By Dipo Olowookere
The investing community was thrilled on Thursday by the strong double-digit growth posted by Zenith Bank in the first quarter of 2022 as revealed in its financial statements for the period.
In the unaudited statement of account presented to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, the tier-one lender maintained its growth trajectory both in the topline and bottomline.
The company, according to the results, declared N191.5 billion as its gross earnings in the first three months of this year, 22 per cent higher than the N157.3 billion reported in Q1 2021.
It was observed that the growth in the topline arose from both interest income and non-interest income as the former grew by 25 per cent to N126.4 billion from N101.1 billion, while the latter appreciated by 12 per cent to N57.2 billion from N51.2 billion.
Analysis showed that the growth in interest income and non-interest income arose from the combined effects of an improvement in interest income on loans and advances (as risk assets continue to grow and pricing is gradually improving) and an improvement in non-interest income as the bank continues to deploy its retail strategy, thereby acquiring more customers and expanding its electronic banking income from the increased volume of transactions across all its channels.
As earlier stated, this impressive performance helped the lender to remain highly profitable as the pre-tax profit recorded an 11 per cent expansion to N68.0 billion from N61.0 billion, while the net profit rose by 10 per cent to N58.2 billion from N53.1 billion.
In the period under review, Zenith Bank increased its total assets by 9 per cent from N9.5 trillion to N10.3 trillion, with loans and advances rising by 6 per cent from N3.5 trillion in December 2021 to N3.7 trillion in March 2022, boosting the group’s interest income and displaying its appetite for high-yielding risk assets creation.
This development also helped to boost the net interest margin (NIM) as it improved from 6.0 per cent in March 2021 to 7.3 per cent in the current period, while the capital adequacy ratio improved slightly from 21.1 per cent to 22.1 per cent.
Also, Zenith Bank improved its customers’ deposits by 12 per cent on a year-to-date basis from N6.5 trillion in December 2021 to N7.3 trillion in March 2022.
Savings account balance, which is solely retail, grew by over N68 billion, validating the robust customer acquisition strategy and versatile electronic platforms and digital channels.
Going into the remainder of 2022, the Group will continue to focus on sustainable growth across all its business segments and deploy technology platforms and digital assets intuitively to serve its various customers’ needs to deliver enhanced returns to its stakeholders.
Zenith Bank’s track record of excellent performance has earned the brand numerous awards, including being voted as Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria in the World Finance Banking Awards 2021, Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2020, and Best in Corporate Governance’ Financial Services’ Africa 2020 and 2021 by the Ethical Boardroom.
Also, the financial institution emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020 and 2021, Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the “2021 Top 1000 World Banks” Ranking by The Banker Magazine and the Retail Bank of the year at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards 2020 and 2021.
Similarly, Zenith Bank was honoured as Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020 and emerged winner in four categories at the Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2021, carting home the awards for “Best Company in Reporting and Transparency”, “Best Company in Infrastructure Development”, “Best Company in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment”, and the coveted “Most Responsible Organisation in Africa.
