Zenith Bank grows Q1 gross earnings by 22%

Zenith Bank Plc has reported a growth of 22 percent in gross earnings for the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

The lender, which released its unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, on Thursday, saw its gross earnings rise to N191.5 billion from N157.3 billion in Q1 2021.

The double-digit growth in the topline culminated in an increase in the bottom line, as the group recorded an 11 percent year-on-year increase in profit before tax, growing from N61.02 billion in Q1 2021 to N67.99 billion in Q1 2022.

Profit after tax grew by 10 percent from N53.06 billion to N58.19 billion over the same period. The growth in the topline arose from both interest income and non-interest income.

Interest income grew by 25 percent from N101.12 billion in Q1 2021 to N126.38 billion in Q1 2022, while non-interest income rose by 12 percent from N51.20 billion to N57.23 billion.

The bank said the growth in interest income and non-interest income arose from the combined effects of an improvement in interest income on loans and advances (as risk assets continue to grow and pricing is gradually improving) and an improvement in non-interest income.

It said it continued to deploy its retail strategy, thereby acquiring more customers and expanding its electronic banking income from the increased volume of transactions across all its channels.

Total assets grew by 9 percent from N9.45 trillion to N10.32 trillion in 2022, mainly driven by growth in customers’ deposits. Customer deposits grew by 12 percent from N6.47 trillion in December 2021 to N7.25 trillion in March 2022.

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Savings account balance, which is solely retail, grew by over N68 billion and is a validation of the robust customer acquisition strategy and versatile electronic platforms and digital channels, according to the bank.

Loans and advances increased by 6 percent from N3.5 trillion in December 2021 to N3.7 trillion in March 2022, boosting the group’s interest income and displaying the group’s appetite for high-yielding risk assets creation.

Zenith Bank said in a statement: “This development also helped to boost the net interest margin, as it improved from 6.0 percent in March 2021 to 7.3 percent in the current period, while the capital adequacy ratio improved slightly from 21.1percent to 22.1 percent.

“Going into the remainder of 2022, the group will continue to focus on sustainable growth across all its business segments and deploy technology platforms and digital assets intuitively to serve its various customers’ needs to deliver enhanced returns to its stakeholders.”