Zenith Bank reaffirms market leadership as PAT crosses N200bn mark

IN a clear show of its resilience and market leadership, Zenith Bank has announced an impressive result for the year ended December 31, 2019, with profit after tax (PAT) of N208.8 billion, achieving the feat as the first Nigerian bank to cross the N200 billion mark.

According to the bank’s audited financial results for the 2019 financial year released in Lagos on Friday, profit after tax rose by eight per cent to N208.8 billion from the N193 billion recorded in the previous year.

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The Group also recorded a growth in gross earnings of five per cent rising to N662.3 billion from N630.3 billion reported in the previous year.  This growth was driven by the 29 per cent increase in non-interest income from N179.9 billion in 2018 to N231.1 billion in 2019.  Fees on electronic products continue to grow significantly with a 108 per cent  Year on Year (YoY) growth from N20.4 billion in 2018 to N42.5 billion in the current year.  This is a validation of the bank’s retail transformation strategy which continues to deliver impressive results.

Profit before tax also increased by five per cent growing from N232 billion to N243 billion in the current year, arising from topline growth and continued focus on cost optimisation strategies. cost-to-income ratio moderated from 49.3 per cent to 48.8 per cent.

The drive for cheaper retail deposits coupled with the low-interest yield environment helped reduce the cost of funding from 3.1 per cent to 3.0 per cent.  However, this also affected net interest margin which reduced from 8.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent in the current year due to re-pricing of interest-bearing assets.  Although returns on equity and assets held steady YoY at 23.8 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively,  the Group still delivered an improved Earnings Per Share (EPS) which grew eight per cent from N6.15 to N6.65 in the current year.