Zenith Bank records N244.5bn profit

Zenith Bank Plc has released its 2021 full-year audited financial statement reporting a profit after tax of N244.5 billion, the highest on record, reflecting a 6.07% increase year-on-year.

The group achieved year-on-year (YoY) growth in gross earnings of 10% from NGN696.5 billion reported in the previous year to N765.6bn.

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 This was on the back of 23% YoY growth in non-interest income from N251.7billion to N309billion and a 2% YoY growth in interest income from N420.8bn to NGN427.6bn.

The bank also reported earnings per share of N7.79 6% higher than the N7.34 reported a year earlier. Zenith Bank has now grown its earnings per share every year since 2016. It has now taken Zenith Bank about 6 years to double its profits after first hitting N124 billion in profits in 2016.

Net interest income which it earns from its lending business rose 7% to N320.8 billion.

However, a 51.6% spike in loan losses meant net interest after impairment was flat at just N260.8 billion.

Zenith Bank, however, made up for it with income from commission and fees rising 31% to N103.9 billion year-on-year. It also raked in N167.4 billion in net trading income representing a 37.6% increase year-on-year.

The bank also grew its deposits by a whopping 21.2% to N6.4 trillion while its total assets are now N9.4 trillion. Net assets rose 14.4% to N1.27 trillion.

Zenith Bank Plc last traded at N27.10 per share and its market capitalisation stands at N850.84 billion as at Monday, February 28, 2021. Year-to-date performance shows that the share price of the company has gained 7.75%.

The bank has proposed a dividend per share of N2.8 per share up from N2.7 per share a year ago. Based on its current share price, Zenith Bank’s dividend yield is about 10%.

 Analyst at Cordros research said: “We like that Zenith Bank maintained the earnings growth momentum throughout the year, though at a slower pace (of 6.4% vs 10.1% in 2020FY) as it continues to grapple with headwinds from the business and regulatory environment.”