Fast growing regional commercial bank, Providus Bank has grown its total assets to N3.8 trillion or $2.4 billion as of 31 March 2025, primarily driven by the strategic expansion of risk assets, increased allocations to investible securities, and momentum gained from its digital platform, which supported customer acquisition and deposit inflows.
As of 31 December 2024, the balance sheet registered at N2.5 trillion (USD1.6 billion) and reflected a 63.0% growth over the 2023 position.
In August 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a proposed merger with Unity Bank Plc, a relatively smaller Nigerian-based commercial bank with a national license.
In January 2025, the bank injected N9.4 billion in new capital via private placement, Operating revenue registered a three-year CAGR of 80.7% to N129.9 billion in 2024 (USD84.8 million), with the net interest income and non-interest income accounting for 42.5% and 57.6% of the revenue base (31 December 2023: 42.1% and 57.9%), respectively.
Despite a 63.2% expansion in the loan book, provisioning remained low; as a result, the loan loss reserve coverage of gross non-performing loans (NPLs) declined to 38.0% in 2024 (31 December 2023: 109.0%) but improved to 60.3% in March 2025.
Providus Bank’s asset quality was pressured during the year under review. As of 31 December 2024, the gross NPL ratio increased materially to 8.3% (December 2023: 2.3%), due to a sharp 502.4% increase in Stage 3 loans to N68.8 billion.
Management has attributed this movement to macroeconomic challenges that some of the obligors have faced during the period. The bank has embarked on various strategies to reduce NPLs below the regulatory limit, including cautious loan book growth, deliberate recovery efforts, loan restructuring, and write-offs.
As a result, the NPL ratio improved slightly to 6.5% as of March 2025, although it still registered above the regulatory limit of 5%.
Providus Bank has maintained a relatively diversified loan book by sector, with no single sector accounting for more than 20% of gross loans and advances as of 31 December 2024.
Additionally, counterparty concentration of the top 20 obligors to gross loans registered at 38.7% in March 2025, an increase from 35.3% in December 2024 (2023: 37.3%), comparing well with peers.
Providus Bank’s funding structure is broadly comparable to its peers, with customer deposits (majorly CASA) contributing the bulk of the funding base at 79.1% as of 31 December 2024, an improvement from 55.2% recorded in the prior year.
The 39.9% growth in customer deposits to N1.5 trillion (USD979.2 billion) in 2024 reflects the bank’s effective deposit mobilization strategy, driven by well-established partnerships with fintechs and the continued onboarding of retail customers.
However, given the high-interest rate environment, interest expense as a percentage of the average funding base increased to 7.9% as of 31 December 2024, and further to 9.5% in March 2025 (31 December 2023: 5.9%).
This position is expected to gradually moderate over time as the bank continues to onboard more retail clients in line with its growth strategy. The concentration of the top 20 depositors remains moderate at 22.2% of total deposits as of 31 December 2024 (2023: 24.6%), with no single sector contributing more than 5% to the overall deposit base.
