag for the first time in years on Nigeria’s revenue leadership ranking. Access Holdings stirs the ranking for the second year to deliver the winning baton for the group. Itdethrones two non-bank giants to take the lead as Nigeria’s largest revenue generating company after jumping three steps to the 3rd position the year before.The bank built gross earnings of N2.59 trillion in 2023, representing another historic leap of 87 percent and with that it ended the long reign of MTN Nigeria Communications on the revenue league.
MTN Nigeria Communications steps down to the 2nd position previously held by Dangote Cement with sales revenue of N2.47 trillionat the end of 2023. The telecoms company maintained stable growth in turnover at22.7 percent in the year with increased customer dependence on data for communication remaining its key advantage in selling.
Sacked from the 2nd seat on the ranking, Dangote Cement settles on the 3rdposition vacated by Access Holdings with sales revenue of N2.21 trillion. The cement manufacturergrew sales revenue more rapidly last year at 36.4 percent than the 17 percent improvement in 2022, as group sales volume recovered from a decline in the previous year and product prices sped up.
Keeping the banking flag flying, Zenith Bank wrestles with Flour Mills of Nigeria and wins the contest to stand as the 4th largest revenue generating company in 2023.It settles score with the flour millers that had sacked it from the 4th seat the previous year. The bank achieved ahuge increase of 125.5 percent in gross earnings in 2023, representing additional revenue of N1.2 trillion. The bank’s earnings were powered by other income, investment and trading income and interest income.
United Bank for Africa launches even a more aggressive upward push from its previous 6th position to seize the 5th seat on the ranking vacated by Zenith Bank with gross earnings of N2.07 trillion.With a massive growth of 143.3 percent in gross income that beats everyone else on the top end of the ladder and a gain of position for the second year, at least the two members ahead have every need to worry.
FBN Holdings quickly steps up to the 6th position in a part recovery from two steps down to the 7th place on the table in 2022. The bank grossed N1.60 trillion in 2023, scurrying from a weak growth of 6.3 percent in 2022 to a near doubling of revenue in the year.
Dismissed from the 4th position – the second time loss of position on the revenue ranking, Flour Mills of Nigeria finds a landing point on the 7th place with a turnover ofN1.54 trillion.The company grew sales revenue by 32.3 percent in 2023, slowing down from 50.8 percent leap in 2022.The food producing company gets the advantage ofdiversified operations acrosskey consumerbusiness segments.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company takes one step up to reclaim the 8th position, which it lost to Nigerian Breweries the previous year with gross earnings of N1.19 trillion at the end of 2023. The bank is one of the top runners on revenue growth, finishing with 120 percent elevation that welcomes it along with three other banks to the eight-member trillion naira earning group.
White flag goes up for BUA Foods that climbs five steps to the 9th position vacated by Guaranty Trust Holding Company with sales revenue of N729.4 billion in 2023. It was a big year for the food producing company in which sales grew by N311 billion or 74.4 percent – the strongest growth rate it has seen in years.
Seplat Energy follows BUA Foods’ example and advances three steps up the revenue leadership league to occupy the position of the 10th largest revenue generating company in Nigeria in 2023, kicking another oil and gas giant – TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria out of the seat. The company posted a top line of N696.9 billion, which is an increase of 72.5 percent that was powered by favourable international market for crude oil exports.
TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria takes one step down the ladder to seize the 11th spot from Nestle Nigeria, reversing its one step up movement in the previous year. The oil and gas company grew turnover by 31.8 percent to almost N636 billion in 2023, which is a slowdown from an increase of 41.4 percent in the preceding year.
Failing to defend its challenge of banks in the previous year, Nigerian Breweries went all the way down from the 8th seat on the rankingto settle on the 12th position. The brewing company’s revenue growth momentum slowed down drastically from almost 26 percent rise in 2022 to 8.9 percent in 2023 toregister a turnover of roughly N600 billion inthe year.
Advancing five steps up the ladder to the 13th place on the table, Fidelity Bank leads another line up of banks – that is interrupted only by Nestle Nigeria. The bank grew revenue by 64.9 percent to N555.8 billion.
Coming down from the 11th position, Nestle Nigeria claims the 14th place on the ranking with N547.1 billion sales revenue.Two other banks take their places with FCMB Group on the 15th place with N516.4 billion gross earnings and Stanbic IBTC Holdings clinching the 16th position with N461.1 billion turnover.
