Zenith Bank Grew PBT By 5% To N176bn In Q3
ZENITH Bank Plc has reported its unaudited results for the third quarter ended 30 September, 2019, with numbers that demonstrates market dominance and leadership in the banking industry.
From the unaudited account which was presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Profit before Tax (PBT) grew by five per cent from N167, 307 billion in third quarter 2018 to a record N176, 183 billion in third quarter of 2019. In the same vein profit after tax rose by five per cent from N144,179 billion in third quarter 2018 to N150,723 billion in third quarter 2019.
Gross earnings increased by four per cent from N474, 607 billion recorded in third party 2018 to N491, 268 billion in third quarter of 2019.
Despite a challenging macro-economic backdrop, the group recorded a significant growth in Non-Interest Income, expanding by 22 per cent from N128.7 billion in third quarter 2018 to N156.8 billion for the current period.
The bank said its platforms and channels have been the enablers of this growth, with fees from electronic products doubling to N35.3 billion from N17.6 billion in third quarter of last year.
“Our cost optimization strategies and aggressive retail banking drive are yielding the desired effects as cost-to-income ratio declined from 51.2 per cent in third quarter of 2018 to 50.1 per cent in third quarter of 2019 with Earnings Per Share (EPS) growing by five per cent from N4.58 in third quarter of 2018 to N4.80 in third quarter of 2019”.
“Our retail and corporate banking franchises continued its momentum with customers’ deposits growing by seven per cent to N3.95 trillion from N3.69 trillion recorded as at December 2018, a reflection of increasing share of the industry’s deposits and customers’ confidence in the Zenith brand. These deposit acquisitions have directly contributed to our cost of funds improving from 3.3 per cent in third quarter 2018 to 2.95 per cent as at third quarter 2019”, the bank said in a statement.
The bank said it had continued to deploy capital to creating viable risk assets with gross loans and advances growing by nine per cent from N2.02 trillion as at December 2018 to N2.2 trillion as at third quarter of 2019 across both the retail and corporate segments.
It noted that the lender’s focus remains the search for bankable lending opportunities to ensure the attainment of the minimum regulatory loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 65 per cent by December 31, 2019 without compromising our prudence.
Continuing, it said: “Our robust risk management framework has ensured that non-performing loans (NPL) ratio declined from 4.98 per cent in December 2018 to 4.95 per cent in the current period. Our commitment to maintaining a shock-proof balance sheet remains with liquidity and capital adequacy ratios at 63.8 per cent and 23.8 per cent respectively, both above regulatory thresholds”.
According analysts the bank’s macro-prudential ratios are strong, with all ratios settling within statutory limits. The bank’s non-performing loans ratio improved to 4.95 per cent from 5.30 per cent in the prior quarter, although this may be adduced the significant quarter on quarter expansion in loans to customers (+13.4 per cent to NGN2.04 trillion).
Similarly, the bank’s capital adequacy (23.80 per cent) and liquidity (63.82 per cent) ratios are strong and signify that the bank has ample headroom for growth over the medium-term.
The analysts noted that the bank’s current loans-to-deposits ratio (55.80 per cent ) is below the new minimum LDR of 65.0 per cent , and would require a further expansion of 16.5 per cent to the bank’s
The bank said in this final quarter of the year, it will sustain competitiveness and share of market in the corporate segment and build upon digital foundations to reinforce retail banking initiatives.
As a testament to this superlative performance and in recognition of its track record of excellent performance, the bank was recently named as the Bank of the Year and the Best Bank in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks’ and Other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI Awards)”
