Four of the five FUGAZ banks operating licensed banking subsidiaries in the United Kingdom — Access Holdings, GTCO, Zenith Bank, and UBA — recorded a combined pre-tax profit of approximately N399.2 billion from their UK operations for the year ended December 31, 2025.
This is according to the audited full-year 2025 financial statements filed with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) by Nigeria’s tier-one banking groups, collectively referred to as the FUGAZ banks.
Extracts from subsidiary condensed financial results disclosed in the parent group annual reports showed an improvement compared to 2024, highlighting the increasing strategic importance of the UK market to Nigeria’s largest banking institutions.
What the data is saying
The strongest performance came from The Access Bank UK Limited, which generated a pre-tax profit of N288.6 billion during the period.
•The figure represents more than 72% of the combined UK pre-tax profit posted by the four FUGAZ banking groups.
•Access Bank UK’s performance also increased by approximately 11.4% from N259.1 billion recorded in 2024.
The result further strengthens the UK subsidiary’s position as one of Access Holdings’ most profitable international operations.
The combined results suggest that Nigerian banks are increasingly leveraging their UK subsidiaries to:
•Expand international banking operations
•Support trade finance and cross-border transactions
•Strengthen foreign currency earnings
•Deepen relationships with diaspora and corporate customers
More insights
The UK market has become an increasingly important international corridor for Nigerian banks due to:
•Strong trade links between Nigeria and the United Kingdom
•Growing cross-border payment flows
•Increased diaspora banking opportunities
•Expansion in correspondent banking and corporate finance services
Analysts note that the strong profitability recorded by these subsidiaries reflects both operational expansion and improved positioning within international financial markets.
The performance also comes amid broader efforts by Nigerian banks to diversify earnings outside the domestic market, particularly as local macroeconomic conditions remain challenging.
International subsidiaries have become important contributors to group earnings for several Nigerian banking groups, especially in areas such as:
•Trade finance
•Treasury operations
•Corporate banking
•Structured finance
•Foreign exchange services
What you should know
The FUGAZ banks — an acronym commonly referring to FirstHoldCo, UBA, GTCO, Access Holdings, and Zenith Bank — represent Nigeria’s largest and most systemically important banking institutions.
Several of these groups have expanded aggressively across international markets over the past decade, establishing subsidiaries in:
•The United Kingdom
•France
•Other African countries
•The Middle East
Their international expansion strategy is aimed at improving earnings diversification, strengthening foreign currency liquidity, and positioning Nigerian banking groups as broader African and global financial institutions.
