TheCable

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) is more optimal in using its workforce to generate higher profit than peers, an analysis by TheCable has shown.

The analysis showed that GTBank is not only big by market value, but it is also utilising its investment in human capital optimally for profit.

The profit-per-employee ratio is a productivity indicator that measures how well a company creates wealth by converting talents in the organisation into value, and this gives an insight into how efficient the company runs its businesses since employees form an integral part of the organisation.

Profit-per-employee is calculated as a company’s total profit divided by its current number of employees, and the ratio is best used to assess companies in the same industry.

The higher the ratio, the better for the company as it translates to greater productivity and efficiency. 

GTBank, the largest lender by market capitalisation, led other banks in the country with a profit per employee ratio of N66.03 million. This means that the bank realised an average of N66.03 million from each of its employees in 2019. 

Specifically, the bank generated a pre-tax profit of N231.70 billion in 2019, the second-biggest profit in the nation’s banking industry, with only 3,509 employees, the lowest number of employees among all the four tier-one banks considered.

Zenith Bank came second with a profit per employee ratio of 40.67 million. The bank’s pre-tax profit stood at N243.29 billion last year, the largest in the banking sector.

When this is compared to its 5,982 employees, the company made an average profit of N40.67 million from each of its employees. This shows the bank wisely utilized its human resources. 

Stanbic IBTC Bank is the first mid-tier bank to feature in this ranking having recorded a profit per employee ratio of N30.96 million. The bank had N90.92 billion as profit in 2019 when this figure is divided by the bank’s 2,936 employees, each staff’s return would translate to N30.96 million for the bank.

Access Bank dropped to the fourth position from the third position it earlier occupied using the 2018 results. For the 5,870 employees that worked with the tier-one bank in 2019, each of them was able to return on average N19.65 million to the bank, with the bank’s pre-tax profit standing at N115.37 billion in 2019.

Despite Union Bank‘s N24,844 billion as profit in 2019, it made the list of top banks with the most productive employees. When this figure is divided by the bank’s 2,362 employees, each staff’s return would translate to N10.51 million in 2019.

Fidelity Bank recorded N30.35 billion profit before tax in 2019, the bank was able to do more with 2,908 workforce population, thereby achieving a profit per employee ratio of N10.43 million in 2019.

TheCable compiled the number of employees and profit before tax of Nigerian banks using the 2019 full-year result released.

Out of 13 commercial banks actively trading on the nation’s bourse, employee details are not contained in the results of two — First Bank of Nigeria Holdings and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.