Investors in some of Nigeria’s biggest listed banks are facing a growing information gap, as delays in audit finalisation and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) clearance push back the release of audited half-year results, limiting their ability to assess earnings, capital strength and prospective dividends.

GTCO, Access Holdings, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Fidelity Bank have secured extensions from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to September 30 to file their audited financial statements for the six months ended June 30, 2026. Zenith Bank has an extended deadline of October 9, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings had earlier warned that audit completion and regulatory approvals could affect its reporting timetable.

For shareholders and portfolio managers, the issue extends beyond delayed publication. Without the audited numbers, investors lack a common and current basis for comparing profitability, asset quality, impairment charges, capital adequacy and book values across major banking stocks.

The uncertainty is particularly significant for investors positioning for the final quarter of the year, as the delayed accounts could influence valuation models, earnings forecasts and decisions on whether to increase, maintain or reduce exposure to individual banks.

Interim dividends are another major consideration. Investors cannot properly assess the sustainability of potential payouts without updated information on distributable earnings and capital positions. While the reporting delays do not establish that dividends have been cancelled or prohibited, they postpone the information needed to evaluate prospective yields and dividend capacity.

The affected banks are not all at the same stage. UBA said its board approved its H1 accounts on August 13, but CBN approval remained outstanding. GTCO said its board approved its accounts on July 28, with regulatory clearance remaining the outstanding step.

Fidelity Bank said its audit was still being finalised ahead of submission to the CBN, while Access Holdings cited both audit finalisation and regulatory approval. Zenith Bank’s extension followed board approval of its accounts on July 29.

The contrast with other banks has made the information gap more pronounced. FirstHoldCo, FCMB Group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Wema Bank published unaudited H1 accounts in July under the shorter 30-day filing timetable.

FirstHoldCo reported profit after tax of N526.13 billion, FCMB Group posted N139.9 billion, Ecobank Transnational reported N408.81 billion, while Wema Bank reported profit before tax of N154.56 billion.

The availability of these figures means investors in those institutions have more recent financial information with which to assess performance, although unaudited figures are not necessarily directly comparable with audited accounts.

Market participants are also watching dividend decisions closely because previous payouts provide only limited guidance. GTCO paid N1 per share and UBA declared 25 kobo per share as interim dividends for the 2025 half-year, but those payments do not guarantee similar distributions in 2026.

The CBN’s 2025 directive requiring certain banks operating under forbearance arrangements to suspend dividends until specified capital and provisioning conditions are met has added another layer of regulatory uncertainty. Whether any such restriction applies to a particular bank in the current reporting period requires bank-specific confirmation.

The delayed disclosures also come as some of the affected institutions attract increased international investor attention. GTCO, Zenith Bank and Stanbic IBTC are among Nigerian securities scheduled to enter the FTSE Frontier Index Series from September 21.

Investors are therefore watching not only whether the banks meet their revised deadlines, but also what the audited figures reveal once published.

The September 30 and October 9 dates have effectively become important market catalysts. Stronger-than-expected earnings, changes in asset quality or capital ratios, and dividend announcements could trigger significant reassessment of valuations, while further delays could prolong uncertainty and weaken investors’ ability to price the stocks on current fundamentals.

For investors, the key issue is no longer simply when the accounts will be filed. It is how quickly the missing information can restore meaningful price discovery across the banking sector. (Nigerian Tribune)