Four Nigerian Banks Make List Of Top 500 Brands in the World

Four Nigerian banks have been ranked among the best 500 brands in the world. The ranking which was carried out by a London-based company and published in The Banker named FirstBank of Nigeria Plc as the number one bank brand in Nigeria in its current Top 500 World Bank Brands Ranking.

In the Brand Finance ranking, FirstBank has the highest brand value in Nigeria at $170 million and is closely followed by Guaranty Trust Bank with $169 million. Zenith Bank has a brand value of $147 million with United Bank for Africa having a brand value of $121 million. The banks’ brands also did Nigeria proud as the country is among the World’s Top 50 by Total Brand Value by Country.

Nigeria leads the continent outside of Southern Africa. South Africa has a total brand value of $8,207 million followed by Nigeria’s $607 million with Morocco completing the Africa representation with $463 million.

According to a release by the Country Representative, Nigeria, The Banker, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, the publication that carried out the ranking in association with Brand Finance, First Bank came top amongst the Nigerian banks and was joined in the ranking by Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa.

Apart from the four, no other Nigerian bank made the ranking.

Brand Finance Plc is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy with support for business needs in different areas including technical valuations for accounting, tax and legal purposes ; valuations in support of commercial transactions (acquisitions, divestments, licensing and joint ventures) involving different forms of intellectual property; and valuations as part of a wider mandate to deliver value-based marketing strategy and tracking, thereby bridging the gap between marketing and finance.

According to the Top 500 Bank Brands report, though there are numerous ways of calculating brand value, Brand Finance uses methods recognised by courts and tax authorities. The valuations of the brand take into account data on the whole financial group and brand-specific financial data. These are however broken down into different streams such as product lines and geographical locations. Brand Finance uses a royalty relief method that values the brand based on what would be paid to use the brand if it were owned by a third party.

This, according to the Global Transaction Services Editor of The Banker, Jane Cooper is a function of the woes in the wider economy. A position that is supported by the CEO of Brand Finance, Mr. David Haigh who said that the financial crisis “has thrown up the issue of the brands’ origin” and that “the ones that have maintained their reputation can be characterized by country”.

In the Top 500 World Bank Brands 2012, South Africa has ten banks, Nigeria has four banks and Morocco has two banks. Total global bank brand value is $746,752 million dollars with Africa contributing $16,283 million representing 2.18 per cent of the world’s total brand value. The amount shows a drop in world’s brands value which was $855,025 million in 2011.

The top ten bank brands in the world remain in Europe, Americas and Asia. The number one bank brand in the world is HSBC, domiciled in the United Kingdom. It is followed by Wells Fargo, Bank of America (both from the USA), Santander (Spain), Citi, American Express (both from the USA), BNP Paribas (France), Bradesco (Brazil) and China Construction Bank (China).