Intercontinental Bank Plc has made history, leading nine other Nigerian banks in the top 1,000 world banks’ list published in The Banker, the influential international business magazine.

With $1.277 billion shareholders’ fund, Intercontinental Bank is rated 354 in the world, up from 877 in the previous year. It is the first in Nigeria and fifth in Africa.

Also rated are Union Bank at 501 position from 797 in the previous year, with $783 million capital; First Bank at 688 position from 784 in the previous year with $465 million capital; GTBank at 739 position from 918 in the previous year with $406 capital; IBTC Chartered Bank at 851 position from 863 in the previous year with $308 million capital; Oceanic Bank at 874 position from 995 in the previous year with $297 million; UBA at 875 position with $$296 million; First Inland Bank at 894 position from 975 last year with $282 million capital; Spring Bank at 927 position, down from 888 in the previous year with $267 million; and Diamond Bank at 937 position from 938 in the previous year with $263 million.

This is the first time that a Nigerian bank has been listed among the top 500 banks in the world, a development attributed to the recent consolidation when banks were mandated to raise their capital base to N25 billion, about $200 million.

The nation’s banks would likely have a better outing next year when the new financial strength of some banks, such as Oceanic, UBA, First Bank and GTBank, would have been confirmed.
The top 10 banks in the world according to The Banker Magazine, are Bank of America Corp, Citigroup, HSBC Holdings, Credit Agricole Group, JP Morgan Chase, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, ICBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of China and Santander Central Hispaano.

The Banker Magazine, a subsidiary of the Financial Times of London, in its 2007 edition of the TOP 1000 WORLD BANKS rating, described Intercontinental Bank’s outstanding growth as symbolic of the massive impact of Nigeria’s banking reform.

The magazine noted: "Nigeria’s Intercontinental Bank reflects the huge consolidation and regulatory change that has taken place in Nigerian banking in the past two years. The bank rose by a record 522 places to be ranked at 355, with capital ballooning to $1277 million at the end of February 2007."
The bank was ranked 877th last year, but with its capital increasing almost five-fold to $1.3 billion from $273 million last year, it easily made it to the elite top 500 banks in the world.
The magazine noted: "Following a merger with three other banks, Intercontinental Bank’s capital increased by 4.6 times, making it easily the largest bank in the country by capital."

The bank also made strong showing in other financial indicators listed in the rankings. It emerged as the 31st bank in the world by Capital Assets Ratio, indicating capital soundness, the 56th bank in the world by Real Profits Growth and 74th strongest in the world by Return on Assets.
The emerging global outlook of the bank and partnership with reputable international organizations has started to yield fruits, with remarkable improvements in the bank’s processes and service delivery consistent with global best practices. Intercontinental Bank recently raised an unprecedented amount of about N100 billion through a public offering on the Nigerian Capital Market. Also, five reputable foreign financial institutions recently invested $161 million (N20.25 billion) in the bank through preferred equity stock, indicating strong local and global investor confidence.

Intercontinental Bank also recently declared the highest ever profit before tax (N22.6 billion) by any quoted company in the history of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The bank surpassed all its projections for its financial year ending February 2007. Its profit before tax grew by 121 per cent, profit after tax by 105 per cent, Gross revenue by 113 per cent while total assets climbed by 101 per cent.