Zenith Bank H1’14 result shows asset at N3.20trn

Zenith Bank plc yesterday released it half-year (H1) financial for the six months to June 30, 2014 which shows the bank assets grew by 15.2 percent, from N2.78trn to N3.20trn. The group’s profit before tax rose to N57.85bn from N52.09bn in the corresponding period last year.

The result released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, signed by Peter Amangbo, its group managing director/CEO, and Ebenezer Onyeagwu, an executive director, shows N47.45bn profit after tax for the period under review, against N43.826bn.

The share price of Zenith Bank plc declined by N0.05 or 0.20 percent, from a high of N25 at the beginning of trading at the Exchange to N24.95 at the close of deals.

Earnings per share (EPS) rose to 151 kobo from 144 kobo the corresponding period of 2013.

Details of the half-year result showed all round improvements, with gross earnings also up by 7.8 percent from N171.02bn in 2013 to N184.43bn.
Shareholders’ funds rose by 7.43 percent from N458.31bn as at the end of June last year to 492.38bn.

The bank, with network that includes subsidiaries in the UK, Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia, currently has a shareholder base of
about one million.

Aside listing $850m worth of its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), via a technical Global Depository Receipt (GDR) programme,
the Bank, in April 2014, recorded a massive oversubscription of about 200 percent in her $500m Eurobond issue under a $1bn Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) programme announced on 1 April 2014.

The Bank was also in June, declared the Most Customer Focused Bank 2014 by KPMG; where the bank won in all three categories namely: Corporate,
Retail and SME.

Zenith was also, this year, rated the Biggest Bank in Nigeria by tier-1 capital by the FT of London and Best Nigerian Bank in Corporate Governance
by the World Finance.