Banks’ financial reports are being delayed because many lenders are still awaiting Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s approval before publishing their audited statements.

The reporting bottleneck is also tied to regulatory scrutiny around provisioning, capital treatment, and compliance with NGX filing timelines.

Recently, Access Holdings, GTCO and Zenith Bank are among the latest lenders to secure more time from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). The filings come amid wider concern over compliance pressures in the banking sector, especially as lenders wait for clearance from the apex bank before releasing audited statements.

In a notice to the investing public dated 18 August 2026, signed by its Company Secretary, Michael Osilama Otu, Zenith Bank was initially expected to file the audited results by 29 August.

However, following its application, the NGX granted the bank an additional six weeks to complete the process.

The new deadline means the bank could publish its H1 2026 audited financial statements on or before 9 October 2026.

Although its financial results were approved by the group’s Board of Directors on 28 July 2026, GTCO said mandatory clearance must be granted by its primary regulator before the figures can be released to the market.

To remain compliant with exchange rules while awaiting the required approval, the bank also requested additional time, prompting the NGX to grant a new publication deadline of 30 September 2026. Reassuring investors over the revised timeline, the Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Erhi Obebeduo, stated, “Kindly be assured that if the approval is received earlier, the company’s interim audited financial statements would be released to the market earlier than the period approved by the NGX.” The development has added to a pattern that has become familiar in Nigeria’s banking industry, where regulatory bottlenecks increasingly shape the timing of financial disclosures.

In some cases, banks say the issue is not a weakness in performance or a refusal to report, but the need to complete validation processes required by the regulator before the final numbers can be made public.

For investors, the delay can create uncertainty because audited half-year reports are a key window into a bank’s asset quality, capital position, profitability, and dividend prospects. When publication is pushed back, analysts are left relying on quarterly updates or management comments, which may not fully capture the state of the balance sheet or the impact of regulatory changes.

The issue is also drawing attention because several banks have, in recent reporting cycles, had to seek extensions or miss deadlines while waiting for approval. That has raised questions about whether the filing timetable on the NGX is aligned with the regulatory process banks now face, particularly where fresh scrutiny of loan classification, provisioning, and capital adequacy is involved.

The broader market implication is that earnings season in Nigeria’s banking sector may continue to be shaped by regulatory timing rather than purely by company schedules. Until the approval process becomes more predictable, investors may keep seeing staggered releases, delayed filings, and a longer wait for full visibility into bank performance.

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