Emeka Okoroanyanwu
Zenith Bank Plc has announced a profit before tax (PAT) of N159 billion its unaudited results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. The bank also declared gross earnings of N509 billion from N491 billion posted in the same period in the previous year, a 4 per cent growth.
The performance comes against the harsh effects of the coronavirus pandemic that devastated many businesses, including banks this year.
According to the unaudited account which was presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), this growth was driven by non-interest income which grew by 11 per cent to N173 billion from N157 billion recorded at the end of Q3 2019, reflecting the group’s increasingly diversified business model.
The Group’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) rose marginally to N177 billion at the end of Q3 2020, representing a one per cent growth over the N176 billion posted in the corresponding period last year.
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The bank’s net interest income grew by 5 per cent Year-on-Year to N225 billion despite the drop in total interest income from N322 billion to N319 billion. Interest expense and cost of funds were down 13per cent and 27 per cent to close at N94 billion and 2.2 per cent respectively.
Total deposits closed at N5.2 trillion at the end of Q3 2020 up from N4.3 trillion in December 2019, dominated by low-cost deposits. Retail deposits grew impressively by 58 per cent to N1.7 trillion at the end of Q3 2020 up from N1.1 trillion as at December 2019, underpinned by the continuous expansion and improvement of the Group’s digital platforms.
In terms of asset quality, the Group’s Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio improved to 4.80 per cent (FYE 2019: 4.95 per cent), despite growing loans and advances by 17 per cent from N2.5 trillion as at December 2019 to N2.9 trillion at the end of Q3 2020.
The liquidity and capital adequacy ratios (CAR), at 67.4% (Bank: 52.5%) and 21.5% respectively at the end of Q3 2020, remain above regulatory thresholds of 30.0% and 15.0%.
In recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith 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.
