Zenith Bank’s Gross Earnings Rises by 5% to N696.5bn

Zenith Bank Plc yesterday released its 2020 full year audited financials posting a 10.4 per cent increase in its profit after tax as it declared a dividend payout of N2.70 for every 50k share bringing the 2020 total dividend to N3 per share.

The bank’s financials released on the Nigeria Stock Exchange yesterday showed that it recorded a five per cent increase in its gross earnings which rose to N696.5 billion. Interest income of the bank had increased by 1.2 per cent to N420.81 billion compared to N415.56 billion which it made in the comparable period of 2019.

The financials of the bank released to investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange showed that despite the increase in its interest income, it was able to cut back on its interest expenses.

Zenith Bank had recorded a 276 per cent in increase in foreign currency revaluation gain which rose from N11.54 billion in 2019 to N43.44 billion in 2020, just as gains from trading activities in treasury bills and bonds rose to N121.68 billion at the end of the 2020 financial year from N117.79 billion in 2019.

Net interest income of the bank for the 2020 financial year stood at N299.68 billion compared to N148.53 billion in the comparable period of 2019

Its interest income had however declined by 18.4 per cent to N121.13 billion from N148.53 billion recorded in 2019, as impairment loss on financial and non-financial instruments rose to N39.53 billion in 2020 from N24.03 billion.

Its operating and personnel expenses had however risen during the period as it spent N148.112 billion on its operation in 2020 compared to N129.45 billion it spent in 2019. The 2020 spending had buoyed by a 107.7 percent increase in spending on information technology. The bank had doubled investment in information technology in 2020 to N20.44 billion from N9.84 it spent in 2019.

This saw its profit before tax rise to N255.86 billion compared to N243.29 billion it made in the comparable period of 2019.

Meanwhile, the bank’s total assets as December 31, 2020 stood at N8.48 trillion, a 33.7 per cent improvement over N6.34 trillion it recorded as at the end of the 2019 financial year.

Loans and advances to customers had also gone up by 20.4  per cent to N2.77 trillion as against N2.30 trillion recorded in 2019 while customer deposits went up by 25.1 per cent to N5.33 trillion compared to the 2019 figure of N4.26 trillion.

February 25, 2021