Zenith Bank Plc has announced its unaudited results for the third quarter ended 30 September 2022, recording a remarkable double-digit growth of 20% in gross earnings from NGN518.7 billion reported in Q3 2021 to NGN620.6 billion in Q3 2022. This performance demonstrates the Group’s resilience against a challenging macroeconomic environment.
According to the unaudited account presented to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), the growth in the topline was driven by interest and non-interest income growth. Interest income grew by 27% from NGN308.8 billion to NGN390.8 billion, driven majorly by growth in risk assets and an improvement in pricing. This also strengthened Earnings Per Share (EPS) by 9% to NGN5.55.
This double-digit
growth in the topline also aided the bottom line, as the Group also recorded a
13% year-on-year (YoY) increase in profit before tax, growing from NGN179.8
billion in Q3 2021 to NGN202.5 billion in Q3 2022. Profit after tax equally
grew by 9% from NGN160.6 billion to NGN174.3 billion in the same period.
Growth in non-interest
income was enabled by the Group’s retail strategy, with continued substantial
customer acquisition driving transactions, deposit growth and growth in
electronic banking income.
Due to inflationary
pressure and the rising cost of doing business, operating costs grew by 17%.
However, this was below the growth in gross earnings (20%), thereby
facilitating the double-digit growth in the bottom line.
The continuing elevated
yield environment affected the cost of funding which increased from 1.4% to
1.7% in the current period. This affected the net interest margin (NIM), which
dropped due to the immediate implementation of higher yields on interest-bearing
liabilities. However, the NIM is expected to see a correction in subsequent
quarters as the assets side is repriced correspondingly.
Total assets grew by
20% from NGN9.45 trillion to NGN11.34 trillion in 2022, mainly driven by growth
in customers’ deposits. Customer deposits grew by 24% from NGN6.47 trillion in
December 2021 to NGN8.04 trillion in September 2022 due to the market’s
confidence in the brand.
Loans and advances also
grew by 16% from NGN3.5 trillion in December 2021 to NGN4.06 trillion in
September 2022, boosting the Group’s interest income and displaying the Group’s
appetite for high-yielding risk assets creation. As a result of this growth,
the capital adequacy ratio reduced from 21% to 19.1%, while the liquidity ratio
reduced from 71.6% to 68.9%. Both prudential ratios remain very strong and are
still well above regulatory thresholds.
In the year’s final
quarter, management is determined to sustain the strong performance trajectory
while adapting to changes in the regulatory environment and focusing on
creative initiatives to mitigate inflationary trends, foreign exchange
pressures and the growing competitive environment.
Zenith Bank’s track
record of excellent performance has continued to earn the brand numerous
awards, including being recognised as Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1
Capital, for the 13th consecutive year, in the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks
Ranking published by The Banker Magazine; Best Bank in Nigeria, for three
consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks
Awards; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria 2021 and 2022 in the World Finance
Banking Awards; Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance
Corporate Governance Awards 2022; Best in Corporate Governance’ Financial Services’
Africa, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, by the Ethical
Boardroom; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria and Best Innovation In Retail Banking,
Nigeria in the International Banker 2022 Banking Awards. Also, the Bank emerged
as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500
Banking Brands 2020 and 2021, Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank
of the Year Awards 2020 and 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.
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