ended 30 June 2019, recording positive growth across key financial
metrics, thus affirming the bank’s position as one of the leading
financial institutions in Africa. As a testament to its commitment to
its shareholders, the bank also announced a proposed interim dividend
pay-out of 30 kobo per share.
Gross earnings grew by 3% from ₦322.2 billion to ₦331.6 billion driven
by a significant growth of 24% (YoY) in non-interest income from ₦88.6
billion in H1 2018 to ₦109.7 billion in H1 2019. In particular, fees
from electronic products increased by ₦17bn (168%) from ₦10bn in H1 2018
to ₦27 in H1 2019, demonstrating significant progress in our retail
banking initiatives. This top-line growth filtered through to the
bottom-line as Profit Before Tax (PBT) increased to ₦111.7 billion
reflecting a 4% growth over ₦107.4 billion reported in H1 2018 with
earnings per share (EPS) increasing by 9% to ₦2.83 in H1 2019 from ₦2.60
compared to the prior period.
Between December 2018 and June 2019, the Group’s total deposit increased
by 3% with retail deposits growing by ₦267 billion (31%), from ₦861
billion to close at ₦1.1 trillion. Despite the growth in our deposit
base, we optimized interest expense leading to a 4% reduction from ₦74.7
billion to ₦72.1 billion due to the Group’s improved funding mix and our
profound treasury management skills. Net Interest Margins (NIMs)
witnessed a compression from 10% in the same period last year to 8.6% in
H1 2019, as a result of the declining yield environment but cost of
funds improved from 3.4% to 3.0%.
Our robust risk management ensured that our absolute Gross
Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) remained flat. However, the marginal
movement in NPL ratio was as a result of the 3% reduction in our loan
book from ₦2.02 trillion as at December 2018 to ₦1.95 trillion at the
end of the period. We are creatively deploying new retail loan products
to ensure we capture a reasonable share of the retail loan market. We
remain committed to maintaining our strong balance sheet with liquidity
ratio at 74.6% and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 25%, ensuring we
remain above regulatory thresholds.
Going into the second half of the year, we will continue to consolidate
our leadership in the corporate space while our retail banking drive
will continue unabated. We expect to see an improvement in economic
activities even as we maintain our promise of delivering a unique
service experience to our customers.
Consistent with this superlative performance and in recognition of its
track record of excellent performance, the bank was recently ranked as
the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in 2018 by The Banker
Magazine. Similarly, Zenith Bank was recognized as the Best Corporate
Governance Bank in Nigeria by The World Finance for the sixth time just
as Ethical Boardroom, a Europe based Boardroom watchdog reaffirmed this
recognition by naming the bank as the Best Bank in Corporate Governance
in 2018. Recognition has also come the way of the bank as it was
recently named as the Best Institution in Sustainability Reporting in
Africa 2018 (SERAS Awards) and the Bank of the Year 2018 (BusinessDay).