Zenith Bank grows gross earnings in 9 months by 13% to N380bn

For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, Zenith Bank Plc has recorded N380 billion gross earnings, 13 per cent above 336.58 billion recorded in September 30, 2015.

The group unaudited nine months result for the period ended September 30, 2016, said, its profit after tax grew by 20 per cent from N83.1 billion in September 2015 to N100.07 billion.

The results released on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) today, also showed the group’s profit before tax increasing by 17 per cent from N104.05 billion to N121 billion

Significant increase in Foreign currency revaluation that gained 323 per cent from N7.3 billion September 2015 to N31 billion for the period ending September 2016, boosted the group profitability.

The results also showed Customers’ confidence in the Zenith Bank as customers’ deposits rose by 5.2 per cent from N2.56 trillion in December 2015 to N2.69 trillion as at September 2016, just as total assets stood at N4.65 trillion as against N3.8trillion in 2015.

Gross loans and advances grew by 31 per cent from N1.8 trillion to N2.43 trillion as at September 2016.

Bank in a statement had explained: “In spite of the head winds and competitive operating environment, management’s outlook remains positive barring any unforeseen circumstances.

“Furthermore, the group is strategically positioned to explore opportunities to grow its customer base and risk assets in the second half of the year. More emphasis will be placed on agriculture, real sector and emerging opportunities while providing support towards the expansion of local production and manufacturing capacity.”

Going forward, the financial institution had planned to sustain grow in its retail business especially in liability generation.

“This will be achieved through the deployment of innovative products in mobile banking, internet banking and cards services. The capturing of bio-data of all bank’s customers across the industry into a single data base has also boosted our retail banking business.

“Each customer now has a unique Biometric Verification Number (BVN) and this has helped to reduce fraud in the banking system.

“The Group would continue to seek opportunities to grow its risk assets while maintaining a low Non-Performing Loan ratio and sustaining our improved coverage ratio. We would continue to strive for the optimal protection of our shareholders’ wealth through the continuous review and improvement of our risk management culture and processes.”