Zenith Bank Plc has grown its gross earnings from N184.435 billion to N229.082 billion, a 24.2 per cent increase, while its profit before tax rose from N57.859 billion to N72.201 billion during the first half of 2015. Profit after tax rose from N47.445 billion to N53.180 billion.
In the period under review, customer deposits rose from N2.5 trillion to N2.6 trillion, the total assets stood at N3.8 trillion as against the N3.7 trillion in the corresponding period of 2014.
However, the bank’s non-performing loan ratio fell from 2.80 per cent to 1.44 per cent in the period under review.
The bank’s Board of Directors has since proposed an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share. Shareholders on the book of the bank as at August 21, 2015, qualify to partake of the dividend, while the register will close on August 24. The payment date is August 28.
Experts have commended the result, particularly in a not so favorable operating environment. For instance, analysts at FBN Capital Research said the bank’s PBT was in the positive region. “Consensus forecast for full year PBT and PAT stand at N124bn and N103bn. While we expect the PBT forecast to be increased, we also assume that the PAT forecast will see a cut given the scale of the tax charge in Q2 and the loss on the other comprehensive income line. We suspect that management will limit its commentary to the PBT and tax lines given the difficulties that the other comprehensive income line can present when providing guidance,” said the FBN analysts.
The bank had in the first quarter of the year declared a profit before tax of N33.128 billion, 15 per cent more than the N28.919 billion PBT in the corresponding period of 2014. The bank grew its gross earnings from N94.324 billion to N113.322 billion. PAT rose from N23.677 billion in the first quarter of 2014 to N27.680 billion in the same period this year.