RATIO ANALYSIS AS A BANK LENDING TOOL (A CASE STUDY OF UNION BANK OF NIGERIA, OGUI ROAD, ENUGU)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0            INTRODUCTION:

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:

Bank lending is concerned with provision of funds for needy customers as loans from the savings of the fund surplus units paid into the bank.  Due to the established fact that the saved fund is at the disposal of the bank for specified period, the bank can thus provide these funds to their customers who may have greater use for these funds at the time.

The reason behind bank lending is the need to attain some economic growth through lending to already existing businesses for expansion and to individuals with entrepreneurial prospects to set up businesses and for making profit by far one of the most services provided by banks.  It is the corner stone of a bank.  Great care thus has to be exercised in this activity.

In the lending by banks, some lending policies should be adhered to, some questions should be addressed regarding:

(a)              Who is the bank lending to?

(b)             How honest is this customer?

(c)              What is the reputation of this customer at a time?

(d)             How much can the bank lend to a customer at a time?

Judgment in lending is the real test of a bank’s skill and as such the health of the business and not just the customer should be of a great interest to the bank. Banks suffer great losses following the non-payment of loans.  Banks should develop carefully into an analysis and use of the financial statements before lending.  This analysis involves the assessment of a company’s or borrower’s past; present and anticipated future financial condition that could lead to future problems and to determine any strength that the company/ borrower might capitalize on.

The tools for the financial statement analysis are the financial ratios which can be used to answer some important questions regarding a company’s/ customer’s well-being.

Such very important questions regarding are:

(a)              How liquid is the company?

(b)             Is management generating sufficient profits from the company’s assets?

(c)              How does the company’s management finance its investments?