Nigeria’s banking share index up 7.4 percent

The Nigeria’s Top-10 banking index surged 7.4 percent at the end of Friday’s trading day, as a result of the two top lenders reported higher profits, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and Zenith Bank recorded an impressive growth of 14.8% year-on-year in gross earnings to N403.3bn from N351.5bn in FY:2013. Likewise, GTB gross earnings advanced 14.8% from N242.7bn in 2013 financial year to N278.5bn in 2014 financial year, 4.3%. Their shares rose by 10.2 percent. The benchmark index – All Share Index – gained 225bps to close for the week at 31,049.37 points.