Zenith Bank’s profit grows by 5% to N255.9bn

Zenith Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest banks, has reported a five percent rise in its profit before tax for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020.

The lender said its PBT rose to N255.9 billion in 2020 from the N243.3 billion reported in the previous year in spite of a challenging macro-economic environment exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“This increase arose from a combination of growth in the topline and a significant reduction in interest expense from N148.5 billion in 2019 to N121.1 billion in 2020, significantly increasing the net interest income from NGN267.0 billion in 2019 to NGN299.7 billion in 2020,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. 

According to the bank’s audited financial results presented to the Nigeria Stock Exchange on Tuesday, its gross earnings grew by five percent from N662.3 billion in the previous year to N696.5 billion.

It recorded eight percent growth in non-interest income from N232.1 billion in 2019 to N251.7 billion in 2020 and a one percent increase in interest income from N415.6 billion in 2019 to N420.8 billion in 2020. 

The bank’s retail deposits grew by N612.7 billion from N1.11 trillion to N1.72 trillion year-on-year, while savings balances significantly grew by 88 percent to close at N1.16 trillion.

Its corporate customer deposits rose by 25 percent to close at N5.34 trillion.

Total assets increased by 34 percent from N6.35 trillion to N8.48 trillion while gross loans grew by 19 percent from N2.46 trillion to N2.92 trillion.

Zenith Bank announced a proposed final dividend payout of N2.70 per share, bringing the total dividend to N3.00 per share.