Esther Ibileke

The implementation of the 2004–2005 bank capital reform in Nigeria, introduced to deepen the financial capacity of the banking system, has led to a major restructuring of the banking sector. The reform required banks to increase their equity capital by about 1150 per cent (from two billion to twenty-five billion naira) within 18 months. Due to compliance challenges, the reform formed just twenty-five out of eighty-nine banks that previously existed. More than seventy-five per cent of the banks emerged through mergers and acquisitions. However, despite the massive increase in assets and deposit growth, episodes of bank distress have remained a recurring irritant in the country’s financial system. This study compares bank performance in the pre- and post-reform periods to determine the usefulness or efficacy of the capital reform in boosting bank performance based on panel analysis of data from five banks. The study covered the period 1996–2016. The generalized method of moments was used to evaluate the parameters of the model. The result of the random effects model shows a weak positive effect of total assets and deposit growth on bank performance in the pre-reform period. However, the post-reform assessment reveals that while profitability is significantly low in large-sized banks, it is higher in smaller banks. Given the above evidence, the study asserts that profit performance of banks is substantially linked to restructuring of the sector.