Zenith Bank lifts first quarter earnings 6% to ₦166.8 billion
Zenith Bank Plc has announced its unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31 2020, with gross earnings rising by 6% from ₦158.1 billion in March 2019 to ₦166.8 billion.
From the unaudited financials which was presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, this top-line growth was driven by the 43% expansion in non-interest income.
The group non-interest income lifted from ₦32.7 billion in the prior-year period to ₦46.6 billion in March 2020.
The Bank’s profit before tax also rose 3% from ₦57.3 billion in the prior-year period to ₦58.8 billion in March 2020.
The lender said the increased profits benefited from the twin effects of continuing top-line growth and focused cost-of-funds optimisation.
Cost of funds declined significantly from 3.0% in March 2019 to 2.6%, translating to a 10% decrease in interest expense from ₦36.3 billion in March 2019 to ₦32.8 billion.
Despite this drop, the current low yield environment necessitated the repricing of interest-bearing assets which in turn resulted in a 13% compression in net interest margin, decreasing from 8.9% in March 2019 to 7.7% in the current period.
Zenith Bank has continued to gain customer acceptance, with customer deposits increasing by 5% from ₦4.26 trillion in December 2019 to ₦4.46 trillion in Q1 2020.
The Bank’s customer deposit mix rebalancing remains on-track as the Group added ₦150 billion in savings account in Q1 2020, supported by its retail drive.
The Bank’s total assets increased by 12% growing from ₦6.35 trillion in December 2019 to close at ₦7.13 trillion in Q1 2020.
Gross loans grew by 11% from ₦2.46 trillion in December 2019 to ₦2.74 trillion in Q1 2020.
Zenith Bank continues to surpass the expectations of its shareholders with its track record of superlative performances.
In recognition of this, the Bank was voted as the Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria 2019 by the World Finance and the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto and Co.
Zenith Bank lifts first quarter earnings 6% to ₦166.8 billion