Other companies that generated sales revenuein excess of N440 billion in 2023 are BUA Cement, which grossedN460 billion,Julius Berger, which earned N443.4 billion and Dangote Sugar Refinery, which raked ina revenue of N441.5 billion.
Ranking By Tax Payment
Banks generally took over the top positions on profit leadership ranking in 2023 and equally occupied the top places on corporate tax payers ranking in the year. Big ticket income taxes followed breakout growths in bank profits in the year, overtaking non-bank members on income tax payment ranking.
Leading the banks, United Bank for Africa shakes up the ranking from its previous 6th position to establish its reign as Nigeria’s number one on income tax payment in 2023. With an income tax that multiplied close to five times to N149.98 billion, the bank disrobes MTN Nigeria Communications after wearing the crown for one year.
Zenith Bank moves one step up on the ranking, as it did in the previous year, to displace Dangote Cement on the 2nd place on the table with an income tax expense of N119.05 billion, an increase of 96 percent.
Another major shake up of the ranking was staged by Access Holdings that clears the way from as far back as the 13th position in the previous year to seize the 3rd seat vacated by Zenith Bank. The bank’s income tax payment multiplied well over seven times to N109.68 billion in 2023 to power a rebound from five-step climb down in 2022.
Stepping two places down on the ranking, Dangote Cement, losing its place for the second year,rests on the 4th position, displacing its previous occupant – Guaranty Trust Holding Company with an income tax payment of N97.52 billion in 2023.Its tax payment is down for the second yearat31.2 percent after going down by 18.5 percent in 2022.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company steps down to the 5th place on the ranking and in turn sacks the previous occupant – Seplat Energy with a tax payment of N69.65 billion. The bank recovered from a decline in income tax payment in 2022 and grew the figure by 54.8 percent in 2023.
Reversing its one step up in the previous ranking, Seplat Energy comes down to find the 6th place vacated by United Bank for Africa with a tax payment of N44.21 billion. The figure is a moderate improvement of 4.5 percent in the year, down from a top record growth of 75.5 percent in tax expense in 2022.
FBN Holdings advances two steps up the ranking from the 9th place to the 7th, displacing Dangote Sugar Refinery with a major increase of 85.8 percent in tax payment to N40.11 billion in 2023.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings similarly moves two steps forward from the 10th position to the 8th previously occupied by Nestle Nigeria with a tax payment of N32.29 billion, representing an increase of 65.3 percent. This is further to its six-step advance on the table in the previous year.
Lafarge Africa springs a surprise on the 9th spot on the ranking that was vacated by FBN Holdings, coming five places behind at the 14th position with a tax payment of N27.64 billion in 2023. The figure is an increase of 88.5 percent in the year.
Transnational Corporation moves in the same fashion with Lafarge Africa from the 15th position to claim the 10th spot exited by Stanbic IBTC Holdings with an outstanding growth of 94.7 percent in income tax payment to N26.17 billion in 2023.
Fidelity Bank makes one of the longest upward journeys on the corporate tax payment ranking from the 21st seat in the previous year to the 11th in 2023 where it sends BUA Cement packing. The bank paid anincome tax ofN24.81 billion for the year, up a clear 257 percent.
Transcorp Power, a newcomer on the stock exchange listing, enters the ranking with strength that knocks out BUA Foods from the 12th position with a tax payment of N22.53 billion in 2023.
Presco files in on the 13th place on the table vacated by Access Holdings with an income tax payment of N17.15 billion in 2023 – a top record jump of 152.9 percent.
Okomu Oil Palmtakes the 14th position left behind by Lafarge Africa with a tax payment of N13.19 billion, representing an increase of 80.9 percent.
Flour Mills of Nigeria moves one step ahead to the 15th seat on the ranking from which Transnational Corporation moved up the ladder with a tax payment of N10.28 billion in 2023, which is a drop of 8.2 percent in the year.
Big names missing on the corporate income tax ranking in 2023 include MTN Nigeria Communications, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Nestle Nigeria, BUA Cement and BUA Foods – all of which shifted to tax credits that helped to lower their net losses or profit drop in the year.
By Mike Uzor