Earnings and bank profitability in Nigeria

Abstract

Bank earnings in the form of retained profit help in the capital formation of banks. This is critical because capital inadequacy is often a cause of bank failures. During the banking crisis in Nigeria the gross earnings of many banks diminished considerably due to frauds and bad management. For example, in 2009 the Central Bank of Nigeria revoked the operating licenses of fourteen banks which had huge nonperforming loans and were making losses. The fragility in the Nigerian banking system in the 1990s and beyond was compounded due to wide spread poor corporate governance practices and imprudent lending that led to the erosion of gross earnings and profitability. The study employed the survey research design. Data analysis was done through the descriptive and Chi-square statistical methods. It was found that gross earnings have strong relationship with bank profitability.