Zenith Bank Plc has announced its unaudited results for the first quarter ended
March 31 2020, with gross earnings rising by 6% from N158.1 billion in March 2019
to N166.8 billion.
From the unaudited statement of account 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 from N32.7 billion in the prior-year period
to N46.6 billion in March 2020.
The Bank’s profit before tax also rose 3% from N57.3 billion in the prior-year period
to N58.8 billion in March 2020. 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% in the quarter, translating to
a 10% decrease in interest expense dropping from N36.3 billion in March 2019 to
N32.8 billion in the quarter. 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 N4.26 trillion in December 2019 to N4.46 trillion in Q1 2020.
The Bank’s customer deposit mix rebalancing remains on-track as the Group added
N150 billion in savings account balances in Q1 2020, supported by its retail
drive. The Bank’s total assets increased by 12% growing from N6.35 trillion in
December 2019 to close at N7.13 trillion in Q1 2020. Gross loans grew by 11% from
N2.46 trillion in December 2019 to N2.74 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. The Bank was also recognised as Bank of
the Year and Best in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other
Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards. Recently, the Bank emerged as the Most
Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria, for the third consecutive year, in the Banker
Magazine “Top 500 Banking Brands 2020”, Best Bank in Nigeria 2020 in the Global
Finance World’s Best Banks Awards 2020, and Bank of the Decade (People’s
